Women’s Regatta Practice Sail – 9 March 2025

Crew: Marion (helm), Jane (mainsheet and keys), Katherine and Cloe (sail trim), Meredith (bow).

Forecast: Southerly 10 kts rising to 15 kts.

In preparation for the Wellington Women’s Regatta next week Marion was keen to take the crew out for a practice sail. We all met up at Chaffers Marina. After fitting life jackets and doing the safety briefing I showed the new crew how everything worked on Halo. We rigged up the #2 jib and spinnaker lines and cast off at 1300 hrs.

After hoisting the sails we did a bunch of practice tacks up Evans Bay. The southerly was getting up to 15 kts and we put a reef in the mainsail.

We then turned and sailed downwind. We decided it was too breezy to hoist the spinnaker. Meredith did a great job poling out the jib and we sailed ‘goose-winged’ down Evans Bay.

We then dropped the pole and sailed on a nice beam reach east towards Mākaro / Ward Island.

Once we were out in the central harbour we turned downwind again and Meredith poled out the jib for a fast run towards Matiu / Somes Island. Boat speed was 7 kts SOG (speed over ground) and we even clocked up 8 kts as we surfed the waves.

After a practice gybe we dropped the pole and headed back towards Lambton Harbour. We enjoyed an exhilarating sail with the wind gusting up to 20 kts. We were glad to have that reef in the mainsail. Marion’s firm hand on the tiller and Jane working the mainsheet kept us on an even keel.

The Centreport International Youth Match Racing Regatta was on so we had to give the yachts a wide berth.