On course for our first club trophy when the steering broke (again!). Whispered Secret were race Officer of the Day, with Jean Lumb. We had decided she was the boat to beat - very similar size to us, fractional rig, and a fin keeler. But we had a point to prove about bilge keelers!
| Date | Sunday 17th August |
| Time | 1000 On boat, milling around 1100 START! 1140 Puffin Sound, Pole Position 1150 Dinmor 1154 Ten Foot Bank 1201 Puffin Sound, 7.3 knots 1202 Puffin Sound, STEERING FAILURE! 1203 Emergency tiller on 1204 Retired from race 1300 Back on mooring |
| Tide UTC | 17 1053 7.19 2305 7.65 0511 1.11 1722 1.24 |
| Crew list | Carolyn and Glen Simon Murphy Micheline Rouphosse Llew Mark Ellis Peter Williams |
| Distance | 17 miles |
Route
Round the Green Buoys - just like the RAYC!
Weather
Outlook:
0700 Sun 17 Aug - 0700 Mon 18 Aug
Wind
Southwest backing south 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later.
Observed: SW 4-5
Sea state
Moderate or rough.
Observed: Slight
Weather
Rain or showers.
Observed: Drizzle
Visibility
Moderate or good, occasionally poor.
Observed: Poor or moderate, becoming moderate or good
Notes
Originally planned for the Saturday, and to be a race out to Point Lynas, the race was cancelled until the Sunday, and the course changed to round the Menai Straits entrance buoys, Dinmor and Ten Foot Bank.
We had quite a crew on board - several people in town were available so in total we had 7 people on board.
Simon was the most enthusiastic new guest regarding the sailing, having been a keen sailor about 20 years beforehand.
We put the sails up and began the milling around process trying to keep close to the start line but not crossing it before the start time of 1100:
The wind was South-West, meaning it was blowing us directly to Puffin. It was pretty gusty and we had opted to put a reef in - something I was wondering about as downwind we could have had the full main. However, milling around took us to all points of sail, so having a reef in was the safest, even if we sacrificed some speed on the downwind leg.
The other boats were all considerably smaller, but with the handicap system would be able to come in later and still win.
HOOT! over the radio on Channel 69 from Whispered Secret and we were off, crossing the line pretty well. Very soon we moved into the lead, with Whispered Secret close behind:
We looked with worried eyes at all the other boats with full sails up - and at ours with a reef in. Simon was keen to go on the helm, so we let him goose wing down to Puffin:
The cockpit was a very busy place, with people, both sailors and non-sailors, milling around:
We got into the groove and opened the gap between us and the other boats, getting over 6 knots downwind.
We rounded Dinmor and Teen Foot Bank, and headed into the wind. Our speed picked up to 7.3 knots and we blasted towards Puffin Sound, with quite a heel on. I thought it would be fun to put some weight on the rails:
We were well in the lead, and at 7 knots plus, I could taste Victory!
Unfortunately, a few seconds after this picture was taken we were nearly dumped into the sea as the boat began to 360...
Simon was busy whirling the wheel round saying he had lost steering!
I clambered forward into the cockpit to affix the emergency tiller, and got the boat under control. We got the sails away, and radioed our retirement to Whispered Secret. Fortunately, the auto-pilot worked so I didn't have to use the tiller (which is incredibly heavy) all the way back.
Shortly after, we heard Snowbird on the VHF saying they had ripped their foresail and would also be retiring - a tough day's sailing for all the boats it would seem.
When we were back on the mooring, the problem was looked at and the offending bolt diagnosed:
We went ashore and Peter took the offending bolt away for some talking to in his workshop.
Lessons Learned
A full cockpit makes racing quite difficult.