I am new to the class but have sailed in various other class's. Wanted a boat that was exciting but controlable at the same time.Bought a second hand ply boat to try out the class, and as with all wooden boats have spent time and money after every sail, repairing,adjusting to suit my style of sailing and am getting comfortable with the boat . I have missed alot of sailing opportunities due to work commitments so I was very excited to be on the water with MK 1 rigged, 10 Knots and a possable 12-15 arriving ( heaven on a Mozzie ). OK launching off the beach hit a breaker lifting the bow and shunting the tiller into the seabed , hope no-one saw that, pulled the tiller up and you guessed it snapped the tiller in in half. THIS WILL NOT STOP ME .Arrived at the start and settled into a position amongst the other cat's. a metre + swell gently rocked the boat and I heard a CLINK, THUD, not real loud, but enough to notice , looked on the tramp and saw a schackle pin sitting there. OMG the rigging is going to fall any minute, a wild glance around the rigging and could not see any issues.
5 minute to race start, good wont be long now, but where the hell did that pin come from, CLUNK, THUD, what the hell!! a shackle with no pin lands on the tramp . Seriously looking to the heavens to see when the rigging is going to let go. Quick glance to see how far the beach is, what to do if mast falls, which side of the boat do I abandon on, what's the protocol for mast falling amongst boats on start line, do I yell timber to other boats. All this going through my tiny mind when I spotted my mate laughing his head off as he threw another schackle onto the tramp.
Yep he bought the beers