Paynesville Classic Boat Rally 2016

This was the first time I had ever sailed in such crowded and close quarters, and I was encouraged to join in the sail past (race) by our son Tristan (who gives me so much confidence at the helm). I record this sequence because the oldest boat in the fleet is here pictured moving past several boats in light winds, in a crowd. She is off-screen to the left, well and truly surrounded in the pic above. To be fair, quite a few then overtook us again when we rounded the point into the larger Lake Victoria, but Beachcomber definitely had a moment there....and so did we. She is not built for speed, but she gave us so much fun in several different sorts of conditions.

The rally was a huge success for the town of Paynesville and for the organiser, Peter Medling and his wonderfully helpful team. I will post more about the rally when the dust settles and I can feel my hands again. We made our way to the rally under sail on Friday (very light and lazy conditions) and made our way home upwind today, Sunday (3 hours) under the heaviest conditions that I'd encountered in this old boat. She was absolutely grand when pressed, and reassuring in the rough. I had the best crew imaginable and am so proud of his skills.

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