HK Sportsboats 'Restaurant Racing'

by HK Sportsboats Assoc on 19 Nov 2008 The forecast didn't quite ring true for last Saturday afternoon's sailing, but it was still a great day out on the water. Five Magic 25's, one Longtze, Wild At Heart and French Kiss made it to the start line - and what a start it was!? Thierry on Chrisargo started playing with Black Magic with about three minutes to go, and by the start had sucked a few other boats into the melee. Chrisargo came off the worst by being pushed over the line and having to return but it was Fly By Wire which got the best start at the pin end and powered away in clean air.

Black Magic, Merlin and Fly By Wire crossed tacks all the way up the first leg with Red Herring, Catch 22 and Good Vibrations only a couple of boat lengths behind.?Fly By Wire rounded the top mark first very closely followed by Merlin and Black Magic but Fly By Wire went too far right and Merlin went too far left leaving the lane open for Black Magic to round the bottom mark first with Fly By Wire's prodder probing Peter Backe's rear end a bit too closely and eventually making contact with the mainsheet.

Fly By Wire did their 360 which put them on the back foot going up the leg again, but Black Magic managed to claw defeat from the hands of victory on the downwind leg by giving Merlin the win with Fly By Wire scraping back for second and Red Herring pipping Black Magic into fourth.

The second race was underway quickly once the Dragons finished, and once again there was lots of action with everyone trying to get the best position. It was difficult to tell, but Black Magic probably had the most momentum off the start line and opted to play shifts up the course which gave them a good lead at the top mark. Catch 22 had a great upwind leg in 3rd but Merlin were the worst off at the top mark with a rounding in 4th, a position which not only didn't make any difference to their final result, but from which they only just recovered to finish in 3rd after pipping Catch 22 downwind.

Black Magic lost a lot of ground on the final run but not enough to give Red Herring the gun. Fly By Wire and Good Vibrations had a close gybing duel down to the finish but Fly By Wire took the horn by a couple of seconds. Wild At Heart will definitely have finished well in the first race on handicap but French Kiss can never be underestimated with some very good results in the ladder thus far. ?The overall series goes to Steve and crew on Merlin with the other boats taking big hits from not racing the first weekend and going to watch the Bledisloe instead! Black Magic came a distant second with French Kiss in third on handicap and Fly By Wire 4rd in the Magic's.

Sunday was yet another perfect day with 10 knots of breeze and sunny weather with no clouds (as far as one could tell through the smog). Six boats met up at Shelter Cove and headed out to Pak Ah. The restaurant racing usually brings a lot of new faces out on the boat and this day was no exception. After a great seafood lunch we left Pak Ah and got ready for the start.

Sidewinder and Merlin missed the lunch and decided to meet up for the start. Unfortunately they started prematurely (which is unusual for a gate start) and got time compensation in the overall score. The rest of the fleet that managed to start got off to an exciting reach. All boats hoisted their kites but it was impossible to keep the right heading and after a short while boat after boat dropped for reaching configuration.

Black Magic were the first boat to round Steep Island closely followed by Fly By Wire, Red Herring, Chrisargo, Catch 22 and It's My Pleasure. When entering the harbor Fly By Wire geared up and took the lead with all boats hoisting the kite again - it was a tight race with boats gybing across the harbour trying to find the best wind. Catch 22 sailed well and were closing in on both Red Herring and Black Magic. It looked like Fly By Wire had the victory in a box but 30 meters from the finishing line they lost all the pressure and got stuck in a wind hole. All the other boats started to catch up but at the last minute Fly By Wire got a gust and finished. Black Magic was the second boat to finish and even though Red Herring struggled at the finishing mark, they came in just before Catch 22. It's My Pleasure were too busy drinking champagne to worry about the niceties of racing!? This was the second out of four races for the passage series. The results will be up as soon as the times have been re-calculated for boats starting without a start and boats finishing without a finish.......errmmmm....OK!