ORCV Winter Sailing Geelong Race - Diary of Newbies

Nicole had talked me into completing a couple of learn to sail courses at Sandringham earlier this year. After that had been lucky to get aboard Don Frasers Dry White for a couple of twilight sails and then joined them for the ORCV Winter Series.

As newbies to the sport, our vocabulary has expanded to include new meanings for sheets, braces and winches. We know that yachts have smart pigs, at least two different words to describe the one thing and I don't think either one of us will complain again about putting a doona into its cover after running tapes and packing away spinnakers.

Saturday - the race to Geelong.

Armed with our wet weather gear, some salad sandwiches, a few bags of lollies and a bucket load of enthusiasm we headed to Sandringham yacht club to meet up with the crew at 07:00.

The crew for the Saturday race was Don, Simon, Niesje, Dee, Neil, Barbara, Tina, Paula, Mark, Nicole and myself. At a rough count the ratio was about one experienced crew to 2 not so experienced. We hadn't gone far before bets were being laid as to when Simon would lose his voice from issuing instructions quite loudly.

The trip to Geelong saw the weather change from cold to wet and colder. Nicole and I were positioned at the back in charge of the back stay. This allowed us to watch the mechanics of racing while remaining out of harms way, sitting on the rails and finding our feet when tacking.

After 8 hours of sailing and conversations with the generous crew about what and why things were done we finally reached Geelong. As soon as the boat had been packed away for the night we headed into the club house for a bite to eat, a celebratory drink (ok maybe more than one) and to re-live the funny moments of the day.

Nicole and I may have caught Dee at a weak moment or maybe it was that we had been in the club house for about 5 hours, but for some unknown reason we thought it would be a great idea to join the women's race the next day. Did I mention that we are enthusiastic?

Finally we hit the sack. It had been a fantastic day. A few bruises (worn with pride), a few tales to tell and a whole heap of laughs with a great bunch of people.

Sunday - Women's race back

We were to be on the boat by 08:30 with some breakfast rations, coffee and panadol.

The three of us were going to sail Dry White home, Dee taking charge as skipper with Nicole and I trimming and on the brace. Mark and Andy were up the front and providing support to Nicole and I and Simon was with Dee. Don ensured we had a flow of coffee, water and food.

This time the sun was shining and the wind around 5 knots. The next 5 hours Nicole and I got to do some hands on sailing with Dee, Simon, Don, Mark and Andy patiently providing support and advice. As newbies this was an amazing opportunity and a big thank you to them all. The conditions were calm (to the point we all voted to abandon the race and motor home) but Nicole and I learnt so much. Even motoring home it was great to be part of the team tidying up ropes, packing away sails and even helping to make some running repairs.

We arrived home after leaving Geelong some 8 or so hours earlier. We worked hard, gained some great experience and had a ball.

P.S. Simon didn't ever lose his voice!