Once upon a time there was a large body of sheltered water called Jervis Bay. The Bay was called sheltered because it was not in the open ocean. However when the wind blows it does get bumpy, sometimes. The sometimes bumpiness of Jervis Bay is contrary to often smooth sailing conditions experienced in other sheltered bodies of water, for example Lake Illawarra. For little boats the sometimes bumpiness of the Jervis Bay waves and the wind can impede forward progress if traveling against them but good for making progress with them. Sometimes if the waves are big enough the boat can go up over the first wave and down into the second wave with a resulting wall of water splashing those on board and making them wet. Usually its not just one but a series of wave wetting episodes to ensure that it soaks through any water resistant clothing of every person on board and, if any hatches are open, ends up wetting inside the boat as well. It’s a very egalitarian type of event where getting wet is shared by all aboard whether they are inside or outside the boat.
For me Jervis Bay is a nemesis. Sailing most of the time in relatively smooth conditions means that skills for making boats go fast against waves and wind do not have much opportunities to develop. I don’t know about you guys but have trouble setting things up to make reasonable speed ahead against the Jervis Bay waves wind. Any advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated.
Needless to say Frou Frou did do very well in the bumpy Jervis Bay conditions. But it was all worth it for the 12 and 14 knots under spinnaker on the square run from Honeymoon Bay to Creswell. That was worth starting the race for.
I wish I could tell you how the other 3 PKSC boats, Rosstered Off, Out of Exile, and the newly named Woman Wisperer handled the conditions but they had packed up and were gone by the time Frou Frou was back at the launching ramp and on dry land. The conversation amongst other competitors confirmed that the conditions were very challenging, estimated wind speeds of at least 25 knots made for lively and demanding sailing conditions with about one quarter of the fleet retiring.
Congratulations to Brad and crew aboard Woman Wisperer who ended up 4th overall, with Frou Frou ending up 6th in the 14 fleet TY division.
See you all at next Saturdays 9th race of the Pointscore series.
The end Trev.