As I Saw It (and remembered it!)

22 February 25

With a forecast indicating high teens, gusting into the 20’s it looked as if was going to be a tough day in the office but by the time the 5 boats hit the race track it was averaging 15 gusting 18, so a very manageable sou’easter.

Race 1 saw the fleet spread along the line and everyone got pretty good starts. Most of the fleet went left off the bottom though The Project went right shortly after the start. As the fleet started converging mid beat there was nothing between the boats. Waterloo Too had a narrow lead over The Saint. Rapscallion was in a tussle with The Project and Athena was also in the mix. At the top Waterloo Too rounded first. Rapscallion tacked under The Saint’s bow and they rounded simultaneously just 2 lengths behind Waterloo Too. Just 2 lengths further back was The Project and just a length or so behind them was Athena rounding in 5^th.

The run saw Rapscallion extend from The Saint and round the bottom mark just behind and inside W2 with The Saint 3-4 lengths astern. The Project and Athena weren’t going away either remaining in touch down the run.

The leading 2 boats headed left with Rapscallion having managed to lift inside W2 but not gain enough of an advantage to stop them crossing on port mid way up the beat. W2 then put a cover and dumped on them several times as they boat sailed up the left hand edge of the course. The Saint having tacked off to the right off the bottom made an initial gain but with the left being favoured at the top there was no opportunity to get back at the two leaders. With Rapscallion having to do several down speed tacks W2’s lead extended though a left shift at the top allowed Rapscallion to close back up to within 2 lengths at the top. The Saint having lost time on the beat rounded about 10 lengths ahead of The Project who had shaken off Athena.

On the run, the leading two were neck and neck for much of the final leg with W2 protecting the left for the final turn to the line. Approaching the bottom gate mark there was still nothing in it with the lead being determined by who had caught the last wave. As they reached up to the finish it was still neck and neck. The line was true with no pin bias this week and a couple of waves allowed Rapscallion to surge ahead to cross just 2 seconds in front of W2.  The final podium spot went to The Saint.

Race 2 was sailed in very similar conditions. For the start Waterloo Too had the pin to themselves while in the middle The Saint held up Rapscallion who had Athena and The Project just to weather. With Rapscallion in high mode to keep off The Saint, Athena were struggling to stay off their hip. They were living there until The Project in low mode closed the gauge and sailed down on Athena ultimately seeing them squeezed out the back and having to tack off to the right. With these three fighting the other two extended out to the left. The first tack and cross saw a narrow lead to The Saint which they held up to the top. The Project and Rapscallion were in a tight battle for 3^rd as they battled up the second half of the beat. At the top W2 rounded just a length behind The Saint with about a dozen lengths back to Rapscallion who had just a couple of lengths on The Project. The tough start for Athena had them fighting to remain in touch.

The run saw The Saint get overtaken by W2 who rounded the bottom 2-3 lengths ahead with W2 taking the left gate and The Saint taking the right. Rapscallion closed to round 6-7 lengths behind W2 and followed them out to the right. With Rapscallion having no chance to catch W2 by following, they split off to the left in order to attack The Saint. They both worked up the left hand side of the course finally coming together in the final third. The Saint on port went for a lee bow tack only to be slow and fell into the dirty air of Rapscallion. At this point W2 rejoined the fray putting a loose cover on Rapscallion to ensure they weren’t going to pull another rabbit out of the hat. At the top W2 rounded a dozen lengths ahead from Rapscallion who had half that distance on The Saint.

The gap on the final leg was just too much for Rapscallion and we saw W2 take a comfortable win from Rapscallion with The Saint 3^rd,, well ahead of The Project and Athena.

Though we only had 5 boats the racing was close and exciting. Boat of the day honours were shared between Waterloo Too and Rapscallion with W2 claiming the tittle based on best elapsed time of the 2 races!! Congrats to Gary and the crew for the 2 wins in PHS season points.

See you all next week.

(The author accepts no responsibilities for any inaccuracies, distortions of the truth or outright lies.)