This Saturday was the last formal sailing day on the river for summer and once the breeze had made up its mind, the hard working start team sent Division one off on a course two and the rest of the fleets off on course one. It was a leap of faith without doubt, but the breeze swung into the south with a hint of the west if you were down the bottom of the river after Deepwater and the Canning River influence could be felt with a lick of the east causing spinnakers to push up against the forestays as trimmers fought to keep them working. All of the competing fleets were having a great time and while sailing numbers weren’t huge, all the faces had a satisfied smile as they wandered into the bar after racing.

Notable was the fleet of Red Witch sailors who took off from a box start at the club and sailed successfully under spinnaker all the way down to Sampson and then joined the rest of us momentarily as we milled around the start line waiting for the breeze to settle. Again they were one of the largest fleets on the river and must have been doing a pursuit race by the way that they were spread out on the way to Sampson. One of the more amusing items for the afternoon was the appearance of some crabbers who set their nets around Robins and then promptly realised that they had picked the wrong spot to put their nets.  They were gone pretty shortly after a couple of fleets bowled through the zone.

Next sailing Saturday is closing day on the 23rd of April. See you then.