My name is John.  My crew Phil and I are now into our 3^rd season sailing an MG14B.  Our boat is “Foxee”.  We race out of Toronto with a close-knit band of fellow MG enthusiasts.  However, I must admit to a prejudice.  I think the MG14B is a core part of the future of the class.  Phil and I love it, because we are a couple of adult males who combine at around 160kg, and the increased sail area allows us to be competitive.  We are excited that a few others around have been converting, and some at least thinking about it, and a couple of others having a bet both ways, so that we can build up a viable division alongside the standard rigs going forward.  I believe the two rig options will really help to build a very healthy class going forward.

We have learnt a lot about sailing the boat with this rig over the past two seasons, and I am happy to say we have had heaps of improvement.  You can take it for granted, but when you can sail on an average Saturday with the current national champ (Rochey) and another top-fiver (Bob Taig), you have to be on your toes every race to be in the mix. 

We haven’t seen too much of Rochey this season (he is practising in secret up at Manning Point!).  He has a young guy from Taree crewing for him.  However, he has shown up a couple of times to sail single-handed around the buoys with us.  He won’t let me give away age details, but to watch him get on the wire, work the kite and stay afloat, and actually kick our butts (at least in the lighter stuff), it makes me feel very inadequate!!   

Bobby Taig (“Filthy Fase”) is looking serious, with a whole new quiver of sails.  Hayden, his regular crew, broke his arm which has delayed his start, but Bob has gone out and given us a hard time with fill-in crews.  The first week he showed up, we got the better of him, particularly upwind.  However, a bit of tweaking the following Saturday and he was ready for action.  We had two sprint races that day.  In the first one Bob got a little anxious and suffered from “premature” starting.  Therefore, we were able to take a nice lead and hold it to the end.  However, I have to say his downwind speed was looking very ominous.  Second race the breeze started to fade and he took off.  We couldn’t bridge the gap.  Aggregate time difference across both races was 5 seconds.  Fairly close stuff.  Meanwhile, Brian and Lara Mansfield in “Flame Boy” are improving rapidly, and we have a few more boats working hard to get improved boat speed.  Troy Atkin and his son Jordan have set themselves the challenge to get to single figure club handicap as a precursor to the Nationals. 

On 17 October Speers Point held its inter-club regatta on Lake Macquarie.  Four of the local MG’s fronted up and we raced in the monohull division, mainly up against local NS14’s and Tasars.  Challenging conditions!  The breeze actually promised a nice 10 knots plus E/SE, but anyone who has sailed at the top of the lake there will know that things turn fluky, particularly at the top of the course, which is under the lee of a hill. 

Two challenges were set for the day:  Keep single-handed Rochey and Taig honest, and do some serious butt-kicking on those Tasars and Northies (side-note:  why would healthy, virile sailors ever want to experience the mind-numbing boredom of running square with a jib poled out??!!  C’mon!!  Get on something with a bit more grunt and excitement!! – I may never be allowed near Teralba or Speers Point again!) 

“Beat Route” out of Taree had been sold, and the new owner, Peter, showed up with his young crew to have a bit of a practice run.  Great to see him.  He had sailed a Northie out of Teralba, and we hope we can entice him to Toronto to have some real fun with all of us. 

So, to the race.  The breeze oscillated around all afternoon in a 30 degree range, and wind strength ran anywhere from 2-10 knots.  The thrill would be in the racing and tactics, rather than thrilling rides. 

All the monohulls started together, but our reasonable start was spoilt by the leading Tasar, that could point that little bit higher and hung a heap of dirty air on us.  Bob and Greg got better starts, with Brian a little further back.  As we tacked away for clean air, to the right side of the course, we watched in dismay as Bob and Greg sailed away in beautiful pressure on a darned lift.  As we bashed our way through the shifts and the catamaran fleet also around us, we hit the top mark around mid-fleet, with Brian and Lara breathing down our necks, and the other boys sailing off into the distance.  It was hard to resist the slumped shoulders that come when you think your chance to be competitive that day has finished. 

Even with a little more sail area, in the light stuff our weight means we struggle for momentum.  So, as the breeze continued its rest period, we wallowed around well off the pace. 

