Having arrived home from sailing with wine in hand for the 3rd week in a row, the wife now believes I stop at the bottle shop on my way home. That was until I crawled from the lounge to get the Panadols, prior to cracking the lid of the wine AOE had won today........
While approaching PRSC this morning, I come across Willo walking to the club. He advises that the projected Southerly was as far off as Ulladulla and he tells me it will not arrive until we have finished our race. You see I can trust Willo and his understanding of all things to do with water. He learnt a lot from Sumo and his brain cells are still intact. As he has proved his superior knowledge on previous occasions, knowing what depth you need to anchor a boat so it does not touch bottom, he also knows how much chain to put out so you do not drag an anchor, plus he knows at what depth a anchor should be dropped so it does not drop to the bottom with all lead following. :) As I know and trust this guy, I start to wonder as what will happen to us on the River today.
At PRSC the breeze is a constant 12 knts, a nice ride around the river from the west, this should be fun as long as the projected Southerly does not arrive early.
Only the regulars appear at start time from both Divisions. Farrago, Zena & Snowgoose and from Division 3. Division 1 competitors are Still Festering, LOEG, Axis of Evil, and a stacked Resurgent.
Division 3 have started and the breeze is now gusting well above 20 knots, we also notice we have visitors on the river today, as Abbotsford Sea Scouts, are hosting the annual Port Neptune Regatta out of Quarantine Park, lets hope we all stay clear of each other.
As Division 1 line up to start, the breeze remains constantly above 20 Knots, this will be a day of pain I think. Rounding mark 1 at Morrison Bay behind SF, and Seconds in front of LOEG, the order from the rear of the boat is given, open the bag and put it up. SF has no Spinnaker, either does LOEG, so why should we Jim and I ask? Its a rhetorical question. The breeze is behind us we say, so comes the call, so up went the white kite. Thankfully the breeze remained true from WSW, and again we were in for one of the rides of our lives, leaving LOEG in our wake we were off to chase SF.
At PRSC we could see team Resurgent running down the river in hot pursuit with kite flying high.
Still Festering had a commanding lead at Mark 5 (Abbotsford Bay) with AOE chasing them back up the river, at Morrision Bay, mark 1 LOEG are along side AOE with SF a couple of Minutes in front and Resurgent being a couple of minutes behind.
This will be a tough leg for us on AOE, as the tall ships of our fleet have big genoa's that make the 3/4 in to and out off Hen and Chicken Bay Mark 4 an easy ride for them. SF leads the way in to Hen and Chicken Bay chased by LOEG, AOE and Team Resurgent. On our way out of the bay, again once possible the kite on AOE is hoisted and the scouts are creating mayhem in the bay. Back on the river the big boys take a commanding lead, as they head to Morrison bay for the final down wind ride for the day. We again hoist the kite and chase the big boys, we pick up a beautiful gust that bring us within seconds of LOEG. And the race is on the Mark 5, as we look back Resurgent are having a number of good rides down the river as well, they are very close as we round mark 5 and head to the finish.
The finish order remains with SF crossing a good 6 minutes in front of the fleet, LOEG a minute in front of AOE, and Resurgent coming in closely behind.
Today was another great example of what the river has to offer, the breeze could have put of the light hearted, but it never proved too difficult for team PRSC well done all sailors.
Again Willo's prediction proved correct. As as we were tidying up the boat at the mooring, the temp dropped by 5-10 degrees and the Southerly appeared.
Welcome to Rob's Daughter from Resurgent, well sailed today, and hopefully you will join us more often.
Did I mention Hot hot dog rolls and hot dogs, plus meat and chicken pies after a big race and a cold finish nothing is better to warm the heart of a cold old man, thank you team
PRSC for being there for us sailors.
As I finish writing I am writing in pain. Many thanks
Scribe AOE
At PRSC the breeze is a constant 12 knts, a nice ride around the river from the west, this should be fun as long as the projected Southerly does not arrive early.
Only the regulars appear at start time from both Divisions. Farrago, Zena & Snowgoose and from Division 3. Division 1 competitors are Still Festering, LOEG, Axis of Evil, and a stacked Resurgent.
Division 3 have started and the breeze is now gusting well above 20 knots, we also notice we have visitors on the river today, as Abbotsford Sea Scouts, are hosting the annual Port Neptune Regatta out of Quarantine Park, lets hope we all stay clear of each other.
As Division 1 line up to start, the breeze remains constantly above 20 Knots, this will be a day of pain I think. Rounding mark 1 at Morrison Bay behind SF, and Seconds in front of LOEG, the order from the rear of the boat is given, open the bag and put it up. SF has no Spinnaker, either does LOEG, so why should we Jim and I ask? Its a rhetorical question. The breeze is behind us we say, so comes the call, so up went the white kite. Thankfully the breeze remained true from WSW, and again we were in for one of the rides of our lives, leaving LOEG in our wake we were off to chase SF.
At PRSC we could see team Resurgent running down the river in hot pursuit with kite flying high.
Still Festering had a commanding lead at Mark 5 (Abbotsford Bay) with AOE chasing them back up the river, at Morrision Bay, mark 1 LOEG are along side AOE with SF a couple of Minutes in front and Resurgent being a couple of minutes behind.
This will be a tough leg for us on AOE, as the tall ships of our fleet have big genoa's that make the 3/4 in to and out off Hen and Chicken Bay Mark 4 an easy ride for them. SF leads the way in to Hen and Chicken Bay chased by LOEG, AOE and Team Resurgent. On our way out of the bay, again once possible the kite on AOE is hoisted and the scouts are creating mayhem in the bay. Back on the river the big boys take a commanding lead, as they head to Morrison bay for the final down wind ride for the day. We again hoist the kite and chase the big boys, we pick up a beautiful gust that bring us within seconds of LOEG. And the race is on the Mark 5, as we look back Resurgent are having a number of good rides down the river as well, they are very close as we round mark 5 and head to the finish.
The finish order remains with SF crossing a good 6 minutes in front of the fleet, LOEG a minute in front of AOE, and Resurgent coming in closely behind.
Today was another great example of what the river has to offer, the breeze could have put of the light hearted, but it never proved too difficult for team PRSC well done all sailors.
Again Willo's prediction proved correct. As as we were tidying up the boat at the mooring, the temp dropped by 5-10 degrees and the Southerly appeared.
Welcome to Rob's Daughter from Resurgent, well sailed today, and hopefully you will join us more often.
Did I mention Hot hot dog rolls and hot dogs, plus meat and chicken pies after a big race and a cold finish nothing is better to warm the heart of a cold old man, thank you team
PRSC for being there for us sailors.
As I finish writing I am writing in pain. Many thanks
Scribe AOE
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