Wednesday’s race at RANSA was a win for the handicapper with the majority of the fleet finishing within a minute. We were in the back end of the minute and so scored a seventh to keep out third place on the season pointscore.
We started the day full of optimism as the sun was shining and the northely breeze was bringing warm air over the course. A fresh breeze was forecast but on the water it was not so strong so we set our No 1 heavy genoa. The forecast wind direction had been very favourable for Passion X but the wind on the course was tighter than expected for the first beat and headed as the race progressed.
We started low on the line alongside Cuckoos Nest who were going faster and pointing higher so we pulled below for clear air anticipating the wind to trend back to forecast for an easy beat. An easy beat it was not for Passion X and at the top or the course we were the only boat to have to tack to get to the mark.
At this stage Agrovation was well gone followed by Crosshaven and then a close group including Allegro, Joli and Brittania. We rounded on the tail of Love Byte and did well on the broad reach to Steele Point. The leg into Rose Bay was very square and while we would have liked to go wider we were hemmed in by a port gybe yacht who refused to gybe away. This is annoying as Rule 14 requires us to avoid a collision and we don’t need the hassle of an afternoon in the protest room. As a result we gybed away onto port early while the yachts further out sailed around us. From Rose Bay to Point Piper we carried breeze and sensed we were closing on the fleet now that we were reaching.
Around Shark Island we made up a little ground but had Love Byte and Allegro just in front forming an obstacle. Avoiding a starboard tacker from the back fleet cost us a few seconds but despite this we drew alongside Allegro at the Naval buoys.
Now if you ask me we had an inside overlap but by pulling away at the mark Allegro just cleared our bowsprit and got the inside running to the favoured end of the line.
It was all so close at the finish which kept everyone on their toes and well done to the handicapper.
Back on the new build the keel floors were tidied up and the next two panels fixed to the hull. I was pleased to get the limber holes tidied up and thoroughly saturated with epoxy resin before the sheets of ply were fixed to the hull. Tuesday was a long day with work not finished till nine at night due to the need to clean up all the epoxy resin that squeezes ouf the joins and the large number of joins with the panels going over the keel floors. The very last job was to clear coat the floors to keep them clean for the rest of the build.
Today, Thursday, I finished planing the strongback all the way to the transom. Planing is never quite finished as I will check it again with the long hand plane before the final fix. The sheets of plywood behind the keel are the largest panels to go on the bottom so I will be pleased to get these next two done.
