After failing to finish by 90 seconds last week we were heartened to have our handicap reduced by six minutes and a forecast for more breeze. As the day progressed we experienced a steady light drizzle and much less breeze than anticipated. So light was the breeze that it took four minutes to run down the line and luckily for us we arrived at the club end on time and with a ever so slight increase in wind strength. Irukandji started a minute earlier but lost a fair bit of that tacking to cross the line while we just lifted onto our course. Odyssey was to start a minute later but appeared to be becalmed at the line so fickle was the wind. Approaching Drummoyne we were ahead of Irukandji but to leeward. in the light air our tack was so slow that they lifted on starboard and we could not cross not pull away so we had to tack back into the moored boats and wait for them to pass. After that there was some give and take on the work which was appreciated as the course is so narrow with all the mooring that tacking up the leg is quite taxing on Elaine and I. It was very apparant that the yachts that were able to get in phase with the wind shifts pulled away quickly while we went back and forth on the wrong tacks.
Our lucky break came when we took the stern of Irukandji and pinched hard to clear the rocks off of Spectacle Island which we did courtesy of the high tide.
The next leg was a reach to Goat Island which at times turned into a square run during which Elaine did a great job holding our the foot of the genoa to catch the wind to windward. Along this leg we made good progress against the smaller early starters but the really lucky break came as we rounded the Goat Island navigation mark three yacht deep but with speed to carry us forward into the new wind. Now Krakatini engaged us in a tacking battle while Matagi slipped away .
Along Snails Bay we pulled away from Krakatini while we could see Matagi slipping further ahead until we rounded Long Nose. Here it was Matagi’s turn to suffer light winds while we had a bit more pressure further out and made up considerable ground but not enough for a win.
Fickle it was and it was a relief when the course was shortened after the first lap.