Blossa Glögg Singlehanded Challenge Race.
Wintery conditions saw 5 foolhardy entrants for this years Blossa Glögg Singlehanded Challenge Race. Snow was falling sideways in winds gusting to 7mps as the skippers headed out for the start line.
At the gun, ‘Elvina 1’ with Gunilla at the helm leapt away on a strong tack, closely followed by Krister with ‘Elvina II’, Gunnar with ‘Amanda’ , Ingela in ‘Yesterday II’ but it was Jon in ‘Yesterday I’ who stormed into the lead.
Very close sailing throughout the fleet saw collisions and protests shouted and denied or upheld, while a lack of racing papers and proper documentation sees some skippers held up. Straight down the fairway to ‘First Island’ it is neck and neck with boats swapping positions to try to catch the race leader, ‘Yesterday I’, who takes the safe outer route around the island in a comfortable lead.
As ‘Yesterday I’ heads down through ‘The Narrows’, the other boats, ‘Elvina I’, ‘Elvina II’, and ‘Amanda’ all jockey for position to get around ‘First Island’. Ingela in ‘Yesterday II’ is struggling to find her form as she brings up the rear. Gunilla on ‘Elvina I’ takes the safe route around the outside of ‘First Island’ with Gunnar on ‘Amanda’ opting for the more dangerous inside route. A bad tide catches Gunnar and he is left becalmed on the inner lee shore.
‘Yesterday I’ still holds the lead closely followed by ‘Elvina I’, with ‘Elvina II’ and ‘Amanda’ both stuck on the inner route lee shore! ‘Yesterday II’ is still struggling to get to the channel split at First Island.
‘Elvina II’ finally manages to escape the lee shore and with some epic sailing by skipper Krister, gains a lot of ground and closes on ‘Yesterday I’, as they approach ‘Tower Island’.
With a good wind, and tide, the lead swaps and changes with ‘Amanda’ taking the lead for a few moments before being overhauled by ‘Elvina II’ who read the tide exceedingly well and slipped ahead through the tidal race. The entire fleet is on top of one another with everyone looking for the cleanest route through to Nudist Island. ‘Amanda’ racing head to head with ‘Elvina I’ while ‘Yesterday I’ battles against ‘Elvina II’ to hold its position at the top of the fleet. …….. ‘Yesterday II’ still struggling at the back ….. way back.
‘Elvina I’ holds the lead going around Nudist Island while ‘Yesterday II’ discovers the reason for their slow race is a holed hull. A bruised looking whale is the decided culprit and repairs ensue at a fast pace. ‘Elvina I’ takes a commanding lead, with ‘Amanda’, ‘Yesterday I’ and ‘Elvina II’ following in her wake.
At the cross over, ‘Elvina I’ has a well established lead, with ‘Yesterday I’, ‘Amanda’ , and ‘Elvina II’ all being chased hard by ‘Yesterday II’, who is gaining ground very very fast.
‘Elvina I’ makes it over the finish line in a well deserved 1st place, with ‘Yesterday I’ hitting a smugglers boat and being boarded by Customs and Excise agents to boot!
‘Elvina II’ crosses the line in 2nd with ‘Yesterday I’ and ‘Amanda’ fighting for 3rd.
‘Amanda’ takes 3rd place with ‘Yesterday I’ in 4th and finally ‘Yesterday II’ in 5th.
1st Gunilla Elvina I
2nd Krister Elvina II
3rd Gunnar Amanda
4th Jon Yesterday I
5th Ingela Yesterday II
The next race is a crewed race. Entrants to meet at the clubhouse on January 25th (Friday) at 18.30 hrs. Race start 19.00hrs.
Everyone welcome. BBQ will be lit so bring your own hotdogs/burgers/chicken/pork file/ etc etc etc. Tea/coffee supplied free of charge by the race committee.