Bugger

The day started well enough. The forecast was poor, but the day was nice enough, sunny, not too cold and a moderate but patchy SW breeze. Only three boats, foetus & gannet finally reunited on Liquid, Sean the boy plus Shaggy on The Weapon, Hubba and Royds on Pork Sword.

A huge start-line, Weapon & Liquid starting close and even on the RHS, Liquid getting the favoured leeward position. Porkie started well to leeward and ahead. It was a horrible shifty, patchy breeze, with boats 10m apart sailing in totally different pressure and angles. Most of the puffs came from the left allowing Liquid to lift above the Weapon. Porkie bet all of us to the top, closely followed by Liquid, Weapon some distance back. It all went to plan for Liquid for a while. They crossed ahead of Sword first gybe and consistantly sailed in better pressure and heading for a huge lead around the bottom mark. We had a loose cover on Sean up the left the next beat, Porkie sailing on their own and parking in a hole to the right. We held a comfortable lead for the next windward-leeward, before the wind crapped out completely on the last windward leg.

All our good work was undone as we parked in an outgoing tide, as Seans superior drifting speed saw him sail right out from under us and ahead. Bugger.

We then watched and laughed as Sean slipped from his comfortable trapezing position on the mast to a less comfortable position down the deck, into the jib, then the water as they capsized in less than 1 knot of breeze. Bugger.

As they sorted their shit out, and we heartily laughed as we ghosted past, some breeze started filling in from the right. Porkie, previously hung out to dry, gathered in their washing, filled their kite, and looked like beating all of us. But they then parked again and we got the breeze, lifting us all the way up to the mark. We then carried the nice vein of breeze all the way to the wing mark, as Sean struggled up into the tide, gybed, couldn't fill the kite and watched us sail into the distance. We dropped the kite and sailed close hauled to the next mark. Unfortunately we were sailing out of the breeze and into the most current, as we helplessly went sideways faster than forwards. We carried on drifting across the harbour, straight towards a big glassy patch. We then watched Sean round the mark, miles behind, but carry sufficient breeze across, to not get swept down the harbour like us. We also watched a Northeast Sea breeze start to fill in down the harbour, but could only sit helpless as Sean sailed right up to and pass us, before the breeze made it. Bugger.

So, after completely dominating the whole race, with some comanding leads, we had to sit helpess as they passed us a hundred metres from the finish. We both got the breeze at the same time, but the Weapon was marginally closer and pipped us on the fast downwind to the finish. Oh well. Amazing that it was still a close boat race after three hours racing, fickle conditions and huge separations though.