THE GIANT STEPS REGATTA for AUTISM. Hello Members and friends , The Australian 12vs assoc was so very proud to be part of the 10 year Anniversary of the GIANT STEPS SAILING REGATTA, We have participated now for the past two Regattas ,and intend on an ongoing commitment to such a great cause. With members,Mark Bolte,Peter Gallagher,and Jay Lazarus as Skipper on board Australia they hosted 16 corporate guests from Bouygues construction,With members Steve Paff, Rina Marcellino, Peter Kelly and Frank Lagudi as Skipper on Board SteaknKidney we hosted 16 corporate guests from VSL industries . THE RACE! The start of the race was hectic,with many large yachts trying to get the upper hand on their competitors (middle harbour is not that big) Australia and Steak were both on a two minute Hcp ,Australia getting the better of the start and headed up toward Manly,with a strong east sou easterly blowing I decided to head across the Harbour and head towards Nth head ,This put a lot of distance between the two yachts as both headed off in different directions .This was going to be a race of tactics from the gecko! Australia sailing with a starboard set,tacked and headed up toward Manly east,Steak was sailing with a port set reached the other side of the harbour, tacked for the long leg up to Manly,Who will get there first? it was very difficult to work out who was in front ,as we drew closer together is was clear Australia was going to round the Manly west mark first,closely followed by Steak,Australia rounded the Manly east mark with steak close on her stern.Australia must have thought at this point she had the race in hand,not quite!as we both headed down to the next mark ,the Eastern chanel marker and towards Shark Is.at this point of the race Australia seemed to become motionless,noticing this we adjusted our coarse and sailed on passed them ,continuing towards Shark Is.Most yachts at this stage were finding the going a bit slow ,but Steak just seemed to find a nice little breeze passage and kept moving along with some of the lighter bigger yachts that had big sail area,we rounded Shark Is. first and the excitement was building,there were four big yachts racing down the harbour to Fort Denison now all within shouting distance of each other ,once again Steaks nemesis was her outhaul BLAST!!! allowing Australia to catch up and call for water as we rounded Fort Denison, Rounding the mark they headed off again toward Cremorne as we headed off toward Rose Bay ,then we had a brilliant tacking duel all the way up the Harbour heading for home ,with the lead changing several times ,ducking and weaving through all the other yachts and ferries and Naval vessels on the water.It was thrilling sailing in 25/30 knot winds ,Steak went east of the sour of pigs ,Australia went west,we crossed each others path again and again measuring the distance between us at each crossing ,it was anyones race at this stage.The crews on both yachts were working as hard as possible ,by now they understood a bit better on how each yacht sailed ,and were working their respective yachts to the brink. Australia had at this stage of the race gained a substantial lead of 500 mtrs and we were too close to the finish to be able to catch up,defeat was eminent ,Alas!!!!! they took the last mark on the wrong side ,(port instead of starboard) we had been racing for 2.5 hrs at this stage, race time was up ,(4.00pm Finish),Steak rounded the last mark on STARBOARD and headed home ,Defeated but not shamed ! Congratulations to both crews ,we know you had the time of your life,lets do it again next year (with a repaired outhaul) Frank Lagudi. Club Captain Australian 12vs Assoc,inc.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 07:43:31 +0000
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