happy birthday to Cosi

In Phuket for King's Cup regatta

Well after a few days off in Kuala Lumpur I arrived in Phuket yesterday.
The fleet is anchored as usual at the southern end of Kata Beach. Today we've been working on the boat in preparation for the arrival of most of the crew saturday morning. The small field of race boats will be boosted by the tp52 Island Fling this week but otherwise it's the usual competition comprising Mandrake, Jelik and Quantum.
Unfortunately the start of racing has been put back by a day due to the closure of Bangkok airport. We will train and prepare over the weekend and start racing on Tuesday.
Updates and photos to follow soon....

raja muda 08 victory

It was a happy hi fi team that hit the dock saturday afternoon in Langkawi.


Going into the final day we had a six point lead over Quantum and Jelik. However with the possibility of three races there were almost half the points of the regatta on offer in one day, we knew it was anyone's game.


As usual in these situations the stress levels onboard were high. It didn't help when ten minutes before the start the mainsheet turning block under the deck decided to let go and tore a hole in the side of the cockpit. After a good bit of improvising we rigged up an external lead and were good to go.


All three races were pretty similar, three laps, short legs and close results on time. We tore a couple of chutes hoisting out of the hatch and had a hard time perfecting our gybing technique, but overall we sailed clean and ended up with a scorecard of 2-3-2.We still can't work out the IRC results on the water, and there was much conjecture after each race as to whether we'd got 1, 2 or 3, and this just added to the 'final day frenzy". As we finished the last race a huge cheer went up on Jelik and this increased our suspicions that we'd had a shocker and lost the regatta. However when we got ashore Willy checked out the notice board and we had won it!


Soon the beers were flowing and you couldn't get the smile off Neil's face all night. Of course the whole crew were in good spirits and we had a great night at the presentation.


The yacht club didn't seem too happy about us filling the expensive raja muda trophy with rum and passing it around and it was a challenge to drink out of but we reckon when you win a trophy like that it would be rude not to.
All in all it was another awesome raja muda and we've learnt a lot about our new rig and sails in preparation for the king's cup next week.
Until then there's a few days r & r and some work on the boat before meeting up at kata beach again....

race 4 report by gundy

Race four of the raja muda regatta got underway from Penang at 1430 on Thurs. It was a typically light start and there were some worryingly large separations in the four boat class 1 fleet. In the light upwind conditions it was hard to get away from Quantum and Mandrake. Once again though our trimmers Gundy, Phizzle and Half Ounce did an awesome job to keep the boat going and with nice tactical calls from Cosi we were in a good position when the new breeze filled in.
Silas and I did a quick change to the medium jib as the breeze swung right and eventually hoisted the genoa staysail inside it. The boat was going like a train in the moderate breeze as we reached towards Langkawi. We knew the big Jelik would be in her element but we worked hard and managed to save our time on the smaller boats. Finishing at 2030 it was a fast race for the 55nm and we docked up at the RLYC in time for a late dinner and of course some more cold Carlsberg.
The conditions definitely suited the bigger boats and that showed in the results, Jelik first, Hi Fi second, Mandrake third and Quantum fourth.
This leaves us with a seven point lead going into the final day; a handy buffer, but the race-course here is notoriously shifty (its not uncommon to beat up a run or run up a beat) and with 3 races scheduled none of the positions are even close to being finalised.
I am going to sign off with a quote from our illustrious leeward runner trimmer half ounce, overheard at lunch today after 50 000 beers “I’m beached as bro”

three in a row for hi fi

Wednesday was windward leeward racing off the northern end of Penang. With the typically light breezes in the area we knew it would be hard to get any racing in. In the end we had one race of three laps in about 5-8kn. The first beat for us wasn't looking promising as we rounded the top mark just in front of Quantum and Mandrake. However over the rest of the race we were able to extend and managed to get our time and come home for the win.
Today is a 50nm race north to Langkawi starting at 2.30pm.
More updates and photos to come when we are in Langkawi....

two races done in raja muda

Well we're now in Penang after races one and two of the raja muda regatta. The two legs so far have been very successful for the Hi Fi team, we've had two wins on IRC and took line honours in the first race.

