Warm weather sailing, whales, wind and wine, it was all part of our Hamilton Island Race Week adventure.
Terina and I had enjoyed Race Week in 2008 so with Julie we decided to have another go this year. We eventually rounded up a team of 8. Us three and Jenni Bonnitcha who some of you will remember well from the Gay Games and the ASCC regattas a few years ago. And Jen and Kate who sail on Cheshire Cat sometimes, Murray who I have sailed with at the CYC and Canberra boy Richard. For obvious reasons we called ourselves Allsorts.
As we had not all sailed together we had a trial run on Murray's rather smart Beneteau 40 on Sydney Harbour and afterwards no one pulled out so that was positive.
Our rented Sunsail Jenneau 36i was promoted as a spinnaker boat but left a lot to be desired. With only three winches and nowhere to winch the spinnaker except the headsail sheet winches we had to do some jury rigging with extra blocks both for the spinnaker sheet and brace and for tweakers so the boat sort of worked. We had brought a spinnaker with us from a previous boat of Murrray's.
The crew took a little longer. In the first race after a rock star start called by super coach Jenni Bonnitcha we got caught by the tides, which are big and fierce up there, and ended up becalmed behind Pine Island. Even the "encouragement" of John Harris in Mathilde's jet boat wasn't enough to get us across the finish line in the time limit. Sadly the poor finish didn't even help reduce our handicap being a TLE (time limit expired). But we did get Murray's spinnaker flying and it was a perfect fit.
And we had the best support team ever with Mathilde following us around the course and being our private paparazzi. Thanks boys!
The next race began with another excellent start with Jenni calling tactics to have us on the line on the gun. At least I say on the line but she was upset that we were a boat length away! This time we did finish but placed near the bottom on handicap. But it was a good shake down sail. And our handicap improved.
The third day we really began to sail well. Jenni had us on the line again at the gun and we sailed in clear air and managed to get past Lindeman Island before the tide turned against us. On the home run with the spinnaker flying beautifully we were feeling good when "bang" the halyard broke. Fast work by the crew had the spinnaker retrieved without it getting too wet. It meant another bad finish but an even better handicap. Silver linings!
Day four we finally had everything working well, got past large and scary Pentacost Island without a tack and it resulted in a podium finish. Third place in our division, Cruising 3. But we had to wait for the presentation because the entire Olympic sailing team had arrived and there was a parade with all the school kids leading them into the main stage area where they were all introduced. Coach Victor Kovalenko made a lovely speech ending with the dreaded Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi! As Jenni B had trained many of the team and knew the rest we felt very important as they all waved at her and by default our whole team. Reflected glory.
The lay day saw us relaxing off water.
The next race was the first bad start. A downwind start against the tide ended with us landing in a hole on the line and hitting the pin so a penalty turn was required. The rest of the race was uneventful but combined with the improved handicap after our 3rd place and the late start we were again down the placings.
Friday was Prix D'Elegance. There are two divisions, best dressed boat, more formal and smart, or the fun division, much more our speed. As Allsorts we had black and colored tights, dayglo tutus with black shorts and the team tshirt. We didn't attract the judges attention but got lots of on water interest. Specially when we bombarded other boats with licorice allsorts. The boat I liked best was Hooligan which cruised past the smart new clubhouse apparently completely unmanned! Very elegant!
In an effort to improve our chances we looked for heavy stuff to take off the boat. That's when we discovered a second anchor that could have come off the Queen Mary. Huge and heavy with about a ton of rope. On the dock it went. And as Terina and Julie were now with me at Peter and Michael's gorgeous apartment we emptied the water tanks too.
With a dilemma about how to start the next race tactical queen Jenni decided we should run down the line on the course side, dipping back to the start side at the last minute, exciting and effective, helped by the fact that the race committee kept calling our position on the radio so we knew when we were safe. They did it for everyone who was over, not just us. Another well sailed race and another podium finish. This time second! Less weight and a lower handicap helped. Not to mention excellent sailing.
The final race was around the Molle Islands. As we drifted around in the fog waiting for enough wind to start we were entertained by a whale and calf who surfaced in the middle of a circle of boats. After a look around they obviously decided to get out of the way. We has a small hiccup when we realized we were heading the wrong way round the islands but we had a great race, got to call starboard on the huge trimaran Vodaphone and had Wild Oats divert around us so as not to steal our wind but still close enough for us to hear the rush. And on the way back across the passage to Hamilton we saw the most spectacular display of whales, slapping the water and generally having a great time. For once even Jenni B said "bugger the sailing let's just watch". And watch we did, but we also kept sailing!
And so it was all over. We did have to put the boat to rights, replace the sail cover and lazy jacks, take off all the blocks. And Sunsail put on a farewell party. They also had welcome drinks the first night and a sausage sizzle every afternoon which was nice. And they fixed stuff for us every day. They were hugely relieved the day we came back and had nothing for them to do.
It is a great regatta. Every morning seriously talented sailors proved a briefing about the course for the day, what to look out for, how to avoid the worst of the tide etc. We probably should have listened more closely the day we did about 200 tacks to cross a tidal flow at the bottom of Dent Island. The race committee chooses courses to suit all the divisions so everyone finishes more or less at the same time, and as mentioned the radio is a great help informing boats at the start and indeed during the race as well. The winds varied from nonexistent to about 20 knots this year. Perfect for us.
And the atmosphere on the island is great fun, everything from Angry Anderson playing on the first night (much to Jenni B's horror as were were moored right behind the stage) to the Olympians Parade, footage of the days racing on the big TVs every night, the camaraderie of the crews from all over the country. One boat of nice engineers, parked next to us on the marina, confessed that they just followed us because "you girls know what you are doing".
I learnt heaps along the way. All sorts of useful and tactical things as well as sailing tips to keep a boat moving fast. And I learnt to helm with a spinnaker which I have never done before. There is nothing quite as satisfying as sailing downwind looking at a well set spinnaker! I see an expensive purchase for Cheshire Cat coming up!
Because we were a crew of mixed sexual preferences we didn't sail with the rainbow flag flying. I missed that. I would prefer to be out and proud again next time. But we did make a mark for women, being a mainly female crew, and I was one of the few female skippers.
