A Sailing Surprise

This week in Airlie Beach one thousand sailors spread over one hundred and twenty boats are here to sail fast and party hard.  The weather Gods are smiling and we have been sailing in steady trade wind breezes from the south east, these sailing conditions could not be better, top that off with sunshine, warm weather, a magnificent blue sky, this is the perfect playground for a sailing regatta. 

I am one of twelve crew, and together we have years of knowledge and thousands of nautical miles of hands on experience, together we pull some pretty fancy sailing maneuvers.  Being part of a team is what I love most about sailing, the personal commitment of knowing that each time I step onto a race boat I will push the limits of my physical and emotional strength.   There are only two things I think about before the race, the safety of the crew and of course, the podium!

Firstly, I have loads of weather information, I take note of the tides, and calculate how fast the boat can sail in the breeze against or with tide. I read the course maybe five or six times and then plot the coordinates into the navigation.   This is my gig in Airlie Beach, I am the navigator, I have to tell the helmsman where to steer to boat.  

Racecam!  It's serious...........

I poke my head out and take a photograph of the magnificent blue water, I look around for  boats in our  division and take note of where they are in relation to us.....then I start thinking about tactical differences we can make to sail faster.

I pop my head out to say hi, and take photographs of the mainsail trim.  When we finish the race I can show the mainsail trimmer how his sail looked during the race.

Down wind sailing, sailing flat and time to smash a ham roll.

Meet Miss Minx, it's not hard to be recognised with a spinnaker like this.

This is what we like, crossing the finishing line and leaving the fleet behind.

AND THIS IS  THE SURPRISE.........

My daughter Lauren!!!! Lauren lives in Brisbane and I been missing her smiling face. 

Thank you Sailor, what a lovely surprise!!!!!