10s – Queensland Championships Race 1

Word of the day: deceptive.  “giving an appearance or impression different from the true one; misleading.”

Rigging choice in the yard seemed pretty simple (second rig), though a glance up at the flag on the hill was showing a different story.  Hughie dragged out the big blue and white flattie for a size check against the big white one, there being a few extra square feet provided.  The breeze as best we could tell was NE tending ENE, and maybe 10 knots at best, so certainly do-able.  It’s the second biggest spinnaker Avro has, apart from the big Etchells spinnaker for the really light days.  It was also decided to do one lap again, a wise choice in hindsight.

After an unwarranted hurry up from Christine, the three skiffs hit the water, Truant 2, Jessie and Avro.  As Avro slid in beside Jessie, there was an issue with Jessie’s bottom rudder pintle forcing her to head back up the bank for some urgent repairs.  Meanwhile, Truant 2 had capsized, forcing a delay in the start while she was towed in and bailed out.

Once the skiffs were lined up for the start, the flood tide and patchy breeze at the start line made it difficult to keep behind, with Truant 2 being called back.  The recall didn’t harm her, as she got a great line off the start and managed to be right back up with Jessie and Avro after a relatively short distance.

Jessie’s day ended at the Hamilton Dockside area, the starboard side shroud giving way at the lower swage.  She turned around and jury-rigged the mast-head halyard to support and found her way home safely.

The breeze had built significantly with the sheets being thrown on several occasions, however overall it was still comfortable sailing conditions.  Avro made ground on Truant 2 and rounded the top mark well in front.  The conditions were ENE and occasionally E, but given Avro had only a BIG spinnaker, she got set up but held off a set to see how Truant would go.

The answer – poorly.   Truant’s set went horribly wrong, with the kicker being attached to the sheet not the brace, resulting in the kite flying high and a capsize quickly following.  Avro sailed home under working sails to take the win.

Despite the tough day at the office, the gents on Truant are determined to overcome and will be back next week!