Hi all,

Fourth installment of my very bias (only from my perspective) Nats report below.

Thursday, was yet another hot and humid day with a late start, so more time to relax before the 12.30pm start, with 3 back to back races planned. The wind was somewhere in the east again, blowing out of Warners Bay, so more flat water and gusty conditions. First race offered the strongest breeze whilst racing so far, the heavier crews where starting to grin and the Sloops where a ball of spray. Spinnaker handling was starting to become tricky and you couldn't wipe the green grin off the skipper of “Kryptonite” as he rolled over the top of “Still Bitten” near the top mark. Surprisingly in the second race the wind moderated a little, as it started to shift more northerly.
By the start of the third race, the wind had shifted quite a bit and got stronger again, it was full on racing, flat out and fast, with the wind shifting so far that the spinnaker boats where going straight from the top mark to the bottom with no gybes! Again “Kryptonite” was battling with “Still Bitten” for the lead and as they approached the leeward gate for the last time there was nothing in it, a gybe on to Port for the finish line put “Still Bitten” under pressure and a attempt to complete the required right angle change of direction with the spinnaker still up, resulted in a capsize and knocked more than the wind out of my sails (as I dived across to the other side of the boat trying to save it from capsizing and the gunnel came up to meet me and caught me in the ribs, then when the mast hit the water, I was thrown on to the boom landing on my lower back ). After recovering from being winded and righting the boat I looked around expecting to see the rest of the fleet gone past, but few boats where there, it was then I looked at the Finish Boat and saw the abandonment flag, it was a no race after all.

Back on shore there was much discussion about the last race being abandoned, but ultimately it was the RO's call, initially due to the wind shift causing the racing to be unfair (like straight from top to bottom mark for the spinnaker boats) and then the wind getting too strong. As you would expect these discussions carried on into another evening of fluid replacement, along with a lot of talk about “Fat being Fast” . But I would like to think it was the cream rising to the top .