Grafton to Brushgrove regatta

11 to 13 February 2011

Last year Noela and I competed in the Clarence River Yacht Club annual Grafton to Brushgrove regatta in very light winds and won our division. I was so chuffed that I decided to defend my title this year.

Many thanks to the hard working club members who had spent many hours cleaning the Boy Scout hall and grounds from the havoc caused by the recent floods.

Gina Baker volunteered to come along to crew. Gina has a dinghy sailing background but it was the first time we had sailed together. It went well - thanks Gina.

The forecast was far from ideal - stinking hot and not enough wind. We drove down on Friday morning, rigged and launched expecting a twilight race. It turned out that only the cats raced as not enough yachts made it on Friday. It didn't matter, we had a very pleasant sail in light airs. It was a good opportunity to prepare for the race the following day. The photo above is Gina at the helm (it is becoming a Little Dragon tradition for this blog to have a "crew at the helm" snap).

We anchored in the river overnight and rowed ashore in the Zodiac for the excellent spag bol put on by the Clarence River Yacht Club in their HQ aka the Scout Hall. Ditto on Saturday night for the regatta dinner.

Saturday morning was, as expected, very hot and not a breath of wind. There was a fair bit of jealousy that we were able to hide under the bimini and several enquiries about where I purchased it. It really did make a difference.

The start was shifted to the end of Elizabeth Island in the hope that the breeze would reach there in time for the 1 pm start. All the yachts milled around at the start very, very slowly. I would be surprised if there was 1 knot of wind. However we all got away and ghosted down river much helped by an ebb tide. As a "slower yacht" according to the official yardstick used I was told to sail a short course. My course was to Ulmarra and and back to the finishing line (which unexpectedly moved a few kilometres, which caught a few people out). The "faster yachts" went on to Southgate and some even made it to  Brushgrove. Luckily the wind picked up to a light sailing breeze, maybe it gusted 3 knots, but it was on the nose so we had to tack downriver.

The run home was very pleasant. The conditions were ideal for a spinnaker but I don't have one, so the best we could do was use our modified boat hook as a whisker pole so we could goose wing the jib. Unfortunately the clip on the makeshift whisker pole wasn't working properly and we lost it overboard. It floated beautifully and we watched it bobbing around behind us. We couldn't resist practising a "man overboard" drill, so I gybed and chased the pole. Lucky it wasn't a man (or woman) overboard as we never got it.

You never know, if we hadn't lost time by chasing the whisker pole we might have won our division... As it was we came second (out of three). The photo above is me modelling the Clarence River Yacht Club beach towel - our prize.

Sunday dawned hot and just got hotter. The outboard had been playing up the previous day and although it finally started on Sunday it cut out just before we got to the ramp. We were close enough for me to jump overboard and although I sank to my knees in mud I was able to pull Little Dragon ashore. Then we packed up as quickly as possible  as I was determined to get into my air conditioned car before the day heated up to the forecast 38c.

Gina is a gold plated crew. She is one of the few who has been able to come back to my place and help me with the home pack up. We pushed Little Dragon up into position in my back yard, a task that is too heavy for me on my own. Then Gina hosed her down and the two of us made quick work of tying down the unwieldy boat cover. It was good to retire inside for a glass of red knowing that next day I only had to flush the outboard, charge the battery, grease the rollers, empty the porta potty then set about getting the outboard fixed etc, etc. No wonder most trailer sailor owners seem to be retired. I could never have contemplated such a time consuming hobby while in the work force. But I love it.