The third and final race of the Musket Cove Regatta 2022 is called the “Sandbank” race. It is short, maybe 5nm in total, but it proved to be challenging with very light winds. All the competitors start at the sandbank inside the reef, then fight for position through the pass, out to a mark, then back.
The captain and team on “Wow” are determined to redeem ourselves after our poor showing and retirement from the Around the Island Race. The boat is prepared, we are psyched and ready!
Engines are off 5 minutes before the start and we position Wow at the start. Only working sails can be used for the first 5 minutes to ensure everyone has plenty of room and can see as they exit the small pass.
The Musket Cove Regatta photographer gets a few great photos of the crew on Wow.
We quickly take the lead despite the very light winds. The spinnakers slowly start to be unfurled as everyone desperately tries to capture the wind.
We unfurl our red spinnaker and see little puffs that catapult us forward. There are times we only have 1-2kts of wind.
Surprise! Burt is trying to take our lead
We slowly start to see the local boat, Burt approach. The owner of “Burt” is also the owner of Malolo Island (aka Musket Cove) and organizer is of the race. He won first place in the Around the Island Race. Yes, he won his own race in his super light hobie cat boat!
Burt made this a challenging race. They quickly overtook us, then we were side by side. It wasn’t until we made the mark that we took the lead.
It was super difficult to maintain the lead back through the pass and to the finish, but we did it! How the heck did we out maneuver this lightning fast boat?
Wow, what a great feeling to come in first on the Sandbank Race on the 2nd race in the Musket Cove Regatta 2022 race week.
Award Ceremony
The closing night was a huge party and celebration. There were tons and tons of prizes for the hobie cat races, SUP races, Around the Island Race, and the Sandbank Race.
They had an enormous amount of food including pigs cooked in a lovo.
The sponsors gave away lots of swag during the race as well. This does not include the prize winnings.
Sure was fun participating in the 2022 Musket Cove Regatta Race week. Wouldn’t have been the same without being crew on the beautiful boat Wow! Feeling pretty blessed about now.
The events from this blog occurred in early September 2022. Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events. We retire from the most challenging race during the Musket Cove Regatta – did you read about it?