Having farewelled John last week we welcomed back Mal to the team for the Wednesday Twilight at Greenwich Flying Squadron. Expecting 12 knots I hanked on the No 1 heavy genoa and was surprised when the breeze blew in at 18 knots.
Not surprisingly we did well downwind with the sail area set and as the breeze backed off a little we opted to continue the windward leg with a full main. We watched as Utopia, Jackpot and Joli sailed past to windward and watched as Much Ado V powered away to leeward and tacked to cross us by a good margin. Working along the Hunters Hill shore we settled into a routine and were well ahead of Sweet Chariot, Caliban and Fireball. A knock as we approached the ferry wharf at the end of Cockatoo forced us to tack away and that is where the knot brought us undone. The genoa sheet tangled into a tight bunch preventing us from continuing on starboard tack. Now we were forced to tack away from the lift so we could work on undoing the knot which took considerable time and manpower. By the time the knot was sorted we were ready to tack away from the next lift as we were approaching the Balmain shore.
Our chart plotter tracks show what awful angles we sailed while undoing the knot and on the water we were passed by Sweet Chariot and Caliban or should I say Ausreo as she is shown on our results sheets. Fireball having shaken out the reef from the mainsail was also making up ground on Passion X.
For the rest of the work to Goat we recovered our lead on Sweet Chariot and Caliban but could see the rest of the fleet way ahead on the distance. The next time we got a good look at Joli and Meridian was on the work back into Humbug. They were clearly having a tight match race some four minutes ahead of Passion X and in no danger of being overtaken.
Now we were drawing away from Ausreo and Sweet Chariot and Fireball but not by enough for the handicap result. Despite a good set of shifts and some ideal windward working wind speeds on the way through Humbug we were relegated to 10 on handicap in front of only the late starting Dump Truck. That becomes our drop and we hang onto 3rd place on the progress scores now well adrift of Utopia who scored a second and Joli who scored a fifth. Also the rest of the fleet is closing in on our points.
Joli Crosses along the Cockatoo shore
Oops that’s what knot to do
The late starting Dump Truck powers by
Ausreo crosses
We catch Ausreo again
We catch Sweet Chariot
Some of our best windworking of the night sailing towards Humbug
Nice shot of Much Ado V powering past to leeward around the end of Cockatoo Island the first time