‘It Happens’ in action on Sydney Harbour. Photo supplied by Craig Young.
THE combined Penrith/Richmond crew of racing yacht ‘It Happens’ have finished in 2nd spot in the 2024 CYCA Spring Series.
Co-owner Craig Young (Penrith) said “The Series was a mixed bag of conditions, including rain, storms, sunshine and freezing winds. Race 1 was cancelled, due to no winds.
“Strong winds for races 2 and 3, and Race 4 was a win for ‘It Happens’, both over the line and on Handicap, in very light conditions, which gave us a 2nd overall in the competition.
“High speed spinnaker runs up the harbour (Sydney Harbour) allowed us to experience the boat’s potential in those heavier airs and luckily, we have a very competent crew enabling us to take risks we wouldn’t have taken previously.
“Of note are our younger crew members, 15-year-old Emily Foster (Foredeck), 14-year-old Rhys Stewart (Foredeck) and 15-year-old Tiana Milne (Cockpit). A huge learning curve from the dinghys they are used to sailing but they met the challenge. Emily was sent up the mast a couple of times, once during a race, to
attend to matters 15 meters off the deck.
“A huge shout out to the rest of our crew, Stacey, Todd, Peter, Rainy, Steve, Troy and Alex. Some of our crew travel a long way to be here and without them, we wouldn’t be successful. Wishing Stacey all the best for her upcoming Sydney to Hobart race.
“The higher winds saw a couple of breakages but nothing major. As they say on boats, everything is broken, you just don’t know it yet. The more you push the boats in races, the higher the risk of something failing. Thankfully, nothing expensive failed.
“We learned a lot about the yacht and our own limits over the series. We had a lot of fun with other competitive yachts and there is a lot of camaraderie on the water. The Reichel Pugh designed RP42 “Shape” is a weapon in the right hands, and the boat for us to beat over the line. It is well-sailed, and the crew are good fun. Beating them required a new sail for our arsenal and we filled a long outstanding gap in our inventory. This sail is only usable in certain conditions and we had the chance to deploy it in race 4, turning ‘It Happens’ into a missile and resulting in us winning by over an hour against some competitors. Great for our egos but not good for our handicap rating.
“The harbour is full of wildlife at the moment, including seals, dolphins, whales and penguins. A real treat when you are out there sailing around.
“Summer has us signed up for the Wednesday Twilight series and the women’s Keelboat Series, where we hope to have Bridget Canham helming some of the races, with Rob Speedy as tactician again. There are some ocean races we are keen to do as well including the Australia Day City of Sydney Cup (Botany Bay return race).
