The last Race

The last race of the winter series and the weather forecast was for increasing winds and maybe rain. We set out clothed for wind but not rain – this might be a mistake but no time to go back and change now we’re already pushing it for time. We get down to the race area before deciding on the jib because the wind is building all the way there. At the start area it’s already around 15 knots so we opt for the smaller jib. We get organised with the main up and run up and down the start line to get a feel for what we’re in for – it looks like it’s going to be wet and lively, wind up to 18-19 knots, that’s a lot in a little J24. We’re off heading down the coast to Nikiana, the windward mark. It’s hard work, the wind is still building and it’s a case of just holding on up on the rail trying to keep the boat somewhere like level. As we get closer to the mark for the first time there’s animated discussion as to whether we’ll hoist the Spinnaker, or if the Spinnaker will even hold out in this wind!! Well the helm is just as much a dare devil as Mark so ‘up it goes’. We all hold on for dear life as we hurtle back up to the upwind mark, it doesn’t take us long to get there and now we have to get the dam thing down and try and keep everyone on board. Some boats had given up and gone home, others are struggling to keep going. We round the mark and head down to the windward mark for the 2nd time and down comes the rain. And it rains and rains and rains so visibility is reduced considerably. More boats give up and go home – but not us!! Round the windward mark, now we’re in winds of about 22 knots and still we hoist the Spinnaker – this time we take off like a scalded cat, the whole boat is humming – Mark and Tony(helm) are whooping, the girl on foredeck with me is looking scared and the pit man can’t believe he can have any more fun. The waves are up along with the wind and we’re flying down them reaching speeds of 13 knots!! Out of control or what. We keep this up to the point we all think it’s going to go completely pair shaped or the spinnaker is going to blow out so we decide as we’re still all on board it might be wise to take it down. We’re not far from the upwind mark by now and round it going like a bat out of hell and back down for the last leg. As often happens when sailing here we get nearly down to the mark and the wind dies completely and we really struggle to get round but just as we do the wind picks up again and it’s on the beam for half the leg then on the nose for the last ½ mile and we are wet all the way down to our skin!! We cross the line in 2nd position with half the fleet having retired. What a way to finish the series.