Hi all,

following is my very bias report I promised, some time ago.

“Thrice Bitten” Mosquito with Spinnaker V’s Division 1, Sauna Sail 2010.

As always the Latrobe Valley Yacht Club “Sauna Sail” on the Queens Birthday Weekend in June, at the Hazelwood Cooling Pond looked like it would be a challenge. Light winds and showers where forecast all weekend, with typical for Victoria in June low teen top temperatures. The pre entries by Mosquito’s again looked promising though, with 11 Mosquito’s entered plus 2 with spinnaker.

More than 10 boats meant the Mosquito’s had their own Division and start, so the 2 Mosquito’s with spinnaker (cat rigs) joined Division 1 for fast mixed cats. This meant we could race 7 other cats with spinnakers, as included in the 28 entries in this large division where, 2 x Tornado’s, F18 Hobie Tiger, F16 Viper (sloop), F16 Taipan (cat), Taipan 5.7 with spinnaker and a Stingray mk2 with spinnaker. The total entries for the weekend was around 160 boats, slightly down on last year but still one of the biggest regattas in Victoria.

Saturday dawned cloudy with light wind but on the positive side, it looked like the rain had finished overnight. I arrived at the Yacht Club early? To rig my Mosquito with spinnaker “Thrice Bitten” only to see 100 or so boats already rigged or rigging up. I always find that rigging at the Sauna Sail takes longer than any where else, so many people to catch up with, many of whom you only meet once a year at the Sauna Sail. The variety of boats is also interesting, this year there where many youngsters with Oppies and 29ers, classes you didn’t see at all only a few years ago. In fact that was one of the highlights of the weekend, so many youngsters, the future of our sport I hope.

The wind had freshened by the time we where all heading out to the start, for the first of 2 back to back races for the afternoon. The gusts where coming off the southern rock wall so the water was very flat and as the Mosquito accelerated under spinnaker, I was already enjoying the ride just heading for the start line and thinking to myself this could be fun! Starts are always difficult when you have the shortest mast in the fleet, so for me starting windward as close to the favoured end as possible and pointing high is the priority. Trying not to have any boats sail over you as the tall rigs just take all the pressure from the small Mossie rig, this also gives you the ability to tack away from the dirty air, as the Tornado’s and A’s in the big fleet inevitably pull ahead. Thankfully the wind stayed strong enough to trapeze upwind most of the time on the Mossie, which gives the best chance of staying in touch with the faster cats. Once around the windward mark it was kite up and no longer was the Mossie under powered compared to the rest of the fleet, it was time to have fun. The gusts downwind came through in lines and with care and years of spinnaker experience I was able to gybe on the front of the gusts and ride them quickly to the downwind marks. Sooo much fun passing Taipans and A’s as they sail under powered unable to build apparent wind and maximise their higher aspect rigs. This race pretty much set the tone for the weekend, I pointed and tacked regularly on the shifts upwind all weekend as the Tornies and A’s pulled away, while I mixed it with the Taipans and they gradually pulled away. Then downwind I would catch or pass them, to start over again the next upwind, but generally the downwind gains where greater than the upwind losses, so I finished 8th over the line out of 25 finishers and first on Yardstick.

It was getting late by the time the second of Saturdays back to back races started, with the wind strongest at the start and getting lighter through out, things went much the same for me as the first race, but the sun was quickly descending. So a shortened course flag was flown, I thought this was ok as I battled near the front of the fleet sure of another yardstick win, but things don’t always go to plan. The story is the flag was up before some of the backmarkers approached the mark and they proceeded to the finish, dropping two laps instead of the intended one, that the rest of the fleet dropped, to cut a long story short the race was abandoned, bugger.

Sunday morning wind was light as expected mostly around 5 knots, coming from the clubhouse corner, which caused the race officers to run a starboard course, which makes the heavy traffic even trickier around the marks and a heavily bias start line. With the wind so light, some legs of the course allowed carrying of the spinnaker when they shouldn’t have. Which meant more fun for the Mossie with spinnaker, allowing me to finish 5th over the line out of 25 finishers and first on Yardstick.

Sunday afternoon the wind picked up with light rain as we headed downwind for the start, it looked like it could be a exciting afternoon, but it disappeared just as quick. The wind settled in a similar direction to the morning, around 8 knots in strength. Again a very bias start and a starboard course, I decided to take some transoms and start on port, but found myself trapped against a starboard tacker with a A class below me stopping me from taking his transom. This lead to a crash tack and a very poor start in bad air. For the first time for the weekend, I could see just how many boats where in Division one as I was behind nearly all of them. With the wind just enough for most of the division to trapeze, but not the Mossie, it was a real struggle to keep ground upwind. But of course the spinnaker hotted things up down wind, enough for me to finish 12th over the line and 4th on Yardstick, out of 21 finishers.

Monday morning the wind was very light, the fleets where smaller as many didn’t bother to get out of bed. Again a very bias line and starboard course, I think all crossed on port. With light gusts coming off the southern wall, it was possible to carry the spinnaker at times on the work, heaven if you had a spinnaker. Mind you some of the cat rigged Taipans didn’t seem to need one, but occasionally it went glassy, making it difficult to keep moving and a number of divisions caught up to each other. Bedlam at the windward mark, I decided to stay wide, try to keep clear wind and momentum, for what it was worth. Eventually it payed off and with a quick gybe I was off down the run at the head of the fleet. Only problem was there was no wind in the middle of the lake and that is where the next mark was, the fleet split along each wall avoiding the centre, but eventually you had to head that way. It was just lucky that I was able to pick up the zephyrs of breeze that got me to the mark still with the front of the fleet and a shortened course flag, meant head back from where we had come to the finish. The wind had swung about 90 degrees, which made it possible to again carry the spinnaker on what was a very tight reach. I headed as high as possible rather than taking the straight line, as this kept me nearer to the wall were the wind was coming from and away from the light wind in the middle. This payed off as I approached the island and the boats to leeward ran out of wind, leaving me to finish first over the line out of all the fleets, not bad for a Mossie. Sailing in such light winds can be a lottery, but there is a certain satisfaction still when your number comes up. Of course this meant I was first on Yardstick for my division, out of 14 finishers.

Well that was the end of another interesting weekend of sailing, as I said after 45 years of sailing at Hazelwood it is still a challenge every Sauna Sail, often light winds but rarely the same twice. Three wins out of 4 races gave me a clear Division One win and the satisfaction that local knowledge, combined with a 15-year-old Mossie and a spinnaker can over come some of the fastest cats in Victoria. But most importantly, not to take it too seriously, it is after all just a fun regatta, a great excuse to catch up with friends, enjoy special Mossie camp oven meals and get wet. Can’t wait till next year, if you haven’t tried it yet, you don’t know what you are missing.