In July we had the third sailboat racing at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club. Guess what? We won! Our awesome team on the gorgeous boat “6’10” (Catalina38) won the sailboat racing on that day! (Notes and photos from the previous boat racing.)
I guess, the odds were in our favor. Especially wind. Who would have thought that one day I would say that a windy day is a good day! Yes, if you are on a boat, you need wind to sail. Bigger boats tend to sail better (faster) when it’s more windy.
The wind was strong. After a bit of struggling with getting the sails up, we went off to the start “line”.
We had a special guest on board – a girl Olivia. I wonder if she cast some magic that helped us win? ;-)
The race started. For me it felt like everything fell into place. Everything felt smooth. No internal rush, just do what you need to do. It was a great feeling. May be I’m adjusting to sailing and racing? When you start doing something new, usually there is heaps to learn, so you might feel overwhelmed and you don’t see the whole picture. You do what you need to do and you just don’t have time to think about anything else. That’s absolutely okay. Over time you start seeing the forest behind the trees.
Most of the time other boats were behind us, which was quite thrilling. A good distance was giving a hope that we were doing something right :) In sailing, like in business, where you do not rely on a hope, a lot depends on planning, navigating (maneuvering), each team member’s actions, and teamwork. Have you ever seen people sitting on one side of a boat during racing? It’s not just for fun, it’s to level the boat so it’s more “flat”, which helps her sail faster. (Yes, sailors refer to boats as “she”, which is, by the way, similar to how we refer to cats whose sex we don’t know.) May be it’s because the first-ever sailors were mostly men? Although I don’t know the reason for sure, it’s nice and respectful.)
During the race one boat capsized (turned upside down). Although the guys from that boat were okay, I would not wish to get into water as it’s quite chilly in winter.
Have the right sailing gear and keep your feet and butt dry! (Said me, who got wet from top to bottom because of big splashes and from literally flying over water on a training sailboat a week before this racing at the “Helming” course.)
Helen shows a great example of the right gear:
Enjoy the photos and the video below!
PS:
Where are the photos from the previous racing, I hear you asking? Ah… I had so romantic photos of sailboats on water – imagine no wind and boat reflections on a crystal calm water… They’ve all gone! Never reset your phone when you are tired and late at night. I though that resetting would not erase the photos, but alas. They’ve gone forever.
Anyway, we had a fantastic third race, which we won! What was the prize? A glass. A glass with the Club’s logo. Here it is:
Video – Sailboat Racing at Royal Geelong Yacht Club – Race 3
Sailboat Racing at Royal Geelong Yacht Club on Catalina38
Some cool photos turned blurry as I’ve got something on my camera’s viewfinder (may be water mist) and didn’t clean it promptly at that time, or I just didn’t focus properly. Anyway, we had awesome time! :)
(Click on a big photo to see it in a larger view):
