Fri, 31 Aug 2001
We survived Hamilton Island Race Week and let me tell you,it was close. Racing on a big boat is fun...but it's a lot of work. After a week of preparations, which included helping with the conversion of Icon from a cruising boat to a racing boat, getting all the computer systems up and running, and crew training and practice, on August 18 we started racing for real. Nine races in eight days meant being at the boat at 8:00 or 8:30 each day, often with some work items which needed completion before that time, sailing all day against some tough competition, getting back to the dock somewhere between 3 & 6 PM, making changes or repairs before dinner, and sometimes working into the night getting ready for the next day. The sailing itself was extremely physical, big boats always are, and in Fred's case, as navigator, it was also mentally challenging. It was also difficult for us because we were sick the whole time. In the end nearly everyone was sick. The coughing onboard made the boat sound like a hospital ward, but no one missed a day. This was a dedicated crew. The competition was tough, the race courses challenging, and the level of expectation on the boat was high. With a boat full of professional sailors, all with loads of experience, top skills and the highest level of competency, there were plenty of times when we felt we weren't quite measuring up. But then, this is what we wanted...to participate in a serious sailing event, on a top boat,at a nearly professional level. Maybe the best way to improve yourself is to surround yourself with the best, to place yourself in a situation where you are pushed out of your comfort zone. Being exposed to the Icon crew, and being a part of it, certainly raised our sights a bit. Later this year, when Icon goes to Hobart in the Sydney to Hobart race, we'll notch it all up even a bit further.
Icon and its crew were brilliant. We had good boat speed and tactics right from the start, but even these we steadily improved over the course of the regatta. The pro's on the boat worked with skipper Jim Roser to change the rig tune and adjust the sail selections in a way that really increased our speed. The crew work was never in doubt, for the whole week it was flawless. We even managed to navigate around the Whitsundays without any mistakes, finding all the marks and hitting all the tide changes like we knew what we were doing. Usually we were up at the front of the fleet, and we beat all the boats home on one great race to Baynham Island and back. Getting line honours that day was fun, and it was particularly satisfying in that the finish line was in an unsuspected and previously undisclosed location, but we found it anyhow. However, in every race the smaller boats managed to correct out over all the bigger boats, including us. (the 50 & 55 footers finished behind the 60-80 footers, but scored higher in the official results). We wound up being the top big boat, beating Brindabella, Zena, Line7, & InfinityIII, and we got a couple of second place trophies during the week, but our final score was 5th. It would have been nicer to win, but we are not complaining.Owners Dick and Bonnie Robbins seemed pretty happy too, as well they might be, their boat was quite a sensation at Hamilton Island, and they both performed their roles on the boat excellently, in addition to making it all possible.
After the last race and the final award dinner, we pitched in for a couple of days to reconvert Icon to its cruising configuration. Man, I'm glad I don't have to do that for a living, it is tough work and a lot of it.
Tuesday we flew back to Sydney, resumed supervision of the Wings refurb project, which had continued unabated during our absence, and Wednesday it was back to real jobs. Back to rain and cool weather too, Queensland's warm sun and blue skies were instantly a thing of the past as Sydney's winter trundled on.
So that was Hamilton Island. We enjoyed the regatta as much as possible, given that it pretty much turned into a job and we were sick, and we might even go back, only with our own boat. The location is outstanding and the racing is the best we've ever seen. This could be us next year.
Fred & Judy