Race to Wiaheke

P and I try to go sailing when A has to work weekends - this past weekend we raced to Poinui near Wiaheke Island on "Peppermint Planet" with R, K and M. The race is part of the Richmond destination series, for which R is the organizer. This means that he often is 1. handling VHF and cell calls during the resulting exciting race starts, and 2. trying to win. As the rest of the crew is 11 and under or otherwise engaged in managing the 11 and under crew, it makes for some exciting short-handed sailing.

This time we were able to carry the gennaker from damn near the start line, to around bean rock, past navy bouy, and right up the backside of "Prawn Broker" - one of the other boats in the race. R then proceeded to ride their stern wave for 40 minutes ;). Click on the image below for video.

From Race to Wiaheke March 2009

The race there is only part of the good times. There are parties on Friday and Saturday nights, fishing and diving on Saturday, a beach BBQ with games on Saturday evening, and another race home on Sunday. Thanks to R and K (and M) for a wonderful weekend.