Asia Pacific J24 Championships 2009.
6th – 8th June 09:
Starpac – Aus 206
By crew member Venetia Heesom
Team:
Sean Kirkjian – Skipper
Tim Briggs - Pit
Matt Whittingham - Trimming
Venetia Heesom - Mast
Zoe Kimberley – Bow
Jo Pinder – Monday replacement for Venetia
Shore Crew:
Terry Wise - Boat delivery captain and breakfast chef
Venue: CYCSA - Adelaide
On offer - a 3,300 km round trip from Sydney Harbour to Adelaide combined with a bit of sailing. This was surely an adventure not to be missed.
With Starpac de-rigged and on the trailer Terry and Venetia set sail, well not literally, for Adelaide. 1 ½ days, 850kms and with a crew still 6 kgs over the 400 limit for racing J24’s, we arrived in Swan Hill (VIC) to pick up another crew member and our sponsor Tim. Courtesy of Tim, the Lapstone Hotel Group & friends, we were wined and dined at the Federal Hotel. While Venetia and Tim chose their dinner with care opting for lean Kangaroo fillet and salad, Terry enjoyed the extra trimmings, because he could!
Early Friday morning we made a start on the final leg of the journey to Adelaide. Wrapped in black bin bags and with the heater gradually turned up to maximum, we turned Terry’s Patrol into a sauna. And it worked! I think Terry even lost a few lbs too! We finally completed the 1,500km journey, arriving at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia at 4pm on Friday where we were put straight to work, quickly transforming ourselves into ‘boat builders’ rigging the boat and polishing her hull for maximum speed!
Soon we were joined by the remainder of the Starpac crew (Matt, Zoe, Sean and Jo) and it was straight to registration and the weigh in. The Starpac team weighed in at 397.2kgs. We’d done There was no time for celebrating though, we needed to ‘carb-up’ and headed straight to the nearest hotel for pasta and steaks after which it was back to our unit for a final ‘de-brief’ before an early night.
Day 1: 3 races were scheduled for Day 1. All were windward/leeward courses on the waters off North Haven, Gulf St. Vincent, Adelaide. Conditions for the day were mild with 8-10knot breeze forecast, literally a breeze you might be thinking. Race 1: In a fleet of 21, you can imagine the packed start line. Heading down the line away from the committee boat, 3rd from the pin and we were racing on a port tack. 2 phrases that summed up the racing weekend were “hike out” and “think fat”! At times it was essential that we were as far out as possible and legal as it was partly our weight that was helping Sean to steer. 2 races (both 3 laps each), 6 spinnaker sets (and a few mistakes) and 4 hours later, clocking up 6th and 9th places respectively, lack of breeze forced the 3rd race to be postponed. Therefore, with the fleet retiring off the water early, there was only one thing to do next and that was to ‘de-brief’ and mingle.
Dinner was in an Italian restaurant recommended to us by CYCSA locals. Suffice to say that it lived up to its reputation. And so did the red wine! Music, red wine, music, dancing, music, beer later, and a weary Starpac team
hit the hay at about 1am on Day 2.
Day 2: Conditions for Day 2 were significantly more challenging than the first, doing just about a 360 turnaround over night. The breeze had ramped up to 20-25knots, and combined with big swells and rain, we had definitely been given a challenge. The first and second races (both 3 laps this time) came and went with more of the same mistakes we’d made on Day 1 leaving us all feeling disappointed with our efforts, but we picked ourselves up and
prepared for the 3rd race.
The third race was probably the most exhilarating of them all and where our respect for our skipper sky rocketed. Having crossed all the start lines so far on a port tack close up by the pin, this time Sean was to do the opposite, heading off on a port tack over the start line, quickly tacking onto starboard. With the entire fleet (except us and another) on a port tack, we were cruising towards the top mark in a league of our own. For 15 minutes we were winning! Suffice to say this did not last due to more forced errors!!
Day 3: News of a broken down committee boat delayed the start of the 6th race however a replacement boat was quickly found. In conditions similar to Day 2 with storms on the horizon we were lucky to get a 6th race in (for which we fittingly came 6th.) Storms overhead caused the 7th race to be abandoned, however we had a regatta, thus a winner, with the minimum of 4 races being raced.
Starpac had hit our target goal (which was to come within the top 10 bracket) coming 9th overall and, despite our errors and frustrations, this was a result to be proud of. After being reminded that we were sailing against crews who’d been sailing together for 20+ years and had a combined experience in excess of 80+ years, we gave ourselves a bit of break! 9th was ok!
‘Sail, practice, sail, de-brief, sail, have fun, sail’ seems to sum up the long weekend perfectly!
Thanks Terry.
Quote of the Weekend:
• Zoe’s e on arrival at the ‘weigh in’- “This weekend is my partner Richard and my 7 year anniversary and here I am on the scales, in my underwear in Adelaide!” (Who said sailing was uneventful?)
The return trip
Starpac is secure on the tow bar and the map of Adelaide has disappeared. Our new navigators Joe and Tim with some help from Soo (one of the Korean crew) who has hitched a lift to see the Opera House. We head north and turn right just in time to drive through the Barossa stopping for a little wine taste and somehow fit a case of the finest red into the packed car. What a sight a yacht through the valley must have been, we stop again at Swan Hill overnight and for lunch at the Carnago Hotel (famous for the 6000+ utes party each year). A cockie (bush talk for man on the land) welcomed us as he said we must have bought the heavy rains they had over the past days. He said when we have rain and its good on the land it will be good soon in the city. He is right and it was a great adventure, with the memorys of excellent sailing and the start of new and strong friendships we look forward to sailing again soon.
For full story from the J24 Association please go to www.j24australia.com.au
And for more pictures go to http://www.j24southaustralia.com/Asia-PacificChampionship.html
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