Friday’s racing was a thrilling ride and tiring workout. With racing abandoned yesterday due to lack of wind, the Race Committee decided to squeeze 2 races into Friday. So it was an early start with all hands reporting to the boat by 8:30am. We were back up to 9 crew today.
The first race was a short sprint around a small island. The wind forecasts were divided, with some predicting moderate winds of 10-15 knots while others predicted 15-25 knots. We decided to setup for the stronger winds and this turned out to be a good call: soon after the start the wind was 20 knots. We had a very good race. Although short, there was plenty of action. We were all puffing by the end but didn’t have long to catch our breath and get ready for the next race.
The second race was a much longer course around Hamilton Island and beyond. The wind was quite fresh at over 25 knots. Gusts close to 30 knots after the start caused us some problems and we broached twice. We didn’t lose anyone overboard and had only minor breakages, so we soon recovered and settled for a thrilling downwind ride. We surfed down one wave at 12.5 knots, which is pretty quick for Debonnaire. We then had a long work to windward and the crew had to put in many tacks. It was tiring and awkward with the boat heeling over. The wind eased to 15 knots later in the afternoon and we had a sensational downwind run to the finish line.
Congratulations to the crew for their good work under difficult conditions. We finished 8th and 7th in today’s races. They certainly earned their beers (and wines and gins).
Debonnaire 