The forecast was a bit over our full mainsail range and as we had a young sailor on board we opted for caution and put in a reef before the start. At the race progressed the conditions were too light for the No 3 jib and a reefed main but we were keeping up with Caliban who we consider a pretty useful benchmark in windy conditions. Had we know the earlier starters were pulling further ahead we might have taken out the reef earlier. Much Ado V took their reef out at the first rounding of Goat Island and had we done the same it might have been a different story. As it was Dump Truck and Much Ado V came flying down the leg from Goat to Cockatoo and still pulled away on the beat back to Goat Island. We did take out the reef on the last rounding of Goat island and suddenly became more competitive with Agrovation who by this time had caught and passed Caliban. In the meantime Much Ado V completed the course ten minutes faster than Passion X to rub salt into the wound and Jackpot which was twelve minutes faster has some explaining to do compared to last week. Quite frankly “It was our conditions does not cut the mustard.” The final dig through Humbug suited the lighter Passion X more than Caliban so we escaped the wooden spoon this week.
Fireball took the handicap result from Jackpot and Sweet Chariot and these results are a good reflection of their fresh air performance relative to the fleet.
We are hoping to make the rig on Passion X a little more responsive so we can carry the full mainsail through a wider range or wind strengths as last week was too windy for the No1 genoa and full main and this week too light for the No3 jib and reefed main but that improvement could be a little bit away so for now we just have to get the sail selection right.