Debonnaire

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).

Thursday was the Prix d’Elegance event of Hamilton Island Race Week where boats compete for either:

• the Best Presented Yacht and Crew (yacht in first-class trim and crew in matching uniforms); or
• the Best Fun-Themed Yacht and Crew.

Our theme was “debonair with a twist of Hamilton Island”. In addition to making our costumes, we choreographed a routine and sang “Love is Debonnaire” to the tune of “Love is in Air” by John Paul Young. It was a lot of fun.

There were many entrants, including boats that made great efforts with very clever themes. Have a look at the terrific video below by Bow Caddy Media. Carpe Diem put on an entertaining show called “Swan Fake”. I don’t think many people know about Paul’s ballroom dancing trophy and he, no doubt, would also love to have the Prix d’Elegance title. We have to wait until the Presentation Dinner on Saturday night to find out the winners.

Thanks to our creative team who developed the concept, made our costumes, selected the theme music and choreographed our routine, particularly Liz, Jane, John, Richard and Catherine.

Race 4 was scheduled to follow the Prix d’Elegance but there was insufficient wind and racing was abandoned. We spent the day enjoying the resort’s cafes, restaurants, bars and swimming pools. Sunny, warm, 24°C — another day in paradise!

Here is some more footage of the lay-day picnics and parties.

On Wednesday, we had a well earned break from sailing. So we decided to spend our lay-day back on the boat and go to the famous Whitehaven Beach!

In the morning, some of the crew went for a quiet walk, hiked to the top of Passage Peak, or joined a yoga class, while others simply slept in. We then gathered for a big breakfast of bacon, eggs and all the trimmings.

We then cast off and made for Whitehaven Beach with Leanne and Phil at the helm. We had a fine picnic lunch, spent the afternoon on the pristine white sand and enjoyed swimming in the cool, turquoise sea.

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That evening, we had a delicious dinner prepared by Liz, Jane and Steve. The dessert was particularly memorable. Love your work Karen!

 

See the action at Hamilton Island Race Week in the following daily highlights from Race Week TV.

 

 

Three crew reported unfit for duty today for various unrelated ailments. They didn’t want to miss the opportunity to sail but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. The conditions were light but with the crew reduced to 8 everyone was busy. We were all weary by the end of the race.

Race 3 was delayed until after lunch and the starting area moved to a new location east of Hamilton Island. The fleet of over 200 yachts heading to the start area was a spectacular parade.

The crew work continued to improve and the teamwork translated into better boat speed. We had a good start and were well placed as we made our way to the first start.

The trimmers did a great job adapting to the light, shifty conditions. All hands got our S2 spinnaker flying beautifully and they couldn’t contain their excitement when we successfully completed our first gybe. Our pre-race training paid off.

The finish was tricky with unpredictable wind, strong currents and lots of traffic in a confined channel. Nevertheless, we successfully threaded our way through to the finish line.

We finished 10th, our best result yet. We’re confident we can continue to improve not only our boat handling but also our race tactics.

 

Much lighter winds today meant our boat handling improved. We had a better start, very slick tacks and trimmed for speed when reaching. The lighter winds also brought new challenges because we used our larger and more complicated spinnaker. It went reasonably well and I’m sure we can iron out the wrinkles in our next race. Overall, the crew can be pleased with their improvement today. We finished 14th in a fleet of good boats.

We were on the water for more than 6 hours today and tomorrow will be even longer, so I should be in bed now to get a good night’s sleep. More news tomorrow.

The first day of racing at Hamilton Island Race Week had plenty of challenges.

Catherine and I brought Debonnaire from Airlie Beach to Hamilton Island last Thursday and our crew flew in on Friday and Saturday. We have 13 in our group: Andrew and Jane, Leanne, Richard, Karen and Phil, John and Liz, Steve, Brigit and Colin, Catherine and me. The crew had not sailed since we left Melbourne in April so we had hoped to have a training session on Saturday but unfortunately it was too windy, blowing around 30 knots for most of the day. We would have to go into race 1 under-prepared.

This morning the wind was still quite strong at 25-30 knots but by the time our race started just before mid-day the wind had eased to 20-25 knots. The fresh wind was only part of the challenging conditions, though. A strong tidal current was flowing, too, making the downwind start even more tricky. Imagine 215 yachts jostling in a confined channel and I’m sure you’ll appreciate the pressure on the helmsman and skipper. Add to all this commotion a couple of commercial airplanes parting the fleet so they can land at the airport and you must agree we were faced with near-chaos. Fortunately, we had a clean start for our first race at Hamilton Island.

The highlight of the day was racing across Whitsunday Passage under spinnaker in winds up to 25 knots doing boats speeds of 10-12 knots. It was awesome feeling the power in the sails loading up the rigging and sending us speeding through the water. The crew worked well and soon were getting the feel of Debonnaire in the windy conditions. Setting sails, dousing spinnakers and tacking into the wind all went like clock-work. We had a couple of problems, too, but the crew did well to sort them out. Several other boats suffered torn sails but fortunately we had no damage. We finished 13th and Carpe Diem 9th. Considering this was our first race without the benefit of training, we’re looking forward to improving in each race the rest of the week.

