Every post-Nationals issue of the bulletin, we read with great interest the national champion's perspective of the measures it took to win. However, for us non-contenders, we have more modest goals.
Mordialloc was my fourth nationals all up. In past regattas, I've aimed for the top 70% of the fleet - realistically achievable considering there were the handful of slower locals at the interstate venues. But in Melbourne, I was one of the slow locals. Expectations were simply to make the top 40 of the 46 boat fleet. However, even that seemed ambitious when you consider I'd done virtually no sailing in the prior three seasons, had a novice crew plucked out of the local sailing school who had only sailed with me once prior to the regatta, a combined weight of 160kg, and a 20 year old boat with a 10 year old rig.
A Jamac hull (circa 1980-2), Flightspar 1 mast and 6.7/2.6 ratio rig. Gee, those large roach mains on the newer boats dwarfed mine when lined up along the beach. Now, that mast bent when I dug it into the mud at the 1995 Wollongong nationals. The following race, the boat went terribly on Port tack but flew on Starboard. Managed to pip Bob Couch from SA by 1 second after being behind at the start of the leg - sailed one long Port tack first, before laying the line.
Back in Melbourne, I bent the mast back, kinked it in the process, so rudimentary splintered it and wrapped the area in fibreglass to restore some of those fine aerodynamic properties that you need to go fast. The sails were secondhand, acquired from Vic Hammond around 1991. Replaced the jib just prior to the last SA nationals, but blew it out in one of those early windy races when my tiller snapped. Come 2001 Nationals, status-quo remained.
Fear was that the lack of sailing and poor equipment would finally catch me out in leaving us totally uncompetitive against anyone. That materialised in the Invitation race when we finished last. Although, many crewing mistakes including losing the whisker pole when practicing before the start meant there was plenty of room for improvement. Still, we revised our expectations to simply not finishing last in every race and try and place highly in the Handicap division.
Teaching my crew to roll tack suddenly went out the door in the first heat. Speed of shifting weight was more important for this windy race, which we managed to do comfortably pre-start. However, come the first real tack - once racing - we capsized. We capsized again when nose-diving on one of the reaches. We crossed the line last, but that's only because others behind us withdrew. With the long list of non-finishers, however, we were excited that we could get top 40 overall.
The wind actually eased to below 20 knots during the latter stages of the morning race, but it still looked windy from the beach after lunch. So with many not showing for the afternoon race, top-40 was all but assured provided we could finish. Once out there, we were pleasantly surprised with the steady 15-18 knots encountered, and with the help of a good start, always had several boats behind us. We raced within a group of five, but when the wind went really shifty and dropped right out near the final top mark, two boats escaped us. We held on to third-last position by zero seconds from the fast finishing 1867 Bantu. The eye could split us, but not the clock. With a top-40 now assured (save for DNFs ourselves), we revised our expectations to top-35. Our excruciating slow time of Heat 2 meant, that with steady improvement, Handicap honours were also a chance if we could improve.
Yes, we did improve. After the Invitation Race, we were never to finish last again. Heat 3 saw us beat four boats in and finish second on handicap, whilst in Heat 4, we beat six boats home, including one in the high 1900s, and win the race on handicap. We were, in fact, about to roll two other boats when the returning fleet from this shortened-course stole our wind. Damn! Still, when Steve Jones recognised our work and said, "a 13-boat beating a 19-boat - that's ridiculous", we took that as a nice complement.
Unfortunately, Heat 5 did not pan out that great. After a good start and first work, we had 6 boats behind us after the run. But a terrible tactical error saw us sail into a hole and lose well over 3 minutes, and three places. We lost a further place on the final leg when the wind started doing weird things - 1927 Rum Tum Tugger simply sailed right from behind and under us, straight past us. In desperation, we headed back out towards that hole, just to get some clean air. While we bogged down a bit again, it worked out overall as we regained our place from 1927 to finish fourth last. However, our slow time meant we were to slip in handicap honours.
After that race, we were 35th overall, and with the final day's weather forecast looking sour, it looked like a dream result would come true. When it indeed turned out to be sour on that final day, we were prepared to go out and defend our position, and maybe even go for top 30! It was not to be. In a futile display of optimism, we were the last to bring our mast down, and I was about the last to get out of my wetsuit.
I have no doubt that we were the slowest boat out there (except for 1508 that rarely raced). Each race was about holding ground. We never gained overall position on the course, only lost it. The top sailors emphasise it so much: good starts, keeping the boat flat, and good crew work. While lack of practice meant some poor starts off the line, even when late, the ability to get clean air was paramount in getting a break. While I'm no flat-boat master, I'm more wary of it than some fellow rear-fleet stragglers and the 160kg weight probably made it easier to subconsciously achieve. Crew work improved heaps, and catching a few waves restricted significant time losses to those modern planing marvels. The weight and large jib probably helped drive through the chop, so upwind performance was similar to those around us.
It was surprising to hear the anecdotal stories of gear-wrecking wind that was expected to predominate at Port Philip Bay. One reputedly horror Chelsea Titles 20 years ago does not typify a local weather pattern. The only surprise was the predominant wind direction on the normal days - straight from the west. Usually it's more southerly, and more of a seabreeze, though it did shift that way. The first heat northerly was in fact stronger than normal. So too the southerly change on the final days. During a racing season, rarely would more than two race days be abandoned through bad weather. In fact, this season, there's been just one. I can't even think when a heat has been cancelled in a State Titles. Overall, the 2001/02 Nationals would have been a medium wind strength regatta. For light, look to Albury.
A great discussion topic is the amount of speed advantage each new NS design is worth. Many suspect that if the national champion hopped into something older, he'd be almost as quick. We never really know because the top sailors repeatedly upgrade. Now, as someone who's sailed the same boat for over ten years against Aero 7s through to current Aero 11Bs, or whatever we're up to, if designers' promises were correct, I'd be beaten by over an hour. Fact is, the time gap has not moved that significantly at all. Against A7s and A8s, on the lakes of Albury and Wollongong, it was around 15-20 minutes. Against the A9s and other contempory boats in choppy SA, it blew to around 25 minutes. At Mordialloc, it was around 30 minutes. But temper that with the knowledge that my equipment was at its worst ever, a novice crew was on board, and a 160kg crew weight. A further reference point would be Bob Couch from SA. He's sailed the same boat for 10 years, and while we've traditionally had close racing, he repeatedly beat me by 10 minutes at Mordy. Either he's improved a lot, I've slowed a lot, or the faster boats these days aren't that much faster. Probably a bit of all three. In fact, with the paucity of pre-A8s, it's mid-fleet and rear-fleet where the speed has sharply increased - probably due mostly to the larger main-sail rigs. I've occasionally managed top 50% first mark roundings, but not this time. Beating 8 boats to the first mark was my best effort.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the Vintage Boat division that we in fact won at the Nationals. The Victorian association felt this recently-born division was a great idea, but the oldest 25% stipulation that some organisers used in other regattas hurt the integrity of the division as boats as recent as Aero 9s were being captured. The idea of the division was not just to get people with older boats to race, but for them to have a realistic chance of winning something. Racing Aero 9s in your trusty Jamac or Aero 4 is hardly an incentive to compete. Considering that the entire Victorian fleet, bar one, was of a vintage Aero 6 or older, we decided to restrict it absolutely to that vintage. It was hoped vintage interstate boats would also be attracted. Disappointingly, we only had the two entries. But if race organisers are serious about developing the vintage division, a sensible vintage must be defined and strictly honoured and promoted.
For those that have seen that familiar blue boat with a white nose and big teeth over the years, NS14 1319 "Shark Attack" is no more. The Modialloc Nationals have finally confirmed that the boat is simply too slow. A newer rig may have helped, but then the hull is likely to fold in half under the extra pressure. It's just too old. Just before Easter, I sold it for $1100. With a good final position, beating a few of those 19-something boats, plus a trophy, those Nationals are a reasonable note to finish up on. The only other championship highlight came in my very first championships, the Victorian States in 1992, when, courtesy of a 15-20 knot final day that knocked out many competitors, we finished third. Oh, and for those curious, Shark Attack was the first to carry those trademark teeth. The 18ft skiff Ella Bache followed soon after, before all the other copy cats.
Unfortunately I have no immediate plan to acquire another boat. Following the cameo at the nationals, I will move back into sailing semi-retirement. However, I will remain with the Victorian association, and hope to pop up at next season's SA Nationals if I can land a crewing or skippering position on another boat.
Until next time, good sailing.
AR