Good tracks for a shifty night
With a full crew back on deck the black genoa was hoisted and the improvement in performance was welcome. Right from the start we were in first or second place and we finished second fastest and second on handicap. To be fair to Passion we were a bit unlucky as we lead around Cockatoo Island by a good margin only to have Agrovation pick up a huge lift from behind. After that we stayed with them all the way to Goat Island only to be forced beyond the lay line by a black fleet J boat. In that delay Agrovation skipped out to half a minute lead.
At this stage the rest of the blue fleet was a few minutes behind but we had the company of the overtaking black fleet to keep us amused. We were pleased with the puff from behind on the way back to Long Nose. This private breeze brought us up to the stern of Agrovation and we made up ground on the black fleet. Agrovation was not about to let us slip through and she carefully covered us all the way to the finish.
Worlds Apart was involved in a pre race incident and did not make the start but the other boat to beat, the new Dehler 38, was behind at the finish so we must have done something right and the tracks indicate as much.