The Strong Wind Warning and models for the Lacco Cup were a concern, especially heading to the planned start area on the other side of the South Channel, so the race was changed to fixed marks off the Club. As crews were ferried out to the Div 2 boats, the breeze had eased as predicted and the BOM lifted the warning. Would the breeze stay in was the new question?
A three beat course was set and as the ebb tide built it was decided to shorten at No 8 rather than risk the race with what could be a difficult work up the strong tide in the Sorrento Channel, especially for the smaller boats at the back of the fleet.
As it turned out, they probably would have made it across the finish line, but sometimes it’s better to be conservative and in this case, the smaller boats raced until 1225hrs and the BBQ lunch was beckoning.
The wind to tide ratio is of more concern in Div 2 because it can get to the stage where the smallest and slowest boats in light air struggle to make way and effectively park (stop making way at all), while the bigger boats keep making way and that doesn’t seem to be a fair race or series.
Well done to Peter Pan, who despite a 0.020 handicap increase for a crew change, took out the handicap prize. It was great to see Claire come in second with Morning Star taking third. Quite interestingly, the corrected times for Kitty Miller, Lucy and Mercury were within 22 seconds of each other, and Fiona only 19 seconds later.
Congratulations to Fred Allen who was awarded the Commodore’s Prize for the great work he has been doing in the tower throughout this series. Fred also made the call to shorten the course, which may have contributed to Fiona just beating Lucy across the line by less than a second. No doubt this call was looked upon favourably by the Commodore!
Thanks to Chance and Jorja for cooking the BBQ back at the Club. Everyone enjoyed the sit around and catch up before some of the sailors reluctantly headed back to Melbourne after a great weekend of racing.
Ben Fels
