The 3rd of February dawned clear and calm. Compared to last year the Vaal Dam is a millpond. A slight rustling in the trees gives some cause for hope but I have a feeling that we are going to be in for a long day. A quick breakfast and down to the waterfront. A few moments of light banter with the opposition while final adjustments are made to the rigging. On to the water just before eight to make sure that we arrive at the start in time, considering the light winds. Of the twelve Mirrors I have counted, ten I recognize from local clubs or regattas.

The weather forecast was for a moderate north easterly wind, the plan is simply a beat down with a few tacks, reach behind and run back from the island. The direction was as reported but the strength was light. No problem, that is until I could not find the start line. There was the committee boat with the pennants all correctly interpreted but the limit boat was nowhere to be seen! When I say nowhere we watched the two starts before us and continuously looked for it in between with no success. This threw me a little as the pin end was clearly preferred at that stage. I compromised by setting off from the committee boat a couple of minutes before the gun on a broad reach and hardened up as soon as the start sounded ( I still never found the limit boat!). All things considered we got away fairly well, with Robert Edwards and Robert Dann ahead and the rest of us pretty well positioned. One advantage of the light conditions was that the catamarans were very subdued and did not play havoc with our starting preparations.

Pretty soon after the start I realized that this was not going to be my race. I had chosen an older set of sails for the event as in previous races the boat and sails had taken such a pounding that I wanted to spare my good sails for the official class races. No matter what I did I could not get the main to draw well. I had a slight kink at the start of the top batten and just couldn't keep the boat up to speed. In hindsight I should have eased the gaff off the mast a bit but it did not occur to me then.

Tony Lane caught us up as if we were stuck in third gear. In an effort not to let him see that I was having problems I tacked away but being a good sailing buddy he wanted to keep me company and tacked with me. Back on to the original tack and goodbye Tony. Goodbye Megan Edwards and Kevin Walter as well.

The wind gradually shifted to the North and strengthened and we were able to ease off the sheets a little. With the extra speed we were able to prevent any one else passing us but could make up no ground on those ahead. The wind continued to rotate Westwards and we soon had the spinnaker up. Having a fairly full cut spinnaker we slowly began to make up ground and were now picking up the keelers who had an earlier start. It was quite amazing to sail amongst these big boats with their massive, colourful spinnakers.

We caught up with Megan Edwards and after a futile attempt to sail through her lee we finally made it past her to windward. Tony Lane was now in our sights and we really made an effort to catch him.

By now we were well up to the island and when I saw the turmoil at the mark I decided to give it a wide berth and skirted the stalled boats by about 50 meters to round in clean air. This move paid off as it put us well beyond the turbulent wind closer to the shore. We were able to gain on the two Roberts who were now very close together.

Flushed with the success of this move I decided to keep clear of the second mark as well. Wrong! The keelers sailing close to the island had seen the advantage that those further out enjoyed and were also moving out . This meant a lot of dodging in dirty wind, while our mirror opposition slipped by, rounded close to the mark and were off.

By now the wind had turned by a full 180 degrees and we were in for a long beat home. Mindful of my earlier problems while beating I headed on my first tack towards the north bank, hoping that if there was any breeze off the water it would compliment the gradient wind and give a slight advantage. Meanwhile the mirror fleet had now split into three groups. Tom McGrath tacked hard behind the Island and led a group of about four towards the South bank, a couple of us headed for the north bank and the rest tacked up the center. The wind strength soon dropped off and I noticed Robert Edwards, by now quite far ahead, give up on the north bank and take a more central line. I decided to do the same and spent the next hour and a half enduring the most frustrating sailing I have yet to experience. Too far from the bank to judge our speed or to use a landmark to indicate the wind shifts and in extremely light and variable wind we really battled to make headway. I would not be surprised if we didn't drift back wards at times.

At last the air pattern we were sailing in became a bit more obvious and we were able to make some progress. By now the mirror fleet was literally kilometers apart and it was difficult to identify individual boats. Megan Edwards was discernable ahead and I made a point of trying to gain on her, without much success.

Late in the afternoon I was hailed by Emmerentia club mates Andrew and Peter Boberg, closely followed by Kevin Walter, who had followed Tom towards the south bank and were now converging on the center line.

Seeing the finish up ahead in the setting sun with bare poles, pennants and the limit boat off to the right we began to race for home. In the ensuing tacking dual we shook off Kevin and I was getting the upper hand when I saw that the committee boat was actually a keeler that had already finished and was motoring home to one of the other clubs on the dam. By now the boats behind us were accepting tows for home.

I realised that there was a good probability that we would not reach the finish by the five o'clock deadline and began to prepare my crew for that disappointment. We agreed to turn down the kind offer of a tow, as did the Bobergs and saw Megan up ahead accept one. Soon I could make out the real finish line, almost invisible against the blue gum trees in the setting sun and soldiered on towards it. Every time we caught a bit of a gust I thought we might make it only to be hit by the next lull. I estimate that we were 6 to 10 minutes (500 meters?) off the line when the hooter sounded the end of the race - so near after 8 hours and 20 minutes of racing - but just not near enough.

Back on the bank we were able to catch up on how the leaders had fared. Robert Edwards had led the Mirror fleet almost from start to finish to give him his second win in as many years. Peter Page, sailing single handed, slipped into second place ahead of Tony Lane who sailed a good race to pick up third. Six of the twelve starters finished in the time allowed.

I learnt a good few lessons and here's what I'll do next time.

1) Fit my boat with a compass to indicate wind shifts.

2) Take along a to scale map of the dam. The rough sketch I made was inadequate. It would also be useful, together with the compass, in picking the shortest route. SAIL THE SHORTEST ROUTE - I have learnt this one before.

3) Stick with the other Mirrors. It is easier to judge yourself and your performance against boats and skippers that you know rather than to try to get the best out of your boat on your own.

4) Take along a pair of binoculars. Helps spot the start, finish and the talent on the real boats during the lulls.

Looking forward to next year.