MCYC is not just about Thursday night Twilight racing. We hold rallies to other ports and we support each other cruising around Australia and beyond.
Our most recent rally was to Port Hacking for the Navigators Cup on the weekend of 15/16 March. Four boats from the Club – Catty Shack, Reflection, Chill Out, Sea Glass – made the trip down on Friday afternoon in a 10 to 15 knot nor-Easter and flat seas. Everyone took the opportunity to practice their spinnaker technique in perfect conditions. Sea Twist was the fifth Sydney Boat to make the trip down, coming down on Thursday night.
The Cronulla Sailing Club had kindly made mooring buoys available for us. This required some rafting up but that just made socialising easier.
Race day brought a moderate to fresh Nor-Easter, again on surprisingly flat seas. Our boats were entered in division two and club boats made up most of the field. With over twenty boats starting together, the starting line was pretty pretty crowded. Most Division II boats elected to hold back a bit and let the Division I boats go.
The Western end of the line was favoured and local knowledge suggested that going up the beach was the right option but Sea Twist bucked the trend, using the eastern end and tacking out to sea into a stronger breeze. This gave them a lead which they never lost.
The seas remained very flat making for a pleasant sail up to Botany Bay and a lovely spinnaker run from the last mark back to the finish line.
Results were Sea Twist first, Catty Shack second and Chill Out third.
After the race the Cronulla Sailing Club looked after us extremely well. For a mere $65 entry fee they put on lots of good food for skippers and crew. After the prize giving it was back to the various boats to relive the race a few more times.
Most boats elected to come back Sunday afternoon, but a few stayed on to enjoy a few days in Port Hacking. All participants agreed that it was a fabulous weekend and that they would be back next year.
More details here:
