Race report from Eye Spy: Emergency services regatta 2015 This race is contested outside the Richmond Yacht Club and starts at 1300hrs on a Friday. One would think it would be difficult to find a crew; given that one needs to take the day off work; but my trusty few came to play. Greg, Mark and JK showed for what was a great afternoon on the water. We were given a temporary berth for the occasion which we utilised prior to the race. We were early enough to give the hull a clean, have lunch and wet the whistle with an ale or two. The wind was light so the No.1 headsail was hanked on. My start was reasonably poor as usual so we left the start line about mid fleet. There were a couple of larger boats behind us at this stage so we persevered and attempted to hold them off. One was our very own “Young Entertainer” and Darcy would have none of it. He and a Stewart 34 managed to get past and we found ourselves alone with only the two 28 footers behind. My crew and I discussed this and the general feeling was, this aint good enough! Over the 11nm course we fought hard to keep in touch in order to be in a position to pounce if a mistake was made. We pushed the Stewart out at the top mark who promptly turned into the path of the “Entertainer”. Wow……..that really worked in our favour. Rounding the mark saw us ahead of the two but they came back and waterline length undid what we worked so hard to achieve. Once again we kept in touch and as we neared the finish we found ourselves on starboard and ahead of “Young Entertainer”. The Stewart was on port so we were able to hold him out and pip him at the post as well. That’s enough excitement for one day! Great racing………. We got back to our complimentary berth, had a beer and wandered up to the prize-giving. 4th over-all and a halyard for a prize. Thanks to the Police for running the event and to Darcy and crew for contributing to what was a great afternoon on the sparkling Waitemata. The biggest thanks goes to my crew………a tenacious bunch they are! |
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