Crash Test Dummies live up to their name- HCW 2010 War Story

by Steve Brajkovic on 19 Sep 2011 Lake Macquarie's annual Heaven Can Wait charity yacht race -- which is on again in less that two weeks, on the October Long Weekend (October 1-2) -- is as much about having fun sailing on a fantastic body of water as it is about raising funds for men's cancer research and support programs.

Relive last year's Heaven Can Wait and read what a great (short) time some participants had, in this Heaven Can Wait 2010 'War Story' by Crash Test Dummies. And there's more to come over the next few days. Enjoy!This is a short but sweet story from a boat whose Heaven Can Wait 2010 race lasted less than an hour.

Unfortunately for us, we were on the poorly named Crash Test Dummies, a Boatspeed 23 launched earlier this year.

Wow! What a great start and first 50-odd minutes as we skipped away from the fleet.

Okay, the 18 and a few of the foiling moths were in front of us -- when they were upright.

My crew kept advising me that the Melges 32 was about to roll us as we looked back and watched it get spat out in our wake.

Stealthy, the 8m flyer, passed us on the short upwind leg.

The main was eased very quickly, to the point of not in hand of the mainsheet hand.

The masthead kite did short work of inverting and snapping the carbon rig.

As we cleaned up the mess and watched the fleet go by, we thought about our 50 minutes of fame and motored away smiling, realising what we had entered was for such a great cause.

As we motored back, we were amazed that the first three moths had the time to sail past and wave to us, as they were doing approximately 20 knots to windward, seemingly relaxed.

Packing up the boat was a lot faster than normal, but not recommended if you want to complete a race.

A special thanks to the race committee and all the organisers of the event.

See you next year.

-- Steve Brajkovich, Bob Stoddard, Tim Byford and Rick Plain, crew of Crash Test Dummies