Just to set the scene, here's a direct quote from my 2001 article - it sounds eerily familiar. "Well, that was our regatta. A definite case of what would have, should have and could have been. But isn't that the same for every regatta - fortune favours those prepared to get organised, on and off the water. If we polish up on our boat handling, fitness, boat speed, tactical nous, boat preparation and knowledge of the rules, I reckon we can do better next time!" Hmmmm - this does have a familiar ring to it.

Race 1 - Short Course. Wind SW, 10-15kts. (Monday)

The new SheepStations was launched a week prior to the nationals which sounds great but in practice, breaks one of the Regatta Sailing 101's cardinal rules - make sure your boat is prepared and bullet-proof to last the regatta. Jackie and I launched off the start in Heat 1 quite nicely and all looked well with the world. Clear air, flat and fast - what more could you wish for? Perhaps we should have wished for our Dyneema mainsheet strop not to let go 2 minutes into the race? Oh fudge. Jackie stops hiking, sits in the boat and jury rigs the mainsheet system into something functional so we can continue to sail. Set off after the fleet disappearing into the distance and end up 34^th. Not exactly the way to begin a regatta. Note to self - never launch a new boat 1 week prior to major event again.

Race 2 - Long Course. Wind SW, 14-17kts.

A new race, another opportunity. In what will be a remarkable event for us, we sail a relatively incident free race and cross the line 11^th. Let's not get too comfortable though - there are storm clouds gathering on the horizon.

Race 3 - Short Course. Wind SSW, 20-25kts. (Tuesday)

Definitely more breeze on "Big Tuesday" with conditions pretty testing for all competitors. Jackie and I discussed when the breeze gets up, the first priority is to get around the course, stay upright and finish the races. Results can look after themselves. Got away clean from the boat end, concentrating on keeping the boat flat and vertical - not all together an easy feat between the howling wind and the cockpit floor of our new boat resembling an ice-skating rink. Tried a lee-bow tack at the first windward mark only to end up on my bum in the cockpit. Legs askew up in the air, watched Edge Off and Coolit sail over the top of us from my vantage point in the bottom of the boat. Recover and come home 5^th - at least the new SheepStations feels fast in a breeze. Note to self - make sure you can stand upright in the boat and tack without falling on your arse.

Race 4 - Short Course. Wind SSW, 20-25kts.

Definitely blowing now. Going in a straight line is fine, it's just when you have to start turning corners that things can go pear-shaped. In our pre-race pow-wow, Jackie and I re-emphasise staying upright will be a good thing. We start conservatively on the boat again and get away clean. Spend most of the race dicing with Coolit for first place and go around the last leeward mark in second spot, one boat length behind Sway who has made up ground. Just 20 meters from the finish, we are on starboard but below the line, Sway crosses on port with centimeters to spare. They can't lay the finish either without one more tack. We need one tack onto port to make the finish for either first or second place. Ready-about, Jackie uncleats the jib sheet and calls she's ready to tack, lee-oh, we tack, the jib sheet somehow re-cleats on the new windward side as we tack, a gust hits, I slip (again), we capsize. Oh fudge.

The sight of an armada of boats coming around the leeward mark and heading directly for you concentrates the mind remarkably. Got the boat up and going in near record time to recover and come home 5^th. Note to self - every cloud has a silver lining; at least we finished both races in good shape.

Race 5 - Short Course. Wind SW, 10-15kts. (Wednesday)

Another day, another race at McCrae. A few boats stayed on shore thinking there would be a repeat of yesterday. As it turned out, Heat 5 was sailed in a pleasant breeze and we managed to get away OK. Close to the first windward mark, a spot in the teens beckoned for us but as was becoming the norm for our regatta, we managed to find another way to come unstuck. This time it was a port / starboard incident with SheepStations on port attempting another lee-bow tack onto starboard. Did we infringe? Not sure but I decided a 720 was the lesser of two evils if we had in fact interfered with the other boat. Around and around we went and ended up scoring a 23^rd. Much better than a 68^th if we DSQed. Note to self - either give up on lee-bow tacks or improve boat handling.

Race 6 - Short Course. Wind SW, 8-10kts.

This is where Regatta Smarts 101 needs to be tattooed onto my forehead.

