Last weekend my local sailing club the Big River Sailing Club (http://www.bigriver.yachting.org.au/), held its annual Laser regatta, for those who are not familiar with the boat check out the following you tube clip.
Note that I am not sailing in any of this video. When I was 21 I could sail like this and compete with the best but that was quite a few years ago, now I am happy to get around the course and have fun.
The week before the regatta I rang the club president and asked if he knew of anyone who had a boat I could loan for the regatta, preferably with the big rig. Within a day a boat was arranged and I was committed.
I rolled up early on the Saturday and was introduced to Colin who was the owner of the boat I was to sail. Great bloke and keen to see the boat do well as it was up for sale. This made me nervous and I had to explain to Colin that while I can sail a boat and used to be quite competitive in a laser, I had not sailed one for a long time. This did not seem to faze him much and in the end we agreed that the main idea is to have fun.
22 boats turned up at the club for the regatta and all were keen to get out on the river for a sail. The race was to be around 6 marks in a complicated zig zag and we were to do it twice. Lots of marks because the river is not that wide so to get a good race in we were going to be sailing a complex route. The wind was blowing accross the river and while on our side it was reasonably steady, I could see on the other side it was going to be light with strong gusts coming through the trees. Sky was overcast with what looked to be light showers, so they would affect the wind direction and strength as well. Quite a challenge and this my first time back in the boats, I could see that there was a very good chance of my going swimming.
At the end of the day we completed two races and I was exhausted. I capsized four times and had all sorts of boat handling problems, which absolutely drained me, but boy did I have fun! I didn't disgrace my self either finishing 5th on the first race and 7th on the second, so in the top half of the fleet and feeling pretty good about that.
I went home that night and after a long hot shower and a good meal it was not long before I was in bed feeling drained and content. Hopefully tomorrow the wind won't be so gusty and sailing will be a lot easier, don't know if I could keep up todays exertions again.
The next day it was still overcast but the rain had passed on and the wind was light. First race was away at 1000 and only 5 marks this time. Being one of the heavier sailors I did not fancy my chances sailing against all the light weights but even though I had shocking starts I quickly made my way to the front five each time and had good speed for most of the day. In fact the results show this with a 5th, 4th and another 5th. Races were quick and interesting with shifting winds and strong river currents, on the course tactics were important as in one beat I went from near last to 3rd around the next mark. Not having local knowledge I think helped as the river was not behaving as the locals predicted.
In the end I was very pleseantly suprised by finishing 3rd in the regatta and taking home a bottle of wine for my efforts. Colin was happy as his boat went well and he could use that to keep a good price on it.
Above all I had fun and revelled in the knowledge that the right decisions were slowly coming back to me. Now I just have to get the body used to sailing again, more fitness work and a lot more time on the water practising.
My OK dinghy will be in the water next weekend and I will be keen to see how it performs. I need to get it right as the following weekend it is down to Port Stephens for their regatta and there will be plenty of other OK's there as well, I want to make a good impression.
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