ORCV Melbourne to Geelong (M2G)
Desire.
As in a Streetcar named, Desire.
Aidan Geysen from Streetcar, a Jeanneau Sunfast 3200 from RBYC, has been kind enough to share his thoughts with us on being relatively new to the game and the joy he and the entire crew got from being involved in Bay's best fun bash, the event simply known as Melbourne to Geelong.
"The M2G was the second race for Streetcar, having bought the yacht in Pittwater only four months ago. As a keen windsurfer, I have been satisfying the sailing bug by getting out on the Bay on my windsurfer when I can, taking sailing courses and going for the occasional cruising holiday with my wife and friends", said Aidan.
"We were keen to take part in the Cruising Division of the M2G, in order to get our very first passage race under our belt. The plan was to take part in a couple of club races throughout the Winter season, with a view to entering the Melbourne to Geelong event at the end of the ORCV Winter Series."
B3200 is Streetcar, getting about their business - slab in, at this stage.
"It was quite a build up to the race, with both Seabreeze and the BoM providing an increasingly ominous forecast, as the week rolled on. The cancellation of the RBYC race the week before deprived us of some much needed practice, but the time was used to fit lazy jacks, which proved invaluable over the weekend of the M2G. As was plainly evident from our 'OCS', our starting procedures need work. There were also other 'Rookie' errors made, which we learnt from, thanks to the constructive advice of others."
"With the wind blowing from the South West at 25+knots, our priorities on the way to the start line were Safety, Fun and then Racing (Oh how The Brass are going to love to hear you say that...). If they were the other way around, the OCS would have soon dealt with that, but we were all still smiling at the end, and were pleased to get the boat to and from Geelong in one piece, with no mishaps and no breakages!!!" Ed. Nice work indeed, team.
"The latter stages of the race saw the wind drop and we had to take the reef out of the main, only to have to put it back in just 20 minutes later, and then take it out again as we approached the finish. We spent a bit of time near Pretty Woman and it was good to have the company, but they pipped us at the second last mark", said Aidan.
"Highlights for the weekend included seeing all the race boats out on the Bay, as they made their way down from the top mark; sailing downwind at 12.5 knots on the way home; having dolphins surf alongside us on two occasions and not to mention the cold beer and chicken parma at the RGYC..." Ed. Scott and the gang down at Geelong will love to hear that and it was great to see all the food, beverage and entertainment put on.
"Thanks again to the ORCV for organising a great event. With practice, we look forward to getting involved in future events on the other side of the Heads!"
Sticking Streetcar's nose in to the Port Phillip chop... Bass Strait here they come!
Just bet we'll see them on the startline of the Boxing Day Dash....
The M2G is now done and you can get the results for that race and the entire MWS, right HERE.
Follow it all here and via the ORCV Facebook page, so make sure you go and "Like" the page, now. 179 Souls already have and thank you to all of them.
Stay tuned - we do indeed hope to soon see Streetcar go and stick her nose in it...
© John Curnow, ORCV Media
Please contact me for re-issue rights.
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Celebrating its 41st consecutive running - Be a part of the Bay's hottest racing at the coldest |
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In September, the Melbourne to Geelong event
Of course, by the time Stanley comes around, |
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Many thanks to Hobbos and particularly Many thanks also to Jon Bilger and his PredictWind |
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