You can almost see it

by John Curnow on 24 Apr 2017 The windward/leeward is great fun and a real test of your skills. True, it might be hard for the uninitiated to follow, but then sailing is not the world’s largest spectator sport by any means. Badminton does rate higher, after all. Still, when you’re doing it, you not really worried about little racquets and small, caged up, feathered thingamabobs.

The opportunity to do a passage race brings with it the chance to go about things differently. A downhill start is always a nice change, too. Just watching the varying approaches to the kite hoist always makes for great sport. And then there’s the ever changing scenery going past you. If you’re on a sled, or in a massively tidal waterway, that can be a constantly changing montage of colour, texture and in it’s own way, drama.

Funny to mention drama, for a passage race in this country usually means going near beaches and bricks, so getting the choices correct can mean you avoid the drama shows, and instead partake in the comedy, as you smile and joke about how well you’re doing. Speed over ground is always king, after all. If it is not a soldier’s course, and therefore a drag race, having the sails for the job and the crew on board to use them effectively will only enhance the overall show, and possibly take it from the small screen to the IMAX version in full high definition 3D. Our eyes are amazing instruments, you know…

Water whizzing past channel markers, boats with huge lateral yaw being pushed sideways to the tune of 30-40 degrees are some of the things you’ll see, as the silent, and nearly invisible forces of nature take charge of the situation. Some will stay with you for a long time, or perhaps even permanently. One that comes to mind for me is a bombora that runs along inside a bay, then up along a reef and sandbar that extends along the very coast it sits beside.

It stands up, entirely as if it is totally and utterly stationary, with the glinting light from the sun reflecting off of the orange peel effect of its surface in a captivating, albeit nearly surreal visual feast. Good thing I did not have the helm that particular day, for I reckon it would be as mesmerising as the old mermaids on the rocks tale, then you’d have quickly gone from the sublimely picturesque nature doco, and straight on to the late night horror movie!

Now the sun was mostly out, the breeze was in at the classic 10-15 knots from the warm direction, not the cold, and you really could say to yourself that it was indeed as you saw on the brochure when you bought into it all. To ensure that it was filed away as such, the best path to the next mark of the course meant you had to skirt the side of the sand, which was made really easy by the white water on the top of it, and Kevin Barr’s polarised specs. The shallower your draft, and the more daring the driver, the closer you went. The treat behind it was even flatter water and a beeline to the mark, which was just to the right of some more breaking water.

The whole thing suffered from just one issue. No kite, but there was the chance to have a little stern wiggle atop one of the small running waves just after the bar, and that, in conjunction with being able to see the bottom clearly, is what has lead to these 800 words. Thank God for sailing…

Finally, how wonderful it was to speak with Lisa Blair, who is so incredibly inspiring and delightful. Now if you would like to receive the Sail-World newsletter each week, then please go to the 'Newsletter' button at the top of the Sail-World home page and enter your details. Simples...