Two Hansa skippers brave wintry conditions in short harbour course race

Many skippers fearing the weather forecast for Saturday was not conducive for sailing opted not to venture out into the harbour.

While the wind failed to get over 10 knots, it did rain.

Nevertheless, two Hansa skippers decided to conduct two match races over short harbour courses.

Chris Oldham in Zest with Eden Grey as crew and Rachael Hodgson in Rubber Ducky faced the starter for heat one.

Zest won the start but Rubber Ducky being the lighter boat soon took the lead.

This was Hodgson’s first competitive race and she was doing extremely well until she neared the finish line.

It took three frustrating attempts to cross the line as Zest was closing the gap.

Hodgson put Rubber Ducky over the line and won this heat by seconds.

In the second heat Hodgson was again leading Oldham until her mainsheet tangled and Rubber Ducky did a few 360s allowing Zest to hit the front and to go on to win in a good recovery.

The Hansas will be sailing most weekends during the season.

There was a bit of activity on shore as several boats were being prepared for racing in the near future.

Two other yachts went for a shakedown sail to check their gear and will no doubt race next weekend.

There is also the possibility that juniors may sail in competition on a Saturday afternoon as they did many seasons ago.