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Paul Stubbs writes: "Before the start, there was some confusion as the wind turned out to be stronger than predicted, and its direction was shifting. To make matters worse, one of our team members had developed severe back spasms and could hardly move!

We were a bit early for the start and struggled to avoid getting trapped by boats below us. Fortunately, there was enough space to keep up speed and run down the line, which worked out well, though it forced us to commit to going left. The shifts were unpredictable, varying between East and NEast, so we had to keep an eye on the boats upwind to try and play the shifts while picking a side. It took a while to make our way to the right to minimize the tide, following One More No More, who seemed confident in their strategy.

Downwind, we missed having Ian on the foredeck and were short on experienced crew. Playing it conservatively, we opted for a small square kite and avoided any gybes until reaching Kirribilli. For the second run, we knew we’d need to gybe at Shark, so we switched to the asymmetric kite, which was easier to handle and turned out to be the right choice as the breeze dropped off. Our inexperienced crew did an amazing job, though, and at the end of the second run, we executed a fast A-sail drop right at the mark—huge credit to them!



On the final beat, we broke the barber hauler, and it was looking tight at the finish. Near the layline, we managed to tack onto starboard and cross a few boats, including Ellipse, before shooting the line. It was great to have Ellipse (another NS369) to match up with, as they seemed to have the same pace as us but not the same luck. All in all, a fantastic day out on the water."

Photos by Margaret Fraser-Martin

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