Matt and I are so excited to be here during the world renowned Musket Cove Regatta week! We do want to participate, but we don’t want to race our home. We do however, register Sugar Shack so that we are eligible to sign up for the hobie cat race, the SUP challenge, and we get access to the opening and closing night dinners.
About a month before the race, we ran into our friends on the sailing boat “Wow.” We met them in French Polynesia and stopped by to say “hi.” They were keen to race in the regatta and needed additional crew so we happily signed up.
Wow is a stealth 14GT and weighs in at a surprisingly low 5 tons. To give you an idea of how light that is Sugar Shack weighs close to 14 tons. Wow is super light and fast!
We spend one day practicing and getting to know the boat which is pretty different than Sugar Shack.
Opening Night
The opening night was held at the local Island Bar located on the beach. Tickets are required, free rum punch for the first hour, and dinner was served. It was a great opportunity to get to know other cruisers. We head in with the sailing team on Wow and our friend Chris (lower left corner).
There are three boat races that are held during the 5-day race week. The first race is called “beachcomber” then the most challenging race is “Around Malolo Race” and the final is the “sand bank” race.
In addition to the boat races, there are hobie cat races, the SUP challenge, a fun run, and a beach cleanup.
Hobie Cat Races
The first race that kicks off is the hobie cat races. Matt had sailed on hobie cats when he was in college, but I had never been on one before. We had hoped we could watch a few rounds so we can see the course, check the winds, and figure out a game plan.
But that was not in the cards for us. We were literally the first team, out of 60 teams, on the water!
There are 4 hobie cats. You race two teams at a time with a beach start. We have mere moments to look at the boat before we start. This is Matt and I with the marina manager, Patrick. The lower right photo is just a silly hat that I had to share.
The course started at the beach, at the whistle, you run and jump onto the boat, and two pushers give you a shove to get you started. As you can see, I had a rough entry! I had to run around the pusher as the boat was moving and face planted!
We had a good start but it quickly went downhill from there! The course had you go around two markers, past the start, back around the two markers, and back to the beach. After 3 rounds they shortened the course to just once around the course.
The hobie cats are relatively simple. You have one-person steering using a tiller and another person working the jib. I was up front working the jib.
We didn’t do so bad on the first of 6 legs.
The Challenge isn’t the other boats, but rather the boat itself
With the first tack (attempt to turn the boat) we realized we had a problem. The batons on the jib were too long and had a hook on the end. Each time the jib passed the mast to make the tack it got stuck on the halyard preventing the jib from doing its job which is filling with air to help steer the boat. It caused us massive fits and troubles and we lost valuable ground.
Needless to say, I came up with some creative curse words and we lost by single elimination heat. I can at least say we came in 2nd in a race with 60 boats were racing, can’t I?
As soon as we came back to the beach, the race committee tried to repair the batons on the jib – clearly it was not a Christine problem – well this one wasn’t at least.
The good news is that we did not flip the boat! Unlike another team. Not sure how they flipped their boat as we had incredibly light, light winds.
And there were moments where we sort of looked like we knew what we were doing.
All in all, it was a fun day. Not the outcome we had hoped for, but still loads of fun.
SUP Challenge
The SUP (stand up paddle board) challenge was held in the lagoon on the same course as the hobie cats. The first leg was up wind until you rounded the first mark, then it was a nice down wind run until you rounded the second mark which led you to a cross wind run to the finish.
Matt was going to participate but his hands were covered in blisters so we both melded into the cheering crowd.
Next up we race in the Beachcomber race and participate in pirate day!
The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022. Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events. In our last blog we finally arrive to Malolo Island after a few short stops.