When the Schmitt Hits the Fan

Five boats turned out for Heat 4 of the Three Buoys Race Series on February 4^th 2012. The sun was out and the wind was below 25 knots for the first time in a month. A perfect day for racing.

The fleet was looking tidy after some newly acquired sponsors, signage, rigs, sails and wetsuits to match and much sweat-equity spent on the boats. APC Logistics and Winning Appliances are now supporting Laurie Williamson and Shane Smith respectively with more sponsor interest in the pipeline. The Brisbane scene is hotting up!

The start of the race was hectic. All boats converged on the line within a few seconds. Queenslander1 and Winning Appliances had the pace with big rigs while Queenslander, BlueWire and APC Logistic went with their No.2 rigs.

The big rigs came out of the blocks like they were on fire with APC and BlueWave close behind, that is until the power of Q1’s new 4000sqft No1 mainsail straightened the hook at the top of the mast and unfortunately, their race was over.

Power to weight ratio explained

If pies eaten <  ‘all of them’ then ‘sail area required’ = normal

Unfortunately Queenslander’s race was also stopped prematurely when their mainsheet bridle broke on the first windward leg.  Chris Garrett and the boys are currently experimenting with some new gear and, some of it apparently still needs some work.

The top three places changed regularly throughout the race, however it was all decided when BlueWave’s mainsheet detached from the boom. For’ard hand, Nathan Schmittman could be heard cursing across the bay like Chewbacca with his chest hair caught in his tracksuit zipper. Through the rage, they managed to get it fixed and finish 3^rd behind the flawless race of Shane Smith on Winning Appliances and a very competitive Laurie Williamson on APC Logistics.

Laurie and Shane both had GoPro’s onboard so check out the race hightlights both here http://youtu.be/l7QZX-H3xZM and on our YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/Brisbane18Footers. Image gallery still to come.