Queensland Regatta Circuit

AIRLIE BEACH RACE WEEK

Well, its about time I added a blog about the winter regatta circuit in Queensland! I travelled up to Airlie Beach with Michael Lee to race onboard Storm 2 in the Airlie Beach Race Week held 14 - 28 August. Storm is such a great boat to sail on! We were powering upwind doing 11-13 knots at 20-24 degrees apparent in less than 20 knots of breeze! That's impressive! The carbon Warwick 66 is a flyer and very deceptive, a wolf in sheeps clothing! I think we gave a few of the IRC boy racers a bit of a shock especially in the long upwind haul of the passage race. I certainly learned a lot throughout the week. Its great to race with guys like Glenno and Brad who have a number of Sydney Hobarts between them. They know their stuff.

"The Brains Trust" L to R: Bob, Cocky, Don and Glenno

Cocky and Don set up the GPS for the day's course:


98 feet of carbon mast, impressive!

Don on the wheel upwind:


We had a crew of 12 at Airlie. A mixed bag of individuals with varying levels of knowledge and experience which is one of the great things about yacht racing. You're all on a level playing field on the water!

Cocky, World's hardest working mainsheet trimmer!


What the...! Almost got my feet wet!

Brad trimming the big assym:

The foredeck crew, Gudge hiding behind the mast, Blue, Ben and Glenno:

The hot washup, so how'd we go boys and did someone remember to turn the ice machine on?!?!?

The results? We did well, first on handicap in our Division (Cruising with spinnakers), after a tense final race around the bouys we won by a bare half point. We also managed to take out the regatta Line Honours Trophy for having the biggest winning margin in any Division. A job well done! There was much rejoicing and more than a few sore heads the next day!!!

MAGNETIC ISLAND RACE WEEK

We had a slightly different crew for MIRW. The famous 'Vasco' joined us from the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Jack Wells also joined Storm all the way from Tassie. Mike, Gudge, Blue and Cocky had prior commitments so unfortunately couldn't be there with us. We were at times a little short handed, but the races weren't too long nor the conditions too tough so we managed to cope OK.
The motley crew: Front: Vasco, Middle Row L to R: Bob, Argentinian backpacker girl, Don; Back Row L to R: me, Pete, Glenno, Ben, Jack


There certainly wasn't the festive regatta atmosphere that you get at Airlie, but it's only early days yet for this regatta, I'm sure the organisers will keep building on what is a strong foundation. How did we go? 4th in our Division on handicap (if you include 2 cats ahead of us - why would you attempt to rate catamarans in the same division as monos?!?!?!) Such is life. It was all good fun and I enjoyed doing a few different jobs onboard this time around.




Relaxing in The Tinny after a hard day on the water, funny, there was a 3 million dollar yacht a few feet away...!


Big boat racing and crew work is certainly different to dinghies and sportsboats - the skills and knowledge required are the same though - but its just as enjoyable. You read a lot of blowhard rubbish by people, especially on Sailing Anarchy, regarding crewing on 'luxury' yachts. I'm more of the mind that if you're out on the water sailing it pretty much doesn't matter what you're sailing if you're out there having a good time.

Storm ready for departure and the trip home to Airlie:

Thanks to Don for the opportunity to sail on his beautiful boat and to all the guys and girls onboard for a great time on the water and off!

Unfortunately there is a sad note, I had word the day before the end of the regatta that a good RAAF mate of mine and Cocky's: Mark 'Fish' Edwards committed suicide early in the week after a long struggle with depression. So, look after yourselves, look out for your friends and family and send a donation to Beyond Blue (follow the link on the right) to help out people who are not as fortunate as ourselves.