Another early morning and meeting at 7AM for the Heineken Regatta Day 3. This is the “around the island” race and all of our classes are participating, there are 2 slower classes on the other committee boat that wouldn’t make it around in time and they are doing normal races.
This means that after we start all of our boats we are free for the day, as all of racers will be finishing their race at the designated finish boat.
Our starts went well, with no issues or delays. And no collisions, despite a bit of shouting and pushing about on the smaller racers. I admire those on the small raceboats for their resilience and fitness as it is hard work. And they’ve got no galley below to get sustenance and no head aboard, either!
After we’d returned to the dock I took the dinghy across to the SMYC and watched the 3PM bridge opening. Several of the boats were practicing their “shows” and costumes. It is too bad that our duties on the committee boat prevent us from seeing the final show.
The Regatta village is really hopping in the late afternoon and night. I met lots of competitors and old friends and all of them were happy with the weather and racing. This year’s weather really has been exceptionally good; sufficient wind for the heavy boats but not too much wind for the smaller ones. The swell and waves are lower than average but still enough to make this a real ocean race.