I was very keen to do the Marlay Point race in our boat with Teryle. My previous experience in the race was in ideal conditions and it was a magic experience.
Teryle and I and another couple (Ken had good sailing experience and owns a Sonata 26), and my eldest son Shane were all keen starters. I had nominated our entry in the cruising division as it only required the overnight race and not the additional Sunday race. A curious race secretary rang me a few days prior to race day querying my entry classification saying that the Magnums were a fast boat and did I really mean the cruising division. I let him down gently with “the boat maybe fast, but the crew are not”.
We left Melbourne Friday afternoon and arrived at Marlay Point just in time to put up the mast in the fading light. The local school’s Mother’s Club was in attendance serving a good range of tucker. The Yacht Club is rather basic, but the locals and other yachties are very friendly and after a respectable time at the Club Bar, and getting the low down on the race from the experts, we headed back to the boat for the night. There are mossies at Marlay Point.
Saturday morning, we had the boat in the water early and negotiated our way around to the creek to sit out the day. It is very shallow in this area and Shane ended up over the side pulling us into a spot amongst the reeds, a bit like Humphrey Bogart in the African Queen.
The scrutineers were around soon after and gave all our new gear a tick. I then left with the trailer and drove to Paynesville with Shane, where I got further supplies and the bus back at about Midday. It was now very hot and I was optimistic the weather would be perfect.
Back at Marlay Point Teryle had gathered some mates on board and was exercising with enthusiasm the social obligations of the weekend. The afternoon went quickly in ideal conditions and surroundings, but the serious part was approaching fast. A briefing at 5:00pm for the 250 starters, a quick crew meeting and a rather awkward exit from the creek (Shane over the side again) and we were into it.
There were 50 boats in our division starting at 7:20pm, which was after the other divisions who were doing a lap around Lake Wellington as their first leg. Kenny was at the tiller and utter confusion reigned as we went over the line. It seems that the right of way rule doesn’t mean a whole lot at times.
Our first leg was most satisfactory with a beat almost directly toward the McLennan Straits. The conditions were good with a 10 – 15 knot breeze. But unfortunately this did not hold and it dropped to nothing as we arrived at the entry to the Straits, and only the current, which fortunately was in the right direction provided forward movement. We even managed to do a couple of unintentional 360 degrees turns to our utter amazement – there must have eddies.
It took forever to negotiate the Straits under drifting conditions and by now most of the crew had gone below for some zzz’s or were pretending to be awake in the cockpit.
The sports boats were fascinating to watch, as they seem to generate their own wind as they glided past us doing twice our boat speed before disappearing into the night. Some boats even put up spinnakers in the Straits, but they were only limp rags.
Eventually, by early morning, we were into Lake Victoria and fortunately the wind pushed in at 10 – 15 knots again and we were on a good beat, proudly flying our spinnaker, which was very shy, but very effective when you haven’t got a genoa. We had a fantastic sail until daylight and the magic of the lights was once again evident.
We mostly held our position on this leg and managed to pass our mates with whom we had spent the previous afternoon, which was most satisfactory for the skipper. We crossed the finishing line about 8:30am Sunday morning, very tired but quite elated that we had done it without incident.
I was quite chuffed that we were 19th over the line in our division, however the handicap results proved to be a different matter, but then line honors is all important.
The GLYC put on a hearty breakfast and after a much-needed kip we delivered the boat to Bluewater Marine in readiness for our return at Easter.
In reflection I loved the experience, but more importantly it was good to share it with Teryle,
Shane and close friends.
Steve Richards – Top Shelf
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