February 11, 2008-Phang Nga Bay Regatta (update)
John Everingham
Wings Leads
NEW! There are some new photos posted on wingssail-images, click here to see them. Also you can follow the link below to the regatta photo gallery to see all their shots.
Phang Naga Bay Regatta took a toll on us. Judy, Pierre-Yves Hadamar and I sailed Wings in this great regatta last week and four days of aggressive sailing, challenging courses and tough competition was enough; the three of us did the work of ten and we gave no quarter, but at the end we were wiped out, knackered, finished. We had no jibes left in us, couldn’t do a tack if we had to, hardly could put the anchor down; had no energy for the party, left early. Pierre went home to Singapore and Judy and I rested in Nai Harn Bay.
wingssail image-judy jensen
Anchorage in Phang Nga Bay
But it was a good regatta, very close sailing and beautiful destinations.
Coming into the finish line on day four was typical. We were leading the race in our class and Phoenix was just a dot behind us on the horizon. We needed binoculars to pick them out. But we were exhausted. We were draped over our winch handles, tongues hanging out, couldn’t move a muscle. Almost finished we were heading towards the pin end and we noticed the boat end was closer. Jibing in the rough seas and light air was exceedingly hard. I’d previously cajoled them into the 20th one of the day by promising them it was the last one. Now I needed another.
I asked, “Can we do one more spinnaker jibe, I think the committee boat is closer?”
(Muted negotiations between Judy and Pierre follow; I wonder what retribution I will suffer.)
“OK, we can do it.”
“Jibing.”
(One intense minute of shouting and chaos).
We jibed again, finished the race and fell back on our winches, hoping for an early death; living is too tough if it involves sailing like this. Somehow we mustered enough energy to cut the spinnaker halyard and we left the kite where it fell.
By accident I turned the boat back into the wind and it blew on our faces and felt cool. It revived us. We looked up.
Here comes Phoenix. Let’s watch them finish, surely we got them today.
12 minutes after we crossed the line the red X-boat crossed. I did the calculations and gave the bad news to Pierre and Judy.
“They got us again, by 4 minutes.”
This was the story all week long. Every day we sailed hard and finished well up, usually leading our class, and each day we went into a new anchorage dazzled by the scenery and looking forward to a great party. But every day we also finished in 2nd place. Phang Nga Bay regatta is a tough regatta to win.
Never mind, we’re wiped out, and we didn’t win but we had fun and we’re on the mend; we’ll be OK.
We have to: we’ve another 36 miles to windward to sail on Tuesday to get home to Yacht Haven Marina.
We didn’t get too many photos, no time to take pictures, but click here so see a few, and some that John Everingham got.
NEW!! Or click here to go to the full regatta photo gallery .
NEW!! Pierre has a bunch of photos from Phang Nga Bay Regatta here.
And, click here to go to the Phang Nga Bay Regatta web site where you will find the results and other information about the Phang Nga Bay Regatta
Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket.
Wings LeadsNEW! There are some new photos posted on wingssail-images, click here to see them. Also you can follow the link below to the regatta photo gallery to see all their shots.
Phang Naga Bay Regatta took a toll on us. Judy, Pierre-Yves Hadamar and I sailed Wings in this great regatta last week and four days of aggressive sailing, challenging courses and tough competition was enough; the three of us did the work of ten and we gave no quarter, but at the end we were wiped out, knackered, finished. We had no jibes left in us, couldn’t do a tack if we had to, hardly could put the anchor down; had no energy for the party, left early. Pierre went home to Singapore and Judy and I rested in Nai Harn Bay.
wingssail image-judy jensen
Anchorage in Phang Nga BayBut it was a good regatta, very close sailing and beautiful destinations.
Coming into the finish line on day four was typical. We were leading the race in our class and Phoenix was just a dot behind us on the horizon. We needed binoculars to pick them out. But we were exhausted. We were draped over our winch handles, tongues hanging out, couldn’t move a muscle. Almost finished we were heading towards the pin end and we noticed the boat end was closer. Jibing in the rough seas and light air was exceedingly hard. I’d previously cajoled them into the 20th one of the day by promising them it was the last one. Now I needed another.
I asked, “Can we do one more spinnaker jibe, I think the committee boat is closer?”
(Muted negotiations between Judy and Pierre follow; I wonder what retribution I will suffer.)
“OK, we can do it.”
“Jibing.”
(One intense minute of shouting and chaos).
We jibed again, finished the race and fell back on our winches, hoping for an early death; living is too tough if it involves sailing like this. Somehow we mustered enough energy to cut the spinnaker halyard and we left the kite where it fell.
By accident I turned the boat back into the wind and it blew on our faces and felt cool. It revived us. We looked up.
Here comes Phoenix. Let’s watch them finish, surely we got them today.
12 minutes after we crossed the line the red X-boat crossed. I did the calculations and gave the bad news to Pierre and Judy.
“They got us again, by 4 minutes.”
This was the story all week long. Every day we sailed hard and finished well up, usually leading our class, and each day we went into a new anchorage dazzled by the scenery and looking forward to a great party. But every day we also finished in 2nd place. Phang Nga Bay regatta is a tough regatta to win.
Never mind, we’re wiped out, and we didn’t win but we had fun and we’re on the mend; we’ll be OK.
We have to: we’ve another 36 miles to windward to sail on Tuesday to get home to Yacht Haven Marina.
We didn’t get too many photos, no time to take pictures, but click here so see a few, and some that John Everingham got.
NEW!! Or click here to go to the full regatta photo gallery .
NEW!! Pierre has a bunch of photos from Phang Nga Bay Regatta here.
And, click here to go to the Phang Nga Bay Regatta web site where you will find the results and other information about the Phang Nga Bay Regatta
Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket.
posted by wingssail at 9:08 PM
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1 Comments:
Having lived that moment I will always remember it as the fondest time ever in my sailing experience... Absolutely exhausted but happy to be alive, sailing and in great company...
Could not have related these moments better, thanks Judy for the partnership in the cockpit, thanks Fred for the opportunity, love you guys!!!!
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