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ePaper created 2014-06-11, 13:05:34 | version 1.30.01
166 I got off the plane from Melbourne where I’d been attending the Melbourne Food andWine Festival. With a hangover that would crippleahorse,ItookataxitotheMiddleHarbourYachtClubwhereChrisKelly,crew,bottleopenerandagentprovocateurpicked me up on Ratu VI. There was no wind. It drizzled. The sky was grey. Everything was grey. At the start line we came up to Oruzuru. Harry was smiling. We trundled by Paper Moon. Denis was smiling. We passed by Swashbuckle – smiling. What’s wrong with these people? No wind,drizzling rain,grey all round,and they’re all happy. Lunatics! Prepare to start. We should have all gone through the start line like lean greyhounds. Instead, 11 pregnant whales crossed the line, wallowing along in a light westerly, south westerly, south easterly, north westerly wind. Then it started to come in from the north, so slightly sprung, we edged our way towards North Head, and with a combination of luck and the forceful quotation of non-existent rules to our rivals, we bluffed our way along, elbowing aside Swashbuckle, ran in close to the cliffs and ended up just in front at the turn. Chris Kelly,over-excited with youthful zeal,started talking about how we were going to win. And the Fat Lady hadn’t yet sung. In fact, the Fat Lady was nowhere around, so after having been in front for a whole ten seconds we fell into this hole off North Head and watched Farr Horizon pull away. We struggled on with First Light breathing down our necks and the rest of the fleet down to leeward. Out of the Heads we came and we were looking good,with Farr Horizon slightly ahead and First Light back a bit. Then they both tackedinshore. Bigmistake,saysI,there’salwaysmorewindouttosea. Sowecontinuedon,thepropercoursebeingexactlyNorth, which was exactly where the wind was coming from. Ain’t it always the way? After half an hour my hangover started losing its grip and I started losing mine. Farr Horizon had come back out and was a quarter of a mile in front. We stayed out to sea. Then Farr Horizon came out again and she was half a mile in front. It gradually penetrated through the porridge of my brain that maybe we should try inshore. So we did. And found that we could sail higher. 20 degrees higher. A great time to find this out, an hour into the race. We struggled on inshore, but it was too late, the horse had bolted. Then the Mt. Gay 30, Amphibious Armchair got through us,so we had a couple of beers to help with the hangover and followed them up to the latitude line,turned and ran on the port gybe with the big whomper up,would you believe it? Out to sea. Nonetheless Ratu VI burbled happily to herself as she ate up the miles,because a good spinnaker run is just what this happy yacht enjoys. The sun was starting to be seen, now and then, so we had another beer and watched Casha, Runamuk and Prelude still struggling north,all of them still smiling. Then the gybe and the race toward North Head and the grim determination to do well, and then we fell into the very same hole we’d encountered on the way out. You can fall into the same hole twice. Anyway Orizuru,who was chasing us,fell into it too,so if you’re going to fall into a hole,it’s nice to have company. We battled on to the finish and finally the Fat Lady sang and Chris turned to me and said,“Wasn’t that a terrific race?” And I had to agree that it was a terrific race and we’ll be out again for the next one. Lunatics! James Davern Rosina Sail No.824 Builder: Frank Marks Launched: 1965 Construction: Strip plank kauri Frank Marks,a professional boatbuilder in the Bay of Islands,built Rosina for himself in 1964. Sea Spray in November of 1966 reported on her maiden ocean voyage:“Rosina entered intoWhangarei-Noumea Race said to have been nearly wrecked off Norfolk Island.” She had broken away from her mooring,was holed and sunk,washing up onto Norfolk Island. She was salvaged and left on the island. Marks returned to Norfolk the following year, where he made repairs to her and then sailed her back to New Zealand. P.H.Luxmore sailed Rosina in the 1969Auckland to Suva race,entered under the name of R.Luxford. He made numerous trips