The season finished in sunshine with winds that gusted over 20 knots and switched wildly from side to side. We set the No 2 genoa having learnt a lesson from last week when we outsmarted ourselves with the big black genoa. Even that was too much for the breeze that swept through as we turned at the heads for the beat home. Those clever helmsmen who tacked on the mark and headed for the Sow and Pigs picked up the shift of the season and were a minute ahead in seconds. We hung on below the fleet hoping for the switch back that never came . We were even denied the little lift we needed to clear Steel Point so we had a couple of extra tacks on the fleet for our troubles. Allegro and Larrikin were keeping us company in the wind shift woes so our boat speed was not a concern. The work from Rose Bay back to Point Piper was fair enough but the phasing of the breeze as we rounded Shark Island was not favourable. We were lifted when approaching the shore and had to tack away from the lift for deep water on a couple of occasions that cost us dearly and Silky passing us on the last work was a disappointment. The only surprise was that we finished further up the fleet than we expected. Our protagonists from last week, Enigma and L’Eau’Co finished behind on time with L’Eau’Co making our mistake of last week and setting too big a genoa.
Overall it was a good season. We had a string of very good results mid season and beat our mark boats more often than not. The breezes have been better than average for winter and only a few slow races. We have had no gear breakage other than a worn out genoa sheet and importantly no physical injuries to crew.
The racing finished with the protest hearing from last weeks Northshore Sandwich and we were exonerated keeping intact our no protest losses and no insurance claims record.