The Aotea Electric Canterbury team recently took part in Sailing For Cholmondeley – a sailing regatta to raise funds to support the vital work of Cholmondeley, one of the local charities we support.
It was a great afternoon with a fair southerly breeze which got us humming along. It was definitely a lot more action-packed than last year when we had no wind. Our Skipper John had never taken a full team of ‘enthusiastic learners’ before. He had the lucky phone call to assist us as others had to pull out due to Covid. We were confident when learning we were on the winning boat from the Wednesday competition!
Steve got the prize for the most relaxed crew member for his laid-back seating positioning making it look easy. Aaron O provided the muscles, hoisting the mainsail and acting as chief sail fluffer.
Adam was in charge of not tipping the boat over sideways although John mentioned he had tipped it on Wednesday, which gave us full confidence that we were in safe hands. Adam also did an amazing job of not going into the drink after taking the full brunt of the boom’s pully block to the chest.
Sophia found the best seat to take in the view and did well in letting us know that she did not think the boat was not going to tip even though we were at a 45-degree angle.
Shane did really well with his listening skills. When we were launching from the dock John said “drop the two ropes at the front” which he carried out well – unfortunately, we learned in boating terms that is code for “do not drop the ropes at the front”. Whoops!
Darran did well chasing Shane around the mast, generally keeping out of the way and not falling in. Sophia, Adam and Aaron quickly learned to duck fast due to the boom trying to take their heads off on multiple occasions.
In the race, we came in around the middle of the pack after a dud start. All in all, it was a great afternoon and our skipper John was a great bugger for having us out on his boat.
