Mainsail blows out at BRSC regatta

This was my first time as a participant at the Big River Sailing Club annual regatta. The forecast was 13 - 18 knots SE, so Nicky and I were looking forward to a thrilling sail in Little Dragon. We planned to follow the fleet from Harwood to Iluka and back (we don't race).

The fleet was divided into six divisions from super fast cats across various fast mono hull classes such as the NS14s and finally a bunch of trailer sailors - mainly Hartley 16s.

It was less than 13 kts when we set off but the wind just kept increasing and on the way back it was gusting up to 25 kts (or so the post mortem claimed). We were having a ball and extremely pleased with Little Dragon's performance. Nicky took the helm most of the way and I kept control of the main sheet. We were trying to keep well out of the way of the race fleet - but that was easier said than done. I wished that I had a reef in but it seemed too difficult to reef while under way. I didn't anticipate needing one when we set off. Small boats were capsizing all over the place and when we returned we learnt that a Hartley 16 and a Cole 19 had gone over.

A boat overtook us gesticulating madly and yelling. We were puzzled as we weren't in their way so we assumed it was just friendly encouragement. Within seconds we realised what they were trying to tell us - our mainsail was starting to rip and before we could come head to wind the rip went across the width of the sail. It was all over for us, we got the main down and motored back to Harwood.

I spread my damaged mainsail out in front of the clubhouse at breakfast the next morning. The consensus was "repairable" and I was introduced to one of the competitors, Andrew from Grafton, who is an experienced sail maker. With a spot of luck I should have it back with a new panel within a week. Andrew confirmed that it was almost certainly the original sail so almost 30 years old - not bad.






The Big River Sailing Club members, and in particular the catering group, do a splendid job and I look forward to attending their next regatta - the Bridge to Breakers next November.

I am sorry Beronice and Savaad that I had to cancel your Sunday sail, I think the photo of the sail shows that sailing was out of the question. It might not have been such a bad thing as by early afternoon it looked like the wind was coming up to well over 20 kts just like the day before. It was also rain and shine, hence the rainbow.