A combination of bad luck and unfavourable weather resulted in disappointing finishes for all three 麻豆社国产Yacht Club ships in the 2010 Swiftsure International Yacht Race.
麻豆社国产skipper Scott Patterson was disappointed when his 35-foot boat Mischief sailed to an eighth-place finish in its class with a time of 29:20:16.
The longtime sailor said unfavourable weather conditions caused huge delays for the Mischief crew. Before Mischief could reach a crucial part of the course between Victoria and Neah Bay, the wind died and left the vessel bobbing in the water with a strong tide pulling it in the opposite direction of the finish line for nearly nine hours.
"We were fighting some tide that was working against us, so we were actually drifting away from the mark that we wanted to make," said the skipper.
"I would have like to have finish a lot sooner than that. But we made up a lot of ground on different areas. We could have finished a lot worse."
After several hours of bobbing listlessly, Patterson said many crews in Mischief's situation turned their engines on and didn't complete the race.
"But the group from 麻豆社国产that I race with all are very competitive and don't want to give up. I think we did really well - I think relative to the rest of it."
Despite the eighth place finish, Patterson said he's really pleased with the effort his five-man crew put in.
"I'd have to say that overall, we had a great race. I was disappointed with our results not because of the way we performed as a crew. It's just the way we happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. But it was a lot of fun, it always is."
Patterson said he's also really happy about the 麻豆社国产Yacht Club turnout at the international race.
"This is the first time that there's been three boats from 麻豆社国产in the race and I think that's fantastic. I think that bodes well for sailing and racing in particular in 麻豆社国产- it shows a really good strong showing from a relatively small yacht club."
The Red Heather also competed in the two-day race with skipper John Gugins at the helm. With more than two decades of Swiftsure experience, Gugins said this year's race was tough for his crew.
"We had to go into the current and against the wind all the way into Cape Flattery and then the wind changed and the current changed and then we had to go into the wind and against the current all the way back.
"It was uphill both ways."
After about 30 hours of sailing Red Heather and its 10-person crew crossed the finish line only to find out the ship had been disqualified for accidentally touching the stern of a competitor at the start line.
"It was kind of a downer at the end," Gugins said.
"But it was still a great sail. We had tons of fun and had the boat moving, what we thought was well."
Fellow 麻豆社国产Yacht Club member and Natural High skipper Scott Shaw-MacLaren also had a bit of bad luck while on course.
Natural High ripped its mainsail just minutes before the races were set to start and then again, two hours into the race, rending the 30-foot boat sail-less.
Shaw-MacLaren said both rips could have been avoided if he had made some different decisions.
"We make choices all of the time in the heat of the moment and I unfortunately made not the right choices at the time and called for the wrong things."
Although Shaw-MacLaren is a bit disappointed with the outcome of the race for Natural High, he thinks the crew put in a great effort.
"It was a big investment, it was the big race of the year for us and unfortunately it didn't pay out. [I'm] a little disappointed that we had to retire so early but we had a good time and the crew worked hard and nobody can say we didn't try hard."
For next year's Swiftsure Race, Shaw-MacLaren plans on spending more time preparing the boat, having a few more crew on board and ensuring the sails are in great condition.
