Fun race of 21 April.

The day started out with Northwest 0-15 knot breeze. Enough for a good race. Richie aboard Monty Python positioned himself back from the start line hoping to win the race single handed ( no, we don’t count auto helms as part of the crew). Also having high hopes of a successful race, Husvale had three crew members. Why three I wonder, maybe he needs two people to make a decision and a third umpire (that would be Captain Jeff of course). Well rugby has a third umpire so why not H28 racing events!

ACHERNARIES leaving the Marina - some concerns about the lack of wind before the start of the race. Nigel on the bow.

Also tagging along was the ever present start boat Achernaries who had Richard and Nigel aboard. They were also hungry for action. Well, we hadn’t eaten lunch at that point but we wanted a win because we had never won a race before. That's because we hadn't entered one before.

MONTY PYTHON getting ready for the start of the fun race. Ritchie on the helm.

Husvale was first over the line followed by Monty Python, then lagging a fair way back was Achernaries whose crew thought "this is no good, better change the sail’. After a sail change that seem to take forever ( Richard changed the sail) we surged ahead. Our secret weapon was that we were towing the dinghy ( made the others write us off). All this extra speed saw us overtaking Monty Python and Husvale by about one to two boat lengths with Nigei keen to get into a tacking dual with Husvale. Monty Python broke away from the group and sailed his own course to an easy victory with Husvale coming second followed by Achernaries who got bogged down in tactics oft’ Browns island.

Clive and Ryan aboard HUSVALE with RONDO in the background

We all went to lslington Bay where we met up with Clive and Ryan from Rondo to celebrate a good race with the traditional refreshments and stories, (all true of course). The crew of Achernaries learnt a lot on the day. We honed our racing tactics and tuned the boat for performance. With these skills we should do well in the next race. Gee, I think we might win the next one. Stay tuned to find out if we do. We all had a great day with some close racing.

Jeff Grant enjoys a beer in lzzy Bay at the post race get together

The "Protest Committee. Sitting around enjoying a beer.