The race from Port Klang started downwind in light airs with a strong current going with us. We had a good start and managed to get away from the other boats. A couple of hours into the race we sailed into a net.Our navigator Willy Roberts jumped into the murky water and cut us free and we didn''t lose too much time. I think the whole fleet got stuck in nets at some stage I'm not sure if we'll be too popular with the Malaysian fisherman... As the breeze got lighter we had to anchor against the tide, so for about half an hour we took a coffee break and watched the fleet sail up to us. We were soon sailing again though and managed to get a big break as we headed for the shore and never saw our competitors again. As the land breeze built in the evening we made a lot of sail changes Ryan did an awesome job packing the chutes about fifty times! We finished off the island of Pangkor at about three am and had some beers by the beach till dawn.

Pangkor was a great stopover, we had lunch at the impressive Pangkor Laut Resort and collected our prizes at the party in the evening.

Monday we started the 65nm race to Penang. Another light airs start, this time upwind. It was close with Quantum but we managed to roll over them and settled into our groove laying through to the finish. No nets this time, but the huge thunderstorms crossing the course meant it was another sail change fest! Staying close into the mud banks which extend out from the shore we were often sailing in less than half a metre of water. We managed to stay ahead of Jelik most of the race, they finally passed us as we reached for the finish line, beating us by only two minutes. A nervous wait for results at the Tanjung city marina ensued but it was all good and we beat Mandrake and Quantum by about 25mins on IRC.

More updates to follow....

Raja Muda 08 Welcome

Hi Fi is all set to go at Port Klang for the Raja Muda regatta. Halfy and Cos greeted all the other teams resplendent in the fantastic regatta shirts.

After a few quiet Carlsbergs it was an early night for Hi Fi.

Race one to Pangkor starts today at 1330.

Arrived in Port Klang yesterday to prepare the Hi Fi for the Raja Muda regatta. As usual there is plenty to do, the boat having travelled a long way from our last event in Vietnam, and a new rig installed in Singapore.
The new rig looks great though we haven't had too much wind to check out how it performs!
Currently having lunch at the Royal Selangor Yacht Club before going for another sail to look at some new Doyle sails.
Tonight is the welcome party and the first race starts tomorrow, an 80nm leg to Pangkor.
More updates to follow....

cabbage tree race on limit

Last Friday night was race four of the CYCA's prestigious Bluewater Pointscore. I joined the crew of Alan Brierty's 49 foot Limit for the 180nm race north to Cabbage Tree Island and back.
There was a good fleet entered as the race is a qualifier for the Hobart, our main competition would be Ragamuffin, the two Wot tp52s, Mr Beak's and Midnight Rambler.
It was a typically chaotic start in the dark and we beat up the harbour in the fickle nor 'easter with the med jib on. We tucked in behind the three tp52s and worked up the northern beaches to stay out of the current. In general we stayed inshore of the other boats and seemed to pick up some good left handers. By dawn we were up next to the faster boats which gave us time but as we approached Port Stephens the breeze got lighter and they drew away a little.
The northerly built to around 18kn as we rounded the island and we thought we were on our way back to Sydney with the a2. However it faded quickly and soon we were back on the wind with the light and med jibs. Apart from a few hours of sou' wester we were on the wind the whole way back to Sydney, the good thing about this being that the tps couldn't get away from us.
After a frustrating sail up the harbour we finished at ten pm, and it was a nervous wait to see whether we'd beaten ragamuffin. In the end we beat them by just four minutes, and the smaller boats didn't make up any time. We corrected out to first on IRC, which puts Limit in equal 2nd behind Mr Beak's and AFR Midnight Rambler on the Bluewater Pointscore.
Next on the agenda for the Limit sailing team is the delivery of a new rp62 from Mal Hart later in November. I look forward to joining the boat for the trip from Melbourne to Sydney.