Marly Point 2010
The Marly Point race was held last weekend – the Labor Day weekend. MMYC had 3 crews in the race.
Peter Sutton and crew on the Noelex 30 - Why Knot
David Collison and crew the Sonata 7 - Good Enough
Myself and crew on the RL24 - Solitaire
What a race, my crew Ray Bray, Peter Mosbey and I were first timers in the race. Old Marly Point hands had told me that it would be race of varied weather conditions. It was that and all.
The start of the race was scheduled for 7:45pm on Saturday but in the end was delayed due to a severe thunderstorm coming through at around 7.00pm. The wind gusted to a swirling 25 knots but the rain just bucketed down for around 30 minutes. Fortunately there were no serious accidents amongst the fleet, the fleet size being around 150 across the various classes
We finally got away at 8:45pm with a gentle SE breeze. As the fleet progressed across Lake Wellington the breeze became light and variable. Being in the fleet, the sight of another 149 boats stretching ahead and behind with nav lights on was a fantastic sight. Much of the trip across Lake Wellington was made by drifting. Around midnight the first boats reached McLennan strait. On Solitaire we entered the strait just after 1am.
Our trip through the strait was filled with adrenaline rushes as we furiously tacked back and forth in the traffic to the frustration of drifting as the wind dropped off. We finally came out of the strait around 5:30am into Lake Victoria with a moderate SE morning breeze to take us into Panyesville and then to head out around Raymond Island for the last leg of the race.
What a leg – about a third of the way round the breeze dropped to nothing and we drifted sideways for over two and half hours – more frustration. Then out of nowhere a NW wind came in to take us back to finish shortly after 1pm – just over 16 hours on the water.
As far as the results were concerned we finished 50th on handicap and 49th across the line in Division C of 51 finishers – 9 boats not finishing. Not a great result as such but for first timers we were pleased to finish.
Peter Sutton on Why Not fared better in Division C coming in a commendable 9th across the line and 31st on handicap.
David Collison on Good Enough in Division A crossed the line 34th and on handicap 44th out of 66 boats finishing with 6 boats not finishing – a good effort.
As a first timer I can say this was a terrific experience and I’m going back again next year. It would be good if we can get a few more MMYC boats there for the next event. We could make it a combined cruise and race. Get down to Paynesville early on Friday cruise across Lake Victoria. Put up for the night at a suitable site and then head on to Marly Point the next morning after breakfast. As we draw up the calendar for next season we should look at as a listed event.
