This weekend was the second race in the Inside Course series but it's the first one that we were able to race, the first being called off due to a howling westerly. Despite a strong southerly coming through on Friday night, the forecast was for this to die off to a more manageable 10-12 knots so 10 yachts were out on the basin for this week's race.
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It was handicap start with Optimist (Sandra and Darren) starting at 1pm with Two Up (Paul and Lynne) a minute later. Hoo Roo (Andy and Lou) and Son of Coco (Paul and Lynne) were off together a minute later, followed by Tingaround (Andrew and crew) and Backchat (Steve, Jan and Mark). The two Magnums, Time out (Scott, Tetley and mini Tetley) and Equinox (Ken, Janette, Graham and James) were off next with Southern Cross (Greg and Lynne) bringing up the rear.
The wind was fickle with varying strengths and directions, leaving some yachts in no wind while others had enough to pass them with ease. By the second half of the race the situation was ridiculous with the wind direction changing every 100 metres leaving most of the fleet bunched up trying to get around a mark.
And then IT happened! Out of the blue at great speed a westerly appeared, and not just any westerly, a +40 knot westerly! There was no time to get sails down so the fleet were all knocked flat. Thankfully all yachts were able to regain control, get sails down and run to the relative calm behind Kangaroo Point. Not surprisingly the race was abandoned at this point!
A huge thanks to Phil and Bill on Committee Boat Sparrowfest as not only were they also out in the very unpleasant conditions they also managed to retrieve 2 marks. A big thanks as well, to Southern Cross who also somehow managed to retrieve a mark in the truly horrible conditions.
So, there are no results for this week's Inside Course, except the positive that all yachts and crew got back to their moorings with relatively little damage, just a couple of torn sails.
There is no race next weekend so the next race will be an Outside Course (scratch start) on December 14 and the 30th SIBYC Regatta will take place over 3 days from January 31 - February 2, 2020. For more details of this go to our website, wwww.sibyc.com.au.