 

 

Using all her 7 tiles to make an ingenious 8-letter word, Catherine has taken the title for playing the highest scoring word in Scrabble. She placed “CROAKING” across a double letter and 2 triple word squares that scored a triple-triple 13 plus 50 bonus points for a total of 167 points. The master class continued and Catherine sealed her Scrabble championship title by winning the game with an impressive score of 417.

Over the past week, Catherine and I have been on a couple of short cruises. We went to Nara Inlet for a couple nights (Tuesday 8 to Thursday 10 August) just to relax at a quiet anchorage for a day — along with 27 other cruising boats! We then went to Maureens Cove (Saturday 12 to Sunday 13 August) which was much more secluded with only a few moorings available.

We’re back in Airlie Beach now, setting the boat up for Hamilton Island Race Week. We’re looking forward to our crew flying up later this week to join us for this popular regatta in the Whitsunday islands.

I don’t imagine I will ever have an experience like this again.

After a week or so catching up with family and friends, we flew from Melbourne just before its coldest day in almost 20 years. In stark contrast, when we arrived in the Whitsundays the weather was continuing its run of warm, sunny days. For some time we had been looking forward to joining Paul and Helen on a trip to the outer reefs. The outlook over the next few days was for very calm seas, perfect for exploring Bait Reef some 34 nautical miles (63 kilometres) northeast of Airlie Beach. So on Thursday we jumped aboard Carpe Diem and made our way to Blue Pearl Bay on Hayman Island, our half-way overnight staging post.

We saw many whales along the way. We arrived at Blue Pearl Bay in the afternoon and had time for some snorkelling. As the sun set on a cloudless red sky, reflecting from the horizon across a flat sea, we continued to see whales in the distance. That night, the boat lay motionless on the glassy water. At 2:30am it was so quiet we could hear the faint calls of whales through the hull. Then at 3:00am we heard the unmistakable sound of a whale taking a breath as it surfaced. Catherine and I jumped out of bed and strained to look through the darkness. Although we couldn’t see the whale, we could hear it passing close by, maybe only 60 metres away.

We cast off at sunrise on Friday morning and set a course directly to Bait Reef. Unlike most destinations where we can see landmarks, Bait Reef is an offshore reef surrounded by a featureless ocean. GPS navigation was essential because the only indication of its location was a small buoy. We timed the 2½ hour trip to arrive mid-morning so that the sun was high enough to help us see the submerged reef under the calm water.

We arrived on target and entered the reef carefully through a gap in The Stepping Stones and then threaded our way to a mooring inside the coral reef. The Stepping Stones are a series of “bommies” along the edge of the reef, vertical columns standing in 15-20 metres of water with flat tops that appear like stepping stones for a giant Neptune. (Have a look at the Chart page and zoom in to Bait Reef to see our track on Google Maps.) As low tide approached, we got a great view from high up the mast of the reef surrounding us.

The snorkelling at Bait Reef was the best we had encountered in the Whitsundays. We saw plenty of colourful fish among the coral in clear water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj3DBndwvpc?rel=0

While exploring one of the Stepping Stones, we had one of the most amazing experiences of our lives. We were startled by a whale that surfaced unexpectedly right next to the reef where we were snorkelling. It lay there for a moment, its long grey back shining in the sun and most of its bulk hidden below the surface. Its massive body heaved when it took a breath. The whale turned towards us and as we looked down its humped spine we realised that we had drifted with the current off the reef and into deep water. We swam back over the reef and watched the massive whale in awe. It could not have been more than 15 metres away. After a short time the whale slipped under the water and disappeared into the dark blue sea. It was exciting swimming that close to one of the largest creatures of the sea, an experience we will never forget.

We returned to Langford Island (next to Hayman Island) that afternoon, still reeling from our astonishing trip to Bait Reef. The calm weather continued so we picked up a mooring for the night at One Foot Island, so called because at high tide all that remains is a small patch of sand just above sea level. Normally too exposed for staying overnight, we were pleasantly surprised that we had this beautiful spot to ourselves. The cloudless sky was perfect for another stunning sunset, spotting an Iridium satellite flare and gazing at the star-filled heavens. During the night we thought we could hear a turtle swimming past. Once again Catherine and I jumped out of bed in the middle of the night and discovered the splashing was a huge school of fish which jumped into the air in waves by the hundreds as we swept a torch light across the water.

On Saturday the weather was still calm and we took the opportunity to explore a good reef on Border Island recommended to us by a local. Throughout the day we continued to see whales and by this stage we had already lost count of how many.

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We spent the night at Cateran Bay and on Sunday made our way back to Airlie Beach, recalling along the way our memorable trip to Bait Reef and spectacular experiences with whales.

A big thank you to Paul and Helen for a fun weekend and an unforgettable adventure to Bait Reef. Happy Hour every afternoon, fish on the BBQ and the slow roast lamb were other highlights we especially enjoyed.