The 57th running of the MPONR took place on 8th March with a combined fleet of over 112 entrants. The race itself is approximately 38 nautical miles in length starting at 7.30pm on sunset at the western end of Lake Wellington. The course is across Lake Wellington, up through the narrow McLennan Strait, through Lake Victoria and onto Paynesville. The quicker boats in Div C and D also do a circuit of Raymond Island.
It's regarded by the trailer sailer community as their Sydney Hobart equivalent. It can take anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to complete and attracts the very best sailors every year. The race organisation is simply first rate.
This was Blackjack’s third consecutive MPONR appearance. It is always very challenging and a real test of sailing skill, navigation, crew compatibility and endurance, coupled with some amazing natural beauty and is the only opportunity for most of us to seriously race at night.
Starting is always difficult as the full 112 boat fleet starts together. The wind was about 8 knots on the nose with a forecast that it would ease and shift to the north overnight. This year there was a slight starboard line bias creating a log jam at the starter’s boat end. Blackjack was pushed back to the fourth row on the grid but managed to tack away early and settled down to a long beat up the lake. We worked shifts and soon joined the leaders, at which point we were able to look back on a lovely sunset with hundreds of red and green lights behind us. Blackjack (a Castle 650) just loves a light upwind flat water leg and she was flying through the water, (being a remark I made to the crew all to often I was advised).
Our pre-race plan was to favour the eastern side of the course to take advantage of a projected wind change. The tactic worked but when we hit the mouth of the McClennan Strait at 10.30pm, four other Castles appeared along with several sports boats. Next thing we knew we were tacking up the narrows in the dark going no more than 100 meters before having to throw another tack and dodging boats all over the place whilst also watching Navionics trying not to run aground. 34 tacks and 45 minutes later the wind died completely. Fortunately, there was a favourable 1.5 knot current that pushed us up the 4 nautical miles to Hollands Landing. Along the Strait we were greeted by raucous inebriated campers with recorded music and one fellow whose voice carried forever and who every second word was “I”
Into Lake Victoria and we really hit our straps. David was doing a great job navigating and keeping us directly on track to Storm Point and Point Turner. We each took lengthy turns helming or having a 3/4 hour rest on the cabin bunk as the exhaustion and cold kicked in. Looking up the sky was just incredible; it was clear as a bell. First it was the golden half-moon. After the half-moon set, the stars and milky way appeared and without light pollution the view was stunning.
At 5.30am we hit the Paynesville start / finish line for the first time with Ian commenting yet again on how well the boat was flying. We were greeted by the smell of bacon and eggs which wafted across the water from the Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club, a cruel joke for those boats in Div C & D who still had to go around Raymond Island.
As the sun rose, we discovered we were the first Castle to Paynesville and possibly a chance at leading the race overall. To keep things interesting, we then had to dodge the Raymond Island punt that came out right in front of us.
It was at this point that the wheels fell off. Suddenly the boat was crawling along and we were passed by 4 Castles. The ultimate Division C winner, another Castle, was ½ hour behind us at Paynesville before this mishap. I can only think we somehow caught a big clump of weed.
We crawled around Raymond Island in the spluttering 4 knot breeze and finished at 11am. Blackjack ended up fifth out of 41 starters in Div C, a result that was both disappointing and satisfying. It was great to see that the MYC entrants in Division D (Dave Eickmeyer and Graeme Alexander) scooped the pool with their results.
MPOYR is tough. Every year you hear people say never again, only to repeatedly return. The effort to concentrate all through the night, race tactically in close quarters, navigate and avoid going aground, steer in light wind conditions, is really tough. It would like to acknowledge and thank my shipmates David and Stephen who did a truly terrific job and maintained a great sense of humor all through the race.
Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY YES.
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| Blackjack Approaching the finish | David, Ian, Stephen | McLennan Straight |
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