Festival of Sail - Melbourne to Geelong Passage race

On the January long weekend there is a race from Melbourne to Geelong which is part of the Festival of Sails. I was grateful to be part of the event as a crew member on a vessel called Hitimewewent "Hi time we went".

My job was to man the running back stay. The boom on this boat extends beyond the back stay so the stay has to be released on a tack. (see for an Wikipedia for the detailed explanation.) You are under pressure to react quickly when the skipper calls out to turn because if you do not release the back stay then the boom gets caught in it.

This boat was ideally suited to the winds and conditions, but we had a bit of scary moment with a front and lack of anticipation by the skipper. Almost everyone was standing at the bow when the wind changed suddenly causing a Chinese gybe. The spinnaker whipped across forcing some of us into the water and the boat was lurching precariously over. Not a good move on such a large boat. All part of the day.

It's exciting stuff with these large vessels racing close together, with the skippers keeping a controlled hand as they vie for position round buoys and get involved in tacking duels or wrestle for that clean wind.

Arrival in Geelong was one of party. The owners ordered pizza from the North Geelong pizzeria, well regarded, and I have to agree. The Geelong festival was in full swing and so were we.

I had a lot of fun on this event and with the crew members. Ocean racing is probably not a sport I’ll continue with as it is jarring on my back whilst sitting on the gunwales to assist keeping the vessel flat whilst it’s powering over the sea waves.