Last race of the winter series and not a breath of wind as we arrive at the boat. Today’s crew is Georgina, Pete and Tim, the same as the last race and all the races before that. It feels like putting on a favourite t-shirt, comfortable and relaxed. 

Start is at Hobby and it’s like a long time since we have been up there. The wind is slowly picking up as we motor to the start and we opt for the new no.2 Genoa rather than the no.1 which might not last the race! Wind will be from behind at the start and after a brief discussion about  kite or gennaker, we settle for a kite. We are windward end of the line and first or second to cross  and in the lead. I’m feeling pretty cocky. Two hundred metres later the kite has collapsed, Firsty has passed us to leeward and Waterwitch to windward and the crew are wondering out loud how I turned their perfect start into a pile of ...... . Hero to zero in 200 m. I love yachting.

The wind eventually comes back but is up and down for the whole leg to Kauri Point. We manage to claw back to second behind Firsty and even get a bit of space behind but the northerly has become a westerly and in the space of 150m Kauri Point serves up first a southerly then  an easterly.

We manage the change from kite to hard on pretty well and I’m feeling pretty good on the beat to Meola and then on to Chelsea. Craig in front is showing us  the shifts so we make Meola without losing too much. We try a spinnaker hoist without a pole and it’s not the best call but we get it under control with no damage done.  Halfway up the leg it’s gybe time and short handed it’s a bit tricky. I don’t help the cause by forgetting the thing in my hands is a wheel not a tiller and thereby rounding the boat up big time.  By the time I have the boat pointed the right way my long suffering crew have the kite working and the rest of the leg passes smoothly.

A good drop and mark rounding and we’re back on the wind again.  The shifts are brutal and both Firsty and ourselves  get crash tacked before finally making it to Chelsea safely. Spinnaker up with the pole this time and the long haul home against the tide begins. We stay as wide as we can and as we come back up to Meola Post we are still in touch with Firsty and have a comfortable gap back to Blue Beat and Near & Farr. 

Kauri Point is literally the turning point for the race. Firsty has stalled as the wind changes back to a westerly and is racing to get their kite down. We take the risk on cutting the corner and it’s looking promising for a couple of minutes but we get the kite down seconds too early and don’t quite bridge the gap to the new breeze. It’s only metres but the tide is running against us and the GPS has us down to 0.2 knots for what seems an age. Firsty is clear and heeling to the new breeze as she shows us a clean pair of heels. The GPS speed slowly starts to rise. 0.3, 0.4, 0.6 as we crawl past Kauri Point and then we too are away.

Looking back it’s all bad news for the boats behind  and they are still not around as  we pass Island Bay and then on through the moored boats. Firsty finishes well ahead and gives us a wave as they head home. Before long we are breathing a sigh of relief as the tower gives us a horn  crossing the line and we too head for home. 

The sail back to Taikata is warm and sunny and hopefully a sign of a great summer to come. All too soon we are back at the berth tied up and tidy and the winter series is over. We’ve had a bit of drama and a lot of fun and we’re slowly learning how to get the best from Escape. Roll on next winter just not before we have some summer fun.

Cheers Trevor