Apollo Bay Sailing Club

Tell Tales

11th March 2019

My my but how time flies when you are out sailing. With under a month to go in this season the last few races are looking pretty critical (handicap wise) for Boheme, April Dancer and Wild Rose. With Its Magic and Shiralee skimming around the outside looking to secure a berth in the top three should the chance arise.

But as for the weekend just past, it was a nervous morning waiting to see if the predicted 5- 10knts of Easterly would eventuate. As always though there was plenty of laughter, story telling and sailing talk going on around the club.   

Doug and Russell manned the duty boat. One with a tender back and the other sporting a freshly healed foot but it was great to see that they still had enough working body parts between them to get the job done. You can count on two things when Russell is on duty, a short “briefing” and some lovely sailing photos; he did not disappoint on either. Check out the ABSC facebook site to see for yourself.

The race consisted of three fairly short triangles and a beat to finish in light fluctuating wind (4-7knts) and very smooth seas.

Four keel boats crossed a very generous start cleanly, three on port and only 10+1 choosing starboard. The port boats doing better, it was Boheme just clear of Its Magic and Wild Rose at the top mark. The reaches were a challenge as the wind drifted about a bit. Boheme was seen flying their asymmetric with Magic just behind choosing to keep the spinnaker in the bag at times.  

Light days are a chance to practice close sailing techniques as well as tactics. But mistakes are also there for the making; stalled tacks, sailing into the disturbed air off another boat, too much weight transfer (crew movement) at inappropriate moments, loss of concentration etc etc.  Patience is also a huge factor as everything slows down, but not in a way that makes sailing easier. Often there is a time delay attached to every rudder and sail adjustment which can make it quite frustrating, and a real challenge for the impatient skipper and crew.

Four dinghies started with April Dancer on fire from the start. Bruce and Geraldine picked the wind corridors well up wind all day. Ffantome and Shiralee were left behind to swap positions several times in a  close tussle. Shiralee had mixed success with the spinnaker and threw everything into it. Community Bank did not quite have the wind needed to get the Yngling’s older hull shape sailing in the zone.

By race end April Dancer crossed the finish line in 66.28 and of the big boats Boheme in 69.53.

Thankyou Doug and Russell for a lovely little sail and a very nice day out on the water.

Life is good. Come Sailing!

To find out more see our website www.apollobaysailingclub.org.au or our Facebook group - Apollo Bay Sailing Club