some...
There were about 40 sailors for the race and quite a few spectators. Wind was about 13-16 knots with a few largish holes down to about 10 knots; direction was quite on-shore, making the beacon a bit of a slog upwind. About an hour before the race, it looked like 6m was going to be the size, but it did back off somewhat before most people had rigged.
Due to the on-shore wind, it would have probably required at least one tack for even the formula sailors to reach the beacon, so the course was altered so that the free-riders could make the mark on one tack. The idea was that the support boat (the boat with the flag, as opposed to the rest of the fishing boats) was the new target, ie: sail around the buoy nearest to the boat.
Of course you cant actually see the boat, until you are within 1-2km of it... so the leaders spent quite a bit of their leg sailing "somewhere over there"...!
However the course change caused confusion - the leaders sailed out to where they thought the buoy was - except that it was missing a boat..! The remaining pack actually sailed out to the boat - which turned out to still be a bit of a slog upwind - even so, most people were only needed a single tack to make the mark. The direction back to the beach was quite good with a fast downwind run.
Upon getting back to the beach, we found out that the boat had gone to the wrong mark - which was about an extra 500m upwind and about an extra 1.5kms further out of the mark that the leaders were aiming for (but still not as far/upwind as the beacon). So some guys finished the race in under 10mins, while the guys that went to the boat got back in under 20mins. The last guys taking about 45 mins.
The start was quite spectacular with us racing down the beach to pick the gear off the water's edge (le-mans ?). I'd expect SHQ to have something posted on their website within the next few days. And yay to the girls - two entered this year.
Personally: last year I think I came second last - this year I was on formula (160cm + 9.5m) so I did much better, overtaking most people while they were stuck on the start line. The way out was an interesting ride - managed to get airborne a few times (not on purpose) as the swell lined up nicely, with one particular oh-s**t moment at about 4ft in the air.
SHQ do a pretty good job and its a fun atmosphere - especially when Mike Meyers telss his stories...
