Moreton Bay Classic
We had a good race in 15 odd knots +/- reaching and spinnaker run. It was just the two of us and we really showed just what a treat of a boat the i550's are. I had major reservations before the race as to whether just the two of us would be able to keep Shazza upright in that kind of breeze on a tight reach, but not only did we keep it upright--we went really really well and just took off leaving the rest of the fleet for dead.
Then we set the kite and took off even more, right up until the block at the end of the spinnaker pole broke and we could no longer possibly hoist the kite. We ended up last again but we showed just what Shazza could do and really enjoyed it and gave the other guys & girls something to worry about when we next meet.
Shazza tied up along ride "Endangered Species" a 6 metre Colson Design. That's Barry Colson in the red shorts talking to Donna.
Notice a mast that looks different to the rest? Shazza looked very small even beside a 6 metre boat, I hadn't realised just how small the i550 was until yesterday (Saturday)
The Colson we tied up beside can happily fit 4 adult males in the cabin with plenty of room which is lucky because it rained just after we all tied up and we all climbed into Barry's boat to get out of the rain. The race competition came from Barry's boat and the Ross 650 directly behind Shazza on the outside, but it was the Barry Colson (designed & built) that was really the only boat that kept in touch with us while we were running hot. Oh, and Donna was steering when we had the kite up. I trust Donna's steering under kite 100%, she even kept the boat upright when the block on the spinnaker pole let go and we suddenly had a kite trying to drag us sideways and down while the breeze was still around the 15kt mark.
A quick video of Donna sailing the boat a couple of weekends ago. Donna still can't sail to windward for love or money but she is a natural under kite.