Ah, but the beauty of these conditions is that wind does shift, and wind pressure does return if you look out for it.  We watched Bob clear away from Greg when there was more breeze, then a lap later we watched Greg catch Bob and clear away as the breeze faded again.  Meanwhile, we kept playing for shifts and pressure, and lo and behold, when we hit the top mark with a lap to go, we had clawed our way back to within about 100 metres of the two leaders. 

At this point, I should mention that the three MG’s had accounted for the Northies and the Tasars.  We were actually surprised that, once we got our momentum and rhythm more consistent as the race progressed, we were just about matching it with the lead NS and Tasar upwind, and by the third work we maintained a handy lead over them.  When we had a bit of pressure downwind we all sailed right away from them.  Thank you spinnakers!! 

So, down to the last lap.  We had our turn for some luck, as we caught some pressure from the top mark and bore down on the two leaders.  As the wind died again, Greg pushed away from Bob, but we hit the wing mark right on Bob’s tail.  Now it was on!  The course to the bottom mark had a challenge.  If you took a straight line you would have had to pick up the boat and carry it over land, as Marmong Point protruded out onto the course.  So, we each had to make a choice.  Greg “Octopus” Roche had sufficient lead to take the conservative approach and dropped his kite to manage the tighter angle around the point, then set it again for the run to the bottom mark on an easier angle.  Bob pushed a tight angle to give plenty of clearance around the point.  We took a lower angle, aiming to just clear the point, knowing we had enough wind pressure to still keep good momentum.  The likelihood that pressure would get too strong and force us onto the point seemed pretty low. 

Our gamble paid off!  Momentum good, around the point and a faster angle to the bottom mark, Bobby had to gybe back and Greg eased his sheets and ran to the buoy.  So, at the bottom mark, Greg rounded about 20 metres ahead, we steamed in on starboard and Bob came in on port, gybed and we had just enough momentum, combined with a brilliant last-minute kite drop from Phil, and rounded the mark just clear of Bob’s bow.  He was in our dirty air and had to tack away. 

Now was the push to the finish at the top of the course.  Wind pressure built again, and we crossed tacks ahead of Greg....yee ha!!  Could we snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? 

Of course, the fat lady had not sung.  The three of us were neck and neck, with advantage changing based on who had a little more pressure and a favourable shift at their disposal.  With about 200 metres to the line and the breeze dying a little, we crossed a little ahead of Bob, and just ahead of Greg, but he looked good.  The lighter breeze (and lighter weight) was suiting him!  I decided to follow the text book and tack next to Greg with a tight cover.  Big mistake!  He had enough momentum to stay in clear air and screw the boat up to the point where he had us.  He tacked away, while we sailed further into no-man’s land:  a big hole.  “Filthy Fase” and “Foxee” watched helplessly as Greg, as he knows how, found that extra bit of pressure on the right side, and crossed the finish line whilst we bobbed up and down.  In quick succession Bob and we followed. 

Anyway, who could complain?  We had a fantastic race, we all beat the rest of the fleet both over the line and on yardstick, we had a very exciting three-way duel to the finish and, personally, I was happy that Phil and I had kept up our concentration and steadily clawed our way back into the fight when we felt well out of the game in the first half of the race. 

So, I’m looking forward to this coming Saturday.  Hopefully we will have a good rollout of locals and some exciting racing again.  Early forecast on Seabreeze is for a solid Nor-easter....hmmmm!!  It would be nice to get some practice in on solid breezes in the lead-up to the Nationals! 

Hey, don’t forget everyone:  make the effort to come up to Toronto on the weekend of 14/15 November for the first instalment of the MG’s Touring Trophy.  It will form part of the Toronto Four-of-a-Kind Regatta.   The top four finishers in each class get the chance to take home the bickies based on yardstick performance over the weekend.  In the meantime, the MG’s will race for handicap results, which is what the Touring Trophy is all about – so the outer markers have as much chance of picking up the top prizes as the scratch markers.  There will also be awards for scratch results. 

See you all soon! 

Email:  john.hickey@freemanfox.com.au