August Regatta: August 4-6, 2012

Day 1 - Regatta Race 1

Seven cruisers hit the line on Day 1 (Sat) in the first race for an unusually light-winded start to the Regatta - Ernesto was warming up somewhere else. And how ironic - it's been blowing and blowing since mid-April and here we are on the first day of Regatta and no wind. So, unsurprisingly, no great drama in this shortened race with Blue J flying off in what wind there was and crossing the line ten minutes ahead of the next boat (Chen), and eight minutes ahead of Aurora on handicap with Steffi a close 18 seconds behind.

1st Windward leg after the start of Race 1

Day 1 - Regatta Race 2

The afternoon race - a bit of a mad scramble to the line after watching Shelley-Anne's stunning triumph in the 100 metres final - followed an engaging anti-clockwise course with the wind out of the south-west. Apart from Mystique getting closer to Steffi than the throwing distance of a sticky bun (there must be some kind of technical measure for that - if 5 buns = 1 metre... then the distance between the boats must have been less than half a bun) as Steffi's flawed and over-adventurous port-tack tactic failed to deter a starboard-tack Mystique. The ensuing broadside of maritime insults and more traditional Anglo-Saxon threats resulted in Steffi's retirement with a broken sail between her legs... 

Meanwhile ...  Blue J was chased across the line by the Hirsch and Chen, with Blue J, Aurora and Harry taking first, second and third respectively on handicap, with Chen fourth and Mystique fifth.

Meanwhile... While we were all getting stuck into the Flag Officers Happy Hour, there must have been some cussing on Tai Pan after getting entangled with Corrida's anchor lines. Heroic efforts from the Com and Vice (immune to the unique cocktail of fluids that make up our harbour water) who gave up valuable drinking time to free Tai-Pan who unfortunately recorded a DNF.

Day 2

This was a treat! Sort of… No sailing – that was a shame. But Ernesto was around and it seemed a bit cavalier to stick out the spinnakers while the country was on Storm Watch... however, a whole day to watch Usain and the like run and jump, and leap, and throw. Lose some money, spend some money, drink some money and have some wonderful food. What a day! It was exhausting.

Day 3 - Regatta Race 3

To make up for the lost Day 2, skippers foolishly agreed to a morning upwind-downwind bobsleigh on Day 3 in spite of some gusty and billigerent 30-odd knot winds. In a shortened field - no Harry and no Tai Pan -  Chen powered her way across the line in 61.42mins, followed by Blue J and Aurora, with Aurora taking the race on handicap ahead of Chen and Blue J, with Steffi 4th and Mystique 5th. I seem to remember Blue J flying her kite ... Or was that the Allcomers?

Day 3 - Allcomers Race

So, off we go again into storm and tempest. No shortage of fun here, with the five boats beating up to F, flying down to B - Blue J's kite flying - rollicking across to airport on a beam reach, beating up to D and surfing back home. Great fun, with Chen (86.52) on two head sails just muscling out Blue J’s kite (86.92) at the line with Aurora 10 mins behind and in turn followed by Mystique and Stephanie J. Blue J took first on handicap followed by Aurora, Mystique, Chen and finally Steffi J with her intoxicating blend of ex-Hirsch, ex-Picante, ex-Ketch (can't remember the name of that boat) crew who all refused far better offers just so that they could have a taste of life on the edge with Steffi...

Of course, it was a wonderful weekend. And there are a lot of people to thank, but just to single out a couple: Pat – who gets all the prizes and makes sure the right ones get to the right winners – and Mike who produced some sparkling food for some hungry people.

So, what of the Regatta prizes?

Well, just for the record, it goes like this (see the table forthe full prize list):

August Regatta – NunesTrophy (Harbour races only)

1. Blue J
2. Aurora
3. Chen

August Regatta Appleton VX(Allcomers)

1. Blue J
2. Aurora
3. Mystique

Line Honours

        Chen

RJYC Cruiser Shield (Harbour Races + Allcomers)

1. Blue J (6 points)
2. Aurora (7 points)
3. Chen (14 points)

Regatta Champion (Harbour Races + Allcomers + Pigeon Island Race)

1. Blue J (7 points)
2. Aurora (10 points)
3. Chen (19 points)

Of course, it was also a weekend to be remembered for other reasons. Fiona Black was seriously ill with Dengue and is still in hospital, but thankfully recovering. Understandably this cut short the Hirsch’s participation in the final two races in conditions that would have suited her perfectly.

PJ Thwaites

The desperately sad news of PJ’s sudden passing just after the Regatta has been an awful shock to all who sailed with him, and cannot go unmentioned when reflecting on last weekend’s Regatta. It’s enthusiasts like PJ who make this all possible for the rest of us – without him (and people like him) and his love for the sport, we simply would not be able to do what we do.

Thank you, PJ.  Rest inpeace.