EBYMBC Spring Sailing 27 Nov 2021 – Win for Halo!

Crew: Geoff, Albrecht, Eduardo, Grant, Murray.

Forecast: Northwest 20 knots gusting 30 knots. Easing to northwest 15 knots in the afternoon. Changing southerly 15 knots everywhere late afternoon. High tide 11.30 am.

We cast off from Chaffers Marina at 1135 hrs. The wind was around 15 kts with gusts up to 30 kts but was predicted to ease in the afternoon so we hoisted the main and delayed the headsail decision until we got into Evans Bay. We were there in plenty of time so we tied up to a pole next to the slipway at 1222 hrs and had lunch. The course was announced as #26: Start – Somes Island – Ward Island – Finish with the 5 min countdown starting at 1255 hrs.

We decided to rig the No. 2 Jib with full main and cast off for the pre-race manoeuvres with Geoff on helm, Albrecht on foredeck, Grant and Eduardo on trimming and Murray on mainsheet. We decided the best place to start would be on a port tack from the start box end of the line but not so close as to lose wind. All went to plan as we sailed parallel to the line and crossed the start line on a port tack with a lead of 130 mts ahead of the other boats.

We were able to sail close-hauled on the same tack all the way to Somes Island. The NNW wind was pretty gusty up to 25 kts as we got out into the main harbour and Halo was flying along at up to 7 kts. We considered putting a reef in the main but decided against it as we were getting good speed even with the main eased right out at times.

By the time we rounded the top of Somes we had increased our lead ahead of Tamerlane and Coriander to around 330 mts. On the run down to Ward island we hoisted the No. 1 Genoa poled out on the starboard side and were able to maintain our lead as we rounded the bottom of Ward Island at 1412 hrs.

We were then expecting a beam reach across to Pt Halswell but found the wind had moved towards the west resulting in us having to beat into a head wind.

After four tacks we rounded Pt Halswell. Albrecht had the spinnaker rigged up ready for the run when we realised we were now on a beam reach so we cancelled the call to hoist the kite. We noticed that the dingy sailors at the bottom of Evans Bay were coming towards us flying their spinnakers but another dingy behind us also flying their kite but sailing on the opposite direction!

The southerly change then hit Halo as we passed Shelly Bay and we were back to beating our way to the finish line. After three tacks we crossed the finish line winning the race on line by a margin of 770 mts over the next boat. A great race for team Halo under challenging conditions.