Last week two HYC boats, Wayne Pitcher’s J122 ‘Lithium’ and Tony Brooke’s Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42 ‘Mimosa’, completed the 700 nm Fremantle to Exmouth Race and Rally. On Saturday 6 May, following the compulsory safety brief, the fleet assembled off Hall Bank amidst cold gusty easterly winds and rain for the midday start. Once underway, the fleet headed for the day buoy off Cottesloe and then turned north, with the first 48 hours sailed in a rollicking beam reach of 30-40 kts.

While the conditions did not ideally suit the J122 design, it was at times wicked fun for the team on Lithium. ‘Fun’ and exciting doing more than 18 kts surfing down the waves, but ‘wicked’ because those same waves sent them further out to sea than they should have gone, and they paid the penalty for it later on. Days 3 and 4 were sailed in lighter conditions, including a couple of half-day glass-outs, allowing crew to dry out, but adding to their overall finishing time. To add to their misery, the final 30 nm took more than 24 hours to complete. However, the food on board was tasty and plentiful, and the sunset beers were cold. The Lithium crew finished a little later and damper than they had hoped or liked in 7th place in a time of 4 days and 16 hours.

For those on board Mimosa in the rally, things were a little bit more sedate. They can claim to have caught the biggest legal fish, a 92 cm bigeye tuna, proven with a photo showing the fishing licence and measuring tape as proof. Mimosa also won the “Smallest Footprint” award for the Rally Division, demonstrating the most sustainable boating practices with calculations based on boat preparation, provisioning practices, rubbish management and fuel consumption.  They finished in a time of 5 days and 1 hour.

Once the sails were finally furled and the ropes belayed, it was time to join their fellow competitors in the many social activities in and around Exmouth that event management had organised, including the presentation dinner hosted by Exmouth Yacht Club last Saturday evening, 13 May.

Ray Murphy