It is hard to imagine a better winter afternoon sailing than that which we experienced today. Perhaps the picky would have asked for a bit more wind as the few very light patches were frustrating but in general the wind hung in around five to seven knots. The southerly breeze gave a mainly single beat legs with some tighter than others. The leg along the Drummoyne shore where the sailing water is restricted by an excess of mooring was as near a dead run as one could wish so no short tacking for us today. On the tight beat to Goat Island we cleared Balls Head without tacking while Irikandji had to do a short tack away from the rocks in the process losing quite a few metres. Around Goat Island we caught a group including Odyssey and the X- Yachts 4.3 Min River by going a little wider from the Snails Bay shore. Unfortunately for us the much heavier Min River carried momentum past the wind shadow off Long Nose while we came to a stop. It was not all bad as Odyssey also languished in the wind shadow losing the beat part of five minutes in the process. We were looking over our shoulders at the fast charging Avalon and were happy to pick up the breeze before she reached us.
The last leg down the Drummoyne shore is the one where we pick up the early starters and Elaine counted seven overtakes for the day. The final tight reach to round Cockatoo Island found us menacing Piston Dawn who fought hard to protect her clear air. We went wider and almost slipped through but for a big lift from behind that came too late for us.
Our one disappointment for the day, if we are allowed one in such perfect sailing conditions, was to see Avalon lift close in to the ferry wharf on the tip of Cockatoo Island and carry an enormous lift past us, Tana, Hasta La Vista and Pistol Dawn. We went from having a handy lead over Avalon to finishing a minute twenty seconds behind in the space of fifty metres.
There were more surprises for the day as Bear Necessity completed the journey a minute faster than Passion X and in the space of a week went from rear of the fleet to a podium finish. The same can be said for Aetos who went from dead last a week ago to first today and certainly need to have a sample taken. In the opposite way Irikandji went from front of the fleet last week to the rearguard this week and Odyssey kept them company. Both results were unusual but that was the nature of the day.
One success for the day was to get my Samsung Tab working to mirror the chart plotter screen so that I could have an instrument display on both bulkheads. The charge in the Tab should last a race of about three hours and it seems a pretty inexpensive way to have the display visible from both sides of the cockpit.
Samsung Tab mirroring one of our chart plotters.