Race Report - Marlay Point Overnight Race

[Lease]

Spent last weekend (wellfrom Thursday to Monday) on an annual overnight race that has been held in Victoria on the Gippsland Lakes (about 200 miles east of Melbourne) for the last 30 some years. The race is only overnight Saturday, but we like to have fun for a couple of days before and after.

It is a trailer sailor event which in its heyday attracted up to 700 entrants. This year the list was 154 which is not the lowest, but close to it.

The race starts at 7:45pm (dusk in early autumn) under flare from the western shore of Lake Wellington and tracks directly across to a channel linking it with the rest of the lakes to the north east. The run across Lake Wellington takes in last light and this year, a three quarter moon and a fading sea breeze made it a beautiful sail before the breeze died. As the direction of the wind made this a work, we were three hours and only 7 nautical miles into the 8.7 total distance when the wind died completely. After an hour of drifting we got the faintest zephyr from behind to run into the channel with. Unfortunately the lack of time since owning the boat means that I dont yet have a kite, or even a pole to goose-wing the genny with, so we lost almost all of the forty-odd places gained on the work.

Eventually, we made it into the channel (known as Mclennan Straits) and were immediately faced with a new and almost impossible challenge. The channel is between 80 and 130 metres wide for most of its 6nm length and whilst not strictly tidal, it does have a current due to the effects of wind pushing water from the eastern lakes, into the very shallow (less than 10 feet) Lake Wellington. When the breeze dies, the lake empties and creates a current in the channel. That night it was running at over two knots and there was not a breath of wind. Immediately after entering, each boat was grabbed and spun sideways, or backwards down the channel. Most (including ourselves) spent at least some time in the embrace of the riverside foliage and made for a generally unpleasant experience. From time to time a gentle breeze would pop up for about 15 minutes and allow us to ghost through the fleet. Fairly hazardous experience though as by this time a thick fog had descended so that the torch would pick out the approaching bank on each tack only about ten metres away. Good crew work was important to avoid a nasty impact.

So this went on for 6 and a half more hours of us alternately sailing through a few dozen boats and then watching them all drift faster than us and gain back their places when the breeze dropped out. We emerged into Lake Victoria just after the sun came up and battled on for another three hours. With still no regular breeze in sight and the finish still 25nm away, and 2.5 hours left of the time limit, we withdrew from the race at 9:30am.

Not the best Marlay Point of the thirteen under the belt so far, but not the worst either.

One thing that really bothered me was the water ballast. We arrived two days+ before the event to do some sailing (and just a little drinking it is a boys trip after all) and I wanted to use the lighter winds around the place to try the boat out sans-de-leau, so to speak. It seemed to sail about the same which was a bit curious, and just a little disappointing. When we were unhitching back at home we heard the unmistakeable sound of water sloshing about so I pulled the gate valve on the tuck and..whoosh! Dont know how, but I had a full load. Looking back, the symptoms were all there, but I had put them all down to something else:
- Engine has blocked high speed jets so I expected lower performance
- A front came through when we were leaving so the cars lack of acceleration was put down to a headwind
- One tyre got a very hot sidewall, but it is an original that, like the motor, is due in the winter

and other things.

Thank goodness the trailer didnt fail as it was carrying something like 50% over its rated limit for 200 miles. What is really spooky is that on the way back we saw the remnants of a caravan that had got the death wobbles and thrown its Toyota Landcrusier tug into the bushes. There but for whatever reason, nearly went I.

How on earth could the tanks have filled without anything being opened? There did appear to be a bit of weed sticking out of the centerline valve, but it was titchy small. And if it got in that way, why wasnt it dripping out on the hardstand when we were un-rigging? The only other explanation is that a helping hand decided to have a bit fun at one of the anchorages, but you hope that isnt the case.

So does anyone know of cases of spontaneous tank filling? Is it possible that flex under motor can admit water? Anything??

[Richard O'Brien]

Good story Lease! You wonder why the race planners didn't plan the start so that you wouldn't have to fight the channel currents? Too bad you couldn't sneak past with your iron genny. What brand trailer sailor boats won? It sounds like few made it upstream.

What kind of Mac do you have X or M? I can't imagine water getting in , and not out thru the same valve? Mine is air-tight, no leaks.

[Night Sailor]

It seems like two valves would have had to leak for the tank to fill completely: the water valve on the transom, and the air release vent inside the cabin. A prankster could have done the dirty work at the stern, but with no place for the air to go, the tank could not have filled completely, and would have been sloshing around the whole time.
If the inside air release vent checked out to be tight, then the only think I can think is a failed memory (it happens when you reach my senior status) or having not measured to make sure the tank was empty as you intended.

[Lease]

The winner completed the course in just over 11 hours. It was a Grainger 10 metre performance catamaran that was being sailed by the major sponsor. The multi division and the sport boat division were the only ones to complete the full course. All other divisions were finished before doing the lap around Raymond Island. Other than that, local sportboat designs such as the Thomson 8 and Elliot 7 were dominant.

Only two of the ten multis finished the course. It was a heartbreaker for many competitors with long lists of DNFs.

For what it's worth, the only boat behind us in Division C was a Mac 26 classic, who also DNF'd.

As far as the timing of the start is concerned, that is sacrosanct. It is an overnight race and it starts at dusk.

I have won this race (in 1997) in a 16 foot trailer sailer in just under four hours. That was a perfect breeze of 20 knots just aft of the beam and we planed (had to hike bloody hard though) at 13 knots all the way. So you get what you get in this event.

Results are here:

http://www.lakewellingtonyachtclub.yach ... esults.xls

Sister boat to the winner:



Other Sportsboats in the results:

Elliot 7:



Thompson 8: