Neil won both races in exciting conditions. Andrew leads the series and is currently the only qualifier. Jason, Neil, Steve and Carmel will be in the mix if only they can sail at least 4 races out of the final 6.
Carmel’s story
I almost didn’t launch—the wind had built into something far nastier than the morning forecast—but curiosity won and I tried the first race. From the moment I botched the start, it was a grind. The beat to the windward mark in the Radial was a fight, but I clawed through two laps and finished just ahead of Steve before he blasted past in the 700. Capsizes were happening everywhere: Andrew in the Topaz, both Lasers at the gybe mark.
Still upright, I gambled on race two. If I’d known the tide was about to turn the course into a field of rolling, heaving waves, I’d have thought twice. Leg three was chaos—every wave demanded perfect timing, and Jason ahead of me was getting caught out, letting me close in.
Then came the “washing machine” inside the island. Dead runs, surfing down towering waves, the bow threatening to submarine, and violent pitch‑ups when rounding into the swell. After a handful of failed tacks, I finally tore across the finish line, exhausted.
Recovery was its own battle. A test turn head‑to‑wind left me stuck in irons, drifting towards Sully Island while the waves shoved me closer to the rocks. I escaped just as Steve landed safely.
He and Teilo were wrestling with the 700’s trolley when I approached. I lined up, stepped onto the slip—and then a monster wave hit. It lifted me clean off my feet, ripped the boat from my hands, rolled it, and sent it straight into Steve’s 700. He was knocked over too, though thankfully away from the collision. We both scrambled to recover our boats and retreat from the breaking surf.
It was definitely not a day to be short of volunteers on the slip. With only sailors willing to get soaked, everything was slow going. You really do need reserves in the tank for recovery. I was tired and starting to feel the cold from standing chest‑deep holding the boat. I wasn’t alone—Neil and Andrew were also waiting patiently for trolleys, and Jason, who’d capsized further offshore, was equally keen to get back to dry land.
(Edited by Copilot:)