19 June 2024    Race report Race 3 Winter Series

Only 8 hardy boats put to sea for the 3rd race of the winter series. As it turned out, there was no need to be hardy as the wind was a steady NE breeze which made for some tricky sail selection given that it was supposed to increase as the day went on. Flat water and good winds made for ideal sailing conditions and as it happened, the 2nd race had steadily decreasing wind. The rain stayed away for the first race but light misty rain gave the raincoats something to do for the 2nd race. Dawn Song was first over the line in Div B in the first race and was never to give up that lead taking both line honours and handicap in both races. The A Div was lead off by a fast starting Jesse in both races but Special FX managed to catch her and take line honours in both races in Div A. There were some caught with their pant down at the start of race 2 in Div B but Libby was not to be caught napping and had the best start and were going well being 3rd boat through the start finish line but the 2nd beat to windward was not so good. Hopefully the rain this week will clean the spilt soup off the decks of Dawn Song. Div A had a battle royal between Jesse and Pedlar for 2nd place. The lead seesawed but Jesse'92s spinnaker gave them bragging rights by 3 seconds. Wright One needs a quicker clock to get them to the start a bit sooner. 
After much discussion, I have decided to keep the next race as per the program. That is next Sunday 16th June. Many crews have put it in their calendars and primed their better halves and don'92t like to go cap in hand to plead their case for a changed date. There will then be a 3 week gap before the next race. It is an anomaly in the program caused because the writers thought it collided with Matariki. It doesn'92t but there we are!
See you all next Sunday for an Island race,
Blue skies Rex