Picture the scenario - the start has a pin end bias, the breeze is fading and its going further left. It's going to be tough to get across the line down the pin end. Let's complicate things further just to make things challenging. The pin-end committee boat has a long length of anchor rope floating on the surface, effectively shortening the line by 30 metres. So where did I decide to start? Down the pin-end of course!! Twenty seconds to go, I know we are not going to get across on starboard and wheel away and gybe below the fleet to avoid hitting the pin end boat. Come back onto starboard tack and there seems to be space to have another go at getting across the line as the fleet storms over the top. My attitude is if you are going to do something, do it properly. Having stuffed up Starting Attempt I, Starting Attempt II saw us drift onto the pin end boat, get tangled in the anchor rope and then proceed to try and mate SheepStations with the aluminum committee boat. It was all I could do stop us getting smashed to smithereens and disentangle the boat. Paul Ridgway and Pip Pearson watched the sideshow unfold from their RIB nearby much to their horror / amusement. By the time we were free, the fleet was long gone and were well up the first beat. Rather than go into shore, we thought what the heck and set off in pursuit. With perseverance, we got back to 34^th - a result which would come back to haunt us nevertheless. Note to self - don't ever do something as painfully stupid ever again.

Race 7 - Short Course. Wind SW, 8-10kts.

Don't remember much about this race other than we were into the infamous Marginal Planing Conditions (MPC - see Port Lincoln, 2001). Must have done OK somewhere as ended up 5^th.

Note to self - See what can be done with no incidents worth remembering and no stuff-ups!

Lay Day (Thursday)

Spent the day fine tuning items on the boat and putting down a layer of fiberglass resin and sugar to create a non-slip cockpit floor.

Race 8 - Short Course. Wind S, 8-22kts. (Friday)

A new day at McCrae and the wind was back again. After Tuesday's big winds, the course was moved in shore somewhat due to safety concerns. This also made for shiftier conditions with holes in the breeze that made things tricky. We started cleanly and the boat was flying up the first work, feeling better than at any other point in the regatta. With Sway and Coolit tucked away to leeward and behind with the rest of the fleet, we were looking good to have a handy lead. Out of the blue, Edge Off and Purple Patch came out of the hard left to pip us around the first mark. Still, no complaints but didn't sail at our best for the rest of the race, slipping back to end up 8^th. Where did all those boats come from?

Note to self - Don't get complacent after a good first work. You'll get chewed up and spat out

Race 9 - Long Course. Wind S, 8-22kts.

At this point you might be thinking things are slowly coming together on SheepStations but we we weren't done yet. Heat 9 was a long course race and getting away clean again paid dividends at the top mark with us going around 3^rd. (Apologies to Cookie Monster at the start - we were Harley's leeward boat and put our 147kg afterburners on when required. It was a beautiful thing for us - not so good for Harley.) Our race developed into a personal slugfest with Rob and Peter on Coolit with us swapping positions a number of times. We rounded the last leeward mark for a beat up to the finish in 4^th with Rob close behind. Halfway up the beat, our tacking gremlin struck again. Ready-about, Jackie uncleats the jib sheet and calls she's ready to tack, lee-oh, we tack, the jib sheet somehow re-cleats on the new windward side as we tack, a gust hits, we capsize. Oh fudge.

Got the boat up and going in record time losing just the one position to Coolit and get another 5th. 

Note to Alistair - would never blame my crew for a capsize - when the boat capsizes, the buck stops with me.

Race 10 - Long Course. Wind W, 5kts. (Saturday)

Well, here we are at the end of the regatta and thanks to the ability to drop 2 races, we are in pretty good shape and in 7^th place on the standings. As long as we stick to the basics of Regatta Sailing 101 and keep our noses clean, a place in the first 10 boats in the overall standings beckons. Can't be too hard can it?

Well Race 10 gets underway in the lightest breeze of the regatta. There's been a recall and it's a black flag start. Warning bells should be ringing loud and clear according to the fundamentals of RS 101. I find myself on the start line with Murray O'Brien in Grumpy directly to leeward. For those of you don't know, Murray is a long standing Tasar sailor who has spent the last 10 years in LASERS. Accordingly, Murray knows how to keep his boat high and on the line. What does this mean to us, directly to windward? A black flag is what it means, an extra 34 points onto our score card and exit stage left from a top-10 finish.

Note to self - Bone up on the fundamentals of Regatta Sailing 101 and when I do, don't ignore them.

So there you go. Eight years after my previous diary effort, unfortunately not much seems to have changed in terms of avoiding carnage and mishaps. It seems to me those that win regattas are the ones that are well prepared prior to arriving and make the least mistakes on the water. Make the fewest errors over the course of a regatta and you will win. Congratulations to Shane and Mel - you've obviously studied Regatta Sailing 101 long and hard and heeded its lessons!

PS Special thanks to Jackie - she did a magnificent job in testing conditions. The good thing is she hates getting beaten more than I do so watch out!