Big Time
12ft Skiffs are often photographed wearing their spectacular big rigs in up to 15kts. Less common are shots from 4th (v small) rig days. Saturday on the Lane Cove River and Sydney Harbour, an unseasonable big westerly saw the closest Bureau of Metrology (BoM) Automatic Weather Station AWS) record an average 25kts and a max gust of 46kts. The difference between these two numbers is an indication of the gust component of the breeze. The big gusts hit like a hammer.
In one of the most heroic feats of sailing seen at the Lane Cove 12ft Sailing Skiff Club in years, "At Call Powered by Bainbridge", skippered by Adam Forbes and crewed by the master f’wd hand Brad Greenrod, were the only finishers out of a starting fleet of six in the Club’s point score race. Here is some photographic evidence that they had the kite up on a day when most racing on Sydney Harbour was cancelled and the view from the bar was preferred by most to the view from the centreboard. Going upwind looked challenging for this skiff too. – Anarchist Rolf.
