Race Report – Eye Spy (by JK) Once again Eye Spy Entered to try and win that Elusive Bottle of Rum for 1st on Handicap. The Crew was Trev,Mark,Gill and JK We left early (sort of) and went to Sharpies for a clean,a bite of lunch and picked up Gill at the Marina. The course was a short one due the light winds – start at Westhaven ODM-Bayswater-Westhaven-Chelsea-Stanley Point-Finish at Westhaven all to Starboard.The race is no extras white sails only. We had a good Start but Prince Hal a Stewart 34 ducked inside of us gybed and headed to Bayswater side of the Harbour to get out of the tide. We followed as they know all the Tricks in this part of the World. By the time we got to the Bayswater buoy we were well ahead of the rest of the fleet which included Y11 Peppermint Planet and the big Eliot 13.4m Flojo. This was to be the way the rest of the race unfolded with us Catching Prince Hal Downwind but they pulling away upwind,except…. Flojo finally broke out of the the rest of the fleet and caught us just before the Finish. Eye Spy of late has a habit of this happening! However 3rd on Line and YES, WINNERS ON HANDICAP!!!!!!! Was the Skipper rapt,was he ever. A great Day of Racing topped off with CCYC Boat Cracker getting third on Handicap. Reported by,`he who required a senior citizens kip on the way home` JK Race Report from Eye Spy by Gill The "boys" had taken the boat down early to get Eye Spy's bum scrubbed at the floating dock, before the big Regatta and of course the Golden Rivet, the following day. I had to teach Pilates before driving into town to meet up at Westhaven Marina for 1200, I know which mode of transport I prefer! Out on the racecourse, it was an easy decision to go with the No 1 genoa, as the wind was quite light, and a downwind start with no extras. A few sad faces on the Spy, cos we love flying extras! We had a cracking start, arriving at the pin end on starboard, at speed, with clear wind and only Prince Hal, a Stewart 34' anywhere near us. He gybed away immediately onto port, to get clear out of the tide and we covered him, to leave the rest of the fleet wallowing in little wind and lots of tide in the middle. A race to the leeward mark saw Prince Hall rounding first, followed a couple of boat lengths behind by Eye Spy, and the rest of the fleet along way behind. The places stayed the same up the beat back to the ODM, with Prince Hal increasing her lead upwind, and Flojo behind starting to creep up on us. We gained a little on the Stewart an the next downwind leg, but Flojo was starting to eat up the gap between us both. Another crisp rounding of the leeward mark, but letting Prince Hal split tacks saw them increase their lead again. By this time Flojo was so close and our only chance to stay ahead at the finish was to catch them on port tack. But with great sagacity, they ducked our stern, over stood the line by a smidgen and cleared ahead on port, to just pip us on the line. It is so much fun playing with the big boats in a manoevreable Young 88! We returned back to a berth in Westhaven Marina, to attend the prize giving at Richmond YC, and also to watch the start of the Friday Night Rum Race. The club hosted us admirably, with fantastic burghers and salad (not quite as good as Hobby!), as well as lots of prizes and spot prizes. Very few folk went home empty handed. And Eye Spy won a bottle of rum as overall winner, on handicap, of the Regatta. Well done Trev and the team, Eye Spy rocks! Gybo Gill |
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