Wed Racing 9/9/26 - 1st on handicap - good windy conditions

A good solid breeze for the first time in many weeks. Winds held well thorough out the race. Wind shifts were an issue but not too bad E to ENE and back to E over the afternoon. These conditions were the best conditions we have had since May. Of course the wind is one thing, the other is to make best use of it. Fortunately Heather encouraged changing down to the #2 headsail, which meant we had good overall control and that sail points well. Looking at the actual wind it averaged 15 knots with periods up to 17 knots and the gusts were mainly in the 20-23 knot range, so I think we could have carried the larger headsail and that would have improved our downwind and reaching speeds. Would have been harder work though. We were 1st OHC, 15 seconds ahead of Eufarria and 47 seconds ahead of Aida and Rum Runner (equal third). Not much room to spare! Over the line we were 10th in a fleet of 13 (including Torravean who DNF’d with a mechanical issue). Two finishers behind us, we crossed 35s ahead of Rum Runner and 47s ahead of Sue Ann. The fleet was spread over about 6 minutes, leaving aside Melee which took line honours 10m 33s ahead of us. Our speed averaged 5.3 knots, not bad, Eufarria was 2nd OTL at 5.63 knots. Heaven Can Wait (the Div 1 Bavaria) averaged 5.34 knots, a little faster than us. The YouTube film of the race is a bit long, 10 minutes, but there are several good sections, lovely shots of Sue Ann passing our bow (56s, 1m 20s, 3m 16s) and showing the tussle we had with Rum Runner, particularly the bit where they are almost climbing over our transom (5m in)! To raid our fridge I’m sure. The video is roughly edited and very little sound as I had to case the camera in a dive shell, but its still good viewing