Crew (Doug, Luke, Andrew, Annabel, Shane and Jeff)

What a cracking winter day for the last official race of the CYCA Winter Series. We got the boat prepped with all relaxed and enjoying the sunshine. Out on the course we pass the start boat and tack just before the Sydney 38 fleet charges for the starting line. We get our #1 hoisted and set up to run the line and find our best starting position. We line up and get a decent start, but are taken by Inkonkoni who has a cracking start. We keep out in the channel and take a few wind knocks but get a fairly good line to the first mark. Ocean Shield, a large Arctic Supply ship with a cool sunshield/helicopter pad just on top of the bridge is parked in head of Rushcutter Bay to move and replace moorings for the large Naval buoy. She makes a big floating wind shadow so we avoid her.

Getting to the first mark, we are about 30 seconds behind Inkonkoni. After the mark we pole out and chase after our competition. We made good progress, but Panacea who started six minutes behind us was already nipping at our heals. It took the next two legs to finally hunting down Inkonkoni at the Sow and Pigs mark. Right behind him at the mark, we were able to stay wide and cut close to mark right under him to pass! It was a brilliant move and felt good to catch and pass him in three legs. We had a fairly good work all the way up to Shark Island, making it on one tack but just clearing Nielsen Point. In this leg we were able to put a nice 300 meters on Inkonkoni.

At the Shark Island mark, we switched helm, with Doug taking over. It was a tidy mark rounding and then tacking towards the gate. I went on the grind and also forgot how much quick, physical extersion a fast grind in medium air is with the big #1. We had a nice lead on Inkonkoni, but Panacea was consistently reeling us in. After the gate, we started to keep towards channel, with Inkonkoni staying inside near Point Piper. By the time we tacked and headed back together, she had pulled all of our gains back and was just below us. Quickly looking at the course ahead, with the Ocean Shield over to our right, we decided to stay left, inside Clark Island and cover Inkonkoni. By the time we got to the island starboard mark, we were match racing Inkonkoni just five feet inside her. Almost had to call for room on the mark and island, but she was just a bit faster than us and pulled ahead. With us not able to point as high, and sailing in her dirty air, we decided to make our own fortune and tack away. Inkonkoni stayed inside again and crushes us on this leg, passing the mark a good minute ahead of us again. It shows that Nemesis and Inkonkoni have truly been each others competitors in this series!

With the shifting winds, we tack toward Garden Island and are barely making the mark, having to luff the last 10 meters to clear. We get a clean downwind run under a port pole, but the changing winds and angle to our next mark just aren’t working. We gybe the pole and on the new course make some great speed and gains on boats under spinnaker, passing a few that had passed the last mark before us! We have three legs to race and are still trying to chase down Inkonkoni. Panacea had passed by sometime in the last two legs, and Silver Minx is looming not far behind us. We have another fast run to Sow and Pigs, but just can’t reel Inkonkoni back in. We round the mark and work up the course again, this time with much better height. On the wind, with good boat speed we catch and pass under Great White, a Beneteau 41. Silver Minx is still chasing down as we round Shark Island, our only goal will be holding her off as we tack up to finish line.

Last tack is called and a Sydney fast ferry cuts right in front of our path. Bloody ferry Mary MacKillop plows in front of us with no rights over us sailing. We are forced to luff to avoid her, and this costs us a few boat lengths. The ferry passes less than a boat length away, close enough for me to give the master a “What the hell are you doing” hand gesture. We are now struggling to keep up Silver Minx. We crack off to pick up speed and charge towards the finish line. At the line, a cheeky Silver Minx, has a crew member up on the bow with a camera trying to shoot the finish line. There is another yacht under Silver Minx that is blocking the starting boat’s view of us finishing. To Luke and Andrew sitting mid-boat, it looks like we finish just a half boat length ahead of Minx.

We head back to club taking a leisurely set of tacks in the winter sun with Annabel helming for practice. At the club we are gutted to find they ranked us just one second behind Silver Minx! ARRRGGHH so typical of this series for Nemesis as we place fourth. Placing in the top three in an race has just eluded us the entire series. I have to question the handicapping that left us unable to score any winning finishes for an entire ten race season. But like Keith O’Donnell, from Matrix, taught us, know who your competitors are in any race. They are the only ones you can measure yourself against. For us that was Inkonkoni and Astral, good competitors and all the fun and just out of placing, AGAIN!

F’n Sydney Ferry Mary Bloody Barge Ass MacKillop!