Ripper a day to sail but ripped the A2

Farhad Rismanchian

Absolute ripper of a day for sailing, mate. We had a cracking start and were sailing like legends. On the first round, we overtook heaps of boats and nailed our strategy and techniques — smooth as tacks and jibes all the way. We threw up the A2 for the downwind, which turned out to be a bloody good call, while plenty of others were running square kites. We gained ground on them easy. In the second round, we were still flying and pulled off a lightning-fast spinnaker hoist. But when it came to the jibe, there was a bit of unnecessary tension and a rush to do it even quicker. That’s where things went pear-shaped — the boat jibed before the heady clew was fully in front of the forestay, and the sail ended up jibing from the wrong side. Still, we recovered alright, considering the yelling and the tense atmosphere. We quickly jibed back, sorted out the heady, and went for it again, but this time the bottom of the sail got snagged on a little screw on the jib furling drum, and it ripped. All in all, we could’ve and should’ve done better by not rushing to save seconds, especially when it could cost us minutes and a stack of cash in repairs.

Boat & Crew

Zara 1612 (Crew)

Cheoy Lee, 47 Ketch

Farhad Rismanchian

Owner