This is the second year that Lowry Bay Yacht Club have held the Wellington Women’s Regatta. Marion once again did a great job organising Halo’s all women crew.
Friday – Halo Delivery to Seaview
Seaview Marina was one of the sponsors for the race and provided free berths for all visiting boats. Murray, Paul and Meredith joined me to sail Halo from Chaffers across Wellington Harbour to Seaview. The northerly was a steady 15 kts and we rigged up the #2 jib and left one reef in the mainsail from last weekend’s outing. With Meredith on helm we sailed up to Matiu / Somes Island. We checked the location of the LBYC permanent marks near Petone beach.
We then tied up to our allocated berth (B32) in the Seaview Marina. Peter kindly drove over to take us back to Wellington.
Day 1 – Saturday
Crew: Marion (helm), Cloe and Katherine (sail trim), Jane (mainsheet), Meredith (bow), and Geoff.
Forecast: N 14 kts gusting 22 kts.
In view of the windy conditions we requested to move Halo into the Non-Spinnaker Division. Grenadier followed suit. After coffees at Compass Cafe we attended the race briefing in the clubhouse. Race Officer Ray Manning gave us all the details and announced the harbour course for Race 1: Start – 19p Petone Wharf – 20p Northern Somes buoy – 18p Days Bay – Finish. Start time 1100 hrs. The Y Flag was flying meaning all competitors must wear personal flotation devices. Ray also recommended that boats should reef their mainsails.
We all went back to Halo and cast off with the #2 jib rigged. Excitement mounting!
Race 1
The wind was blowing 16-23 kts as we sailed towards the start area. We decided at the last minute to change down to a smaller headsail. Meredith quickly dropped the #2 and hoisted the #3 jib.
At 1100 hrs the race started. We crossed the line at the boat end. Not the first but we were in clear air as we headed close-hauled up to the Petone Wharf mark.
After two tacks we rounded the top mark and then sailed on a beam reach towards to Somes Mark 20.
We rounded the Somes mark and sailed across the harbour to Day’s Bay on a broad reach averaging 6.5 kts and up to 7 kts. Expresso was going well and sailed past us. We gybed to lay the mark.
We rounded the Days Bay mark and headed back to the finish line. Halo was now bouncing around quite a bit as we sailed close-hauled into the waves. At one stage Marion lost her footing and we did an inadvertent tack. We soon recovered and Marion was back on the tiller. No damage done.
Big boats like Annie, the Bavaria 38 ahead of us, were in their element gliding through the waves while Halo was bouncing up and down and getting us drenched as the waves splashed over us.
We crossed the finish line at 1219 hrs. 6th place on line and 6th on handicap. A fun race in challenging conditions!
Race 2 – Win for Halo!
Time for a rest and a sandwich as we waited for the next two races to start. These would be round-the-buoys triangle courses at the north end of the harbour where it was a bit more sheltered from the northerlies. The first course was displayed on the committee boat. T2: Start – 1 – 2 – 3 – 1 – 2 – 3 – Finish, starting five minutes after the Spinnaker Division.
Marion timed our start brilliantly and we were first over the line, clear ahead of the fleet.
Masterpiece, the big Beale 45, overtook us before we rounded the top mark but we were able to keep the rest of the fleet behind us as we continued round Mark 2. We’re going well!
Somehow we had managed to pass Masterpiece but then they caught up with us again on the beat back to the top mark. The spinnaker fleet had now also caught up with us. Amnesty came in very close as they passed Halo.
As we did our second loop the positions remained unchanged and we crossed the finish 2nd on line and 1st on handicap!
Race 3 – Another Win for Halo!
After a short break we were back into the last race of the day. The same triangle circuit. Once again Marion nailed the start. We were first over the line and apart from Masterpiece we maintained our lead on the rest of the fleet throughout the course.
We sailed well and finished the race with the same result. 2nd on line and 1st on handicap. Woo hoo!
Day 2 – Sunday
Crew: Marion (helm), Funny and Katherine (sail trim), Jane (mainsheet), Meredith (bow), and Geoff.
