July
Around Bowen Island Race
For this challenge I will be competing in the race around Bowen Island. This race is a total distance of 32kms and I will be doing it in a relay in two legs. Apparently the seas get pretty rough round this rocky coastline. Should be a fun challenge this one!
Write Up
Another challenge down and what an epic day this one was!
For this challenge I teamed up with Marcelo to do the FCRCC Bowen Island Race. Starting at 4am to get nutrition all ready, pick up a car, pick up Marcelo, get the boards on the car and get the ferry by 7.20am. Getting on the ferry and you could tell there was a race on, the whole ferry was full of cars with boats of all shapes and sizes attached to their roofs!
Once on the island, we get unpacked and wait for the race briefing and the final verdict on the direction the race will be. Anticlockwise! This was good for us as it allowed Marcelo to go first and tackle to longer leg. The wind over the other side of the island was not as expected and a strong northerly picked up and gave Marcelo a super hard time getting down to the bay for the switch over.
From here I picked up the race and headed out into the wind. Rounding the first headland was tough. The wind was pretty strong here and with the waves coming off rocks, made for some pretty tough conditions. But once round the corner, things settled down and it was a relatively sheltered run along the bottom of the island. Then as I started the head up the side of the island for the last part, the northerly started to pay off and I got some good speed catching some down wind waves. Then rounding the corner for the last little sprint into the harbour.
Once everyone was back in, it was time for ceremonies in the park by the finish line. Lots of different categories meant lots of medals. We managed to pick up first in our category.
Then the long wait for the ferry, back to the sailing club to wash off the boards and store them there. Drop off Marcelo and finally back home by about 9pm, making it a 17 hour day all up!