Winter Series

4 races in two days would have been a bit hard going except that the winds were light and the weather fair, especially on Sunday which was just gorgeous.

It was misty on the harbour when we motored to the start just off Kurraba Point. We had a start boat thanks to Maria in Holy Spirit, Dayna as PRO (Principle Race Officer) and Glen as the crew. Jenni was skipper for the first race as she was leaving us at lunch time. Also on board were Terina, Julie, Karina and Lea - one of our ACON girls. The race was uneventful for us and also I suspect for Alcyone but poor little Topknot, with Neil on the helm and Mike as crew, again had engine troubles and so was sailing to the line in light winds and had a very late start.

The course took us around Fort Dennison and Clarke Island to Taylor Bay. Nice and short. Having finished we skipped off to Double Bay to drop Jenni and saw Topknot still stuggling to get to Clarke Island so we offered them a tow, which they happily accepted. Having started so late ending with a DNF wasn't the end of the world.

The second race of the day started at Taylor Bay, slowly, and finished at Quarantine after a rounding of Shark Island and a spin past Obelisk. The we picked up Topknot on tow again and headed for 40 Baskets Beach north of Manly. We were fortunate to find three empty moorings all close together so deposited Topknot on one, picked up one for us and pointed Maria at the third. Drinks and smackerells followed on Cheshire Cat.
Then the others left us to get on with our duck in hoi sin sauce. And more wine.

Sunday we collected Simon from 40 Baskets Beach having lost Terina to partying in town. We again towed Topknot to the start line but made ourselves late in the process. The start was delayed to give us some time but it ended in a bit of a scramble. The course took us to Grotto Point, Lady Bay and finished at Obelisk where lots of boys had themselves on show. Still light winds but we were moving. We had lunch at anchor and because the start line was right beside us didn't have to tow Topknot anywhere. Very light winds due to the cliffs all around us made the start a bit of a challenge.

Then Julie dropped her sunglasses ( a very fine pair) into the water and Simon leaned so far over to try and retieve them I was sure he was going to fall in. Only his feet were above the deck it looked like. But we hauled him back on board and finally crossed the line. Alcyone, a little to the north got wind first which meant she was seriously ahead and almost got run down by a very smelly tuna boat.

But she still led the way and when Topknot passed us we thought we were in trouble.
Topknot

However rounding Shark Island we caught Topknot and passed them well and truly. Finally across to Athol Bay from Clark Island we got the 10 knots of wind I'd been hoping for and finished in style.

We tranferred Simon to Topknot for a lift home, picked up the dinghy from Holy Spirit and headed home. The final drama was when the dinghy rope snapped just near the Harbour Bridge. With the boat hook Karina picked up the trailing line, added a new one and we arrived safely at the mooring after a lovely, if wearing, weekend.