Forecast: N 12 kts increasing to 15 kts. Gusts up to 25 kts.
Another breezy day. There were to be up to four round-the-buoys races today with the first race starting at 1030 hrs. Powered up with the great coffees from Compass Cafe we cast off from the berth at 0950 hrs. With the NE averaging 12-16 kts decided to rig the #2 jib rather than the smaller #3 we used yesterday. It started raining.
Race 4
The committee boat Shariba was displaying the course as T2: Start – 1 – 2 – 3 – 1 – 2 – 3 – Finish.
Grenadier had a great start on this race to windward and on the shoulder of Halo. We almost overshot the pin but just managed to squeeze through. All the way up to Mark 1 they maintained their lead. Tumbleweed, the yellow Lotus 9.5, was following close behind Grenadier so we had no room to tack away and get clear air.
As we were following Grenadier on a broad reach down to the bottom mark the Spinnaker Division boats were coming across our bow.
Oh wow, what’s this? Am Meer are in trouble with their big blue spinnaker. It was flapping all over the place and then totally ripped in half as they were dropping it. Katie and Geoff won’t be happy.
Masterpiece were also having problems. Their mainsail was flapping badly. It looked like their reefing line had broken. This slowed them down and we were able to pass them.
We finished the race 3rd on line behind Grenadier and Tumbleweed and 3rd on handicap.
RaceQs Replay: Race 4
Race 5
The next race used the same triangle but the marks were moved to shorten the course. The race started at 1141 hrs and once again it was a duel with Grenadier and Tumbleweed at the start. We were the windward boat
Grenadier slipped behind us as we battled it out with Tumbleweed round the course. Masterpiece who had now repaired their mainsail, sailed past us again.
On the last beat to the finish Grenadier managed to sqeeze past us. We finished the race 3rd on line and 2nd on handicap.
Race 6
Another great start by Marion, neck and neck with Grenadier and Tumbleweed. We were ahead of the fleet by the time we rounded Mark 1.
Big excitement at the rounding of the top mark with four boats converging on the mark. Protests were called by Grenadier as Tumbleweed (Bumblebee!) and Masterpiece both did 360 degree turns to exonerate.
We merrily sailed on ahead of the melee with Grenadier and Tumbleweed now hot on our tail.
We finished the race at 13:10 hrs with Grenadier just sneaking ahead of us on the last leg to the finish. We came 3rd on line and 2nd on handicap.
Race 7
After a break to eat our sandwiches we started the last race of the day at 1330 hrs.
A bit of excitement on the first leg as Halo and Grenadier were close together on starboard tack. We were preparing our turn when a gust came and suddenly Grenadier tacked right in front of us. We were on a collision course to T-bone them! Marion’s super quick reactions on the helm saved the day (and the boats) by tacking away and we were able to avoid a collision. We learned afterwards that Andrea on helm had lost her footing and slipped down in the cockpit. We called ‘protest’ and they did the required 2 turns.
We went on to continue our duel with Tumbleweed.
We crossed the finish line at 1402 hrs, 3rd on line behind Masterpiece and Tumbleweed and 3rd on handicap. A tired but happy crew!
We dropped the sails and motored back to our berth at Seaview Marina and enjoyed cups of hot tea and doughnuts on Halo. Phil and crew joined us and post-race stories were shared.
Delivery Trip back to Wellington
Murray joined us to help with the delivery trip back to Wellington along with Meredith and Funny. The wind had come up very strong by now with gusts over 35 kts. I did a trip report with Maritime Radio to be on the safe side and we sailed fast across the harbour with just the headsail flying.
Results
Marion stayed at the club for the prize-giving that evening. She let us know that Halo had won 2nd place overall on handicap for the regatta!
Well done Marion, Jane, Katherine, Meredith, Cloe and Funny for a great achievement in the challenging conditions.
Full regatta results: https://www.sailwave.com/results/Wellington%20Womes%20Regatta%202025.htm
Halo Log Book 