The Rumble in the Reach 2016
at East Fremantle Yacht Club
The Doctor was in!
A few worried looks were in place when I arrived to watch and photograph the last race of the Bics in the Reach. The breeze was a little vague and the Bics were sailing in puffy stuff with big gains to be made when a gust came in. As for direction, well all around the clock until the last few minutes when at last a seabreeze crept over the hill and made itself known. But so was a black cloud and hurried reviews of radar sites revealed some nasty colour moving down the escarpment.
As the start time drew nearer so did the sports boats and eventually 13 boats were hanging gently from the piers and jetties as the sailors fueled up on lunch rolls and a cold one or two. The cloud rolled away, the breeze began to build a little and as the course was laid out, the betting began as to who would survive the day.
We had half a dozen Vipers, three Thompsons 7's, two from SoPYC and the other from Freshie; one of the SB 20's from FSC, a Melges from Freshie (I think) and a Farr 25 that holds the honour of being the sole entrant from EFYC. The last boat was Mild Oats, a Delphic 24 with a crew that had decided that discretion was going to be the better part of valour and apart from the occasional rush of blood didn't use their asymmetric.
As a matter of pride, the Vipers will put an asymmetric up anywhere and at any time and the resultant dash to the bottom mark was carnage, but by cricky did they go fast. You could see them pick up a gust and they'd accelerate almost frighteningly with all aboard hanging on for dear life. The same could be said for the Thompsons, who quite frankly became raging bulls in china shops as they tore down to the bottom mark. With more crew and lots of weight on the rail they were a little more controlled, but still quite edgy and I fear that some of the older crew will be getting out of bed gingerly on Sunday. Now put the rest into the blend and you have a fine mix to play with when they hit the corner and try to pull off the required gybe at the mark.
I must comment on the privilege I was given to be on a boat skippered by Peter Kennington ( former owner of Traffic Jam ) and past commodore at both Mandurah and EFYC. He was one of the instigators of the Rumble and originally was slated to do the commentary with Ed Fethers. Things changed and I got lucky. Peter knew more about the course than most and had me in the right spot and at the right time. Many thanks Peter.
The Bic's and the Presentation images will be ready shortly.
As to the results, well I guess we'll all know when they pop up on the website, but I can't find them on line yet.
So enjoy the images. Over a hundred to view.
A few worried looks were in place when I arrived to watch and photograph the last race of the Bics in the Reach. The breeze was a little vague and the Bics were sailing in puffy stuff with big gains to be made when a gust came in. As for direction, well all around the clock until the last few minutes when at last a seabreeze crept over the hill and made itself known. But so was a black cloud and hurried reviews of radar sites revealed some nasty colour moving down the escarpment.
As the start time drew nearer so did the sports boats and eventually 13 boats were hanging gently from the piers and jetties as the sailors fueled up on lunch rolls and a cold one or two. The cloud rolled away, the breeze began to build a little and as the course was laid out, the betting began as to who would survive the day.
We had half a dozen Vipers, three Thompsons 7's, two from SoPYC and the other from Freshie; one of the SB 20's from FSC, a Melges from Freshie (I think) and a Farr 25 that holds the honour of being the sole entrant from EFYC. The last boat was Mild Oats, a Delphic 24 with a crew that had decided that discretion was going to be the better part of valour and apart from the occasional rush of blood didn't use their asymmetric.
As a matter of pride, the Vipers will put an asymmetric up anywhere and at any time and the resultant dash to the bottom mark was carnage, but by cricky did they go fast. You could see them pick up a gust and they'd accelerate almost frighteningly with all aboard hanging on for dear life. The same could be said for the Thompsons, who quite frankly became raging bulls in china shops as they tore down to the bottom mark. With more crew and lots of weight on the rail they were a little more controlled, but still quite edgy and I fear that some of the older crew will be getting out of bed gingerly on Sunday. Now put the rest into the blend and you have a fine mix to play with when they hit the corner and try to pull off the required gybe at the mark.
I must comment on the privilege I was given to be on a boat skippered by Peter Kennington ( former owner of Traffic Jam ) and past commodore at both Mandurah and EFYC. He was one of the instigators of the Rumble and originally was slated to do the commentary with Ed Fethers. Things changed and I got lucky. Peter knew more about the course than most and had me in the right spot and at the right time. Many thanks Peter.
The Bic's and the Presentation images will be ready shortly.
As to the results, well I guess we'll all know when they pop up on the website, but I can't find them on line yet.
So enjoy the images. Over a hundred to view.