ORCV Melbourne Winter Series (MWS)

Hemingway.

There's one thing he knows a bit about. Actually, there are a lot, but the one I'm referring to is weather. He, is our very own Robin Hewitt and these are his sage words at the end of our Race Five.

"The BoM verbal forecast again demonstrates that forecasts are general and one should study the local data. The wind predictions were actually very accurate, but again the weather in a yacht's visible locality can be different, in terms of strategy. Most of the bad weather was further South and we managed to get a race in, with excellent sailing conditions prevailing. Unfortunately, the later finishers suffered a drop in pressure and especially so for the last yacht, who sat in zero wind for some time, just a half mile from the finish. Full marks to him, as eventually the new West wind came in to give a magnificent finish." Here here...

"The tale is told, when the line honours yacht averaged some 10kts, while the last finisher averaged roughly just 4kts. The start was in breeze of some 20-23kts and then it dropped to a mere 4kts, somewhere about when Div1 finished. Heavy rain bands passed through, but generally avoided the fleet. In spite of a longer race, the S38's finished quite close, led by Challenge. A good days sailing!"

They are used to being the first of the Colts, let alone the 40somethings, to go past the Committee Boat....

Part of that group of 40somethings, which the aforementioned Challenge often leads, is Wicked. One of her owners, Mark Wlesh, had this to say, "Another magnificent day's racing for Race Five, despite the cold and sometimes wet conditions. Well done to the ORCV for the constant vigilance, in closely monitoring the weather conditions, which have changed considerably over the past 24-48 hours. This resulted in the correct decision being made to run today's race. It was also great to do a course with some long legs, as a bit of variety.”

“Out on Wicked, we had another great race today, with yet more close racing with Challenge and Chutzpah38 around the track. Minor crew work errors could cost dearly in this type of racing, so everyone on board was really on their game. With the ordinary and aforementioned changing forecast, we may have been a little too conservative again today, in going again with our ocean main. We did not want to make it another ‘CVD’ (Commercially Viable Day) for the sailmakers!!!  Pete Williams joined us today (he usually drives the TP52 Cougar II), to call the tactics and he did a sensational job. Our regular afterguard hero, Graeme Smith (he of the loud shorts), had better watch out! We also borrowed Stuey Schafer from Calm (Farr GenIV TP52) for uphill trimming. Our regular foredecky, Aaron, was away, so I made a comeback to ‘Adventure Land’ and thankfully, did not screw anything up! Just like riding a bike, hey??!! Overall, we are very happy with our result, but congratulations to Goldfinger and Jazz Player (Bakewell-White Z39) on their wins today.”

Wicked - we're just glad to have her out there. BTW, they did well when they had Alien, too. That man Smithy in the afterguard, there...

More soon, naturally..

The full MWS results to date are HERE. The next race of the MWS is Race Six, on August 29.

So. If you would like to go for a run with the Colts or any of the other sections represented by the Bay's best, you can. Individual entry for MWS races is HERE and the M2G is HERE - remember that Cruising Divisions are offered for the latter event.

© John Curnow, ORCV Media

Please contact me for re-issue rights.

Thank you to David Judge and Peter Brucker from Hobbo's for ensuring Steb had a ride and we, therefore, had imagery. Many thanks to Tony Dawson on the day of his 60th Birthday for preparing the boat to go out before his gala lunch.
The Colts (Sydney 38s) are having their own fight within the battle - many thanks to Ullman Sails for providing the prize.