After doing the TPR regatta in French Polynesia and having so much fun we decided to look for other regattas where we could do some sailing meet other yachties and have a blast. One such regatta we had heard about was the Musket Cove Regatta. It's really just a lot of fun, not all that serious with mainly cruising boats involved and of the heavier variety with a few nice little faster ones that were cruising up from New Zealand. There was a few other multihulls that had entered along with a Hobie 16, which was great to see. Well before we got to Fiji we had decided to partake in this regatta and we had been looking forward to it for a few months. Only on arrival and after seeing the regatta race instructions and daily activities did we find out how much fun it was going to be. Musket Cove Resort has everything really well organised and they do an awesome job at it. The prizes are amazing for a regatta of this size and it really shows how much they put into looking after the cruising yachts in the area. Spirit took part in the two more serious races that were held. One was around the buoys and the other was the famous around Malolo Island race. It was a great vibe during the races and they were both organised well, with clearly marked out courses that were easy and fun. Spirit won the first race around the buoys but was followed closely by a few of the more performance based monos. It was a great race up inside the reef and luckily we had two friends join us for the race from New Zealand Mark and Kent. They proved to be great sailors and with their help we had a smooth run around the cans. The next race was the around Malolo Island race. It was a perfect day a nice light Northerly wind about 12-16kts. Water was flat and the sky was clear and blue. Spirit took off from the start and with the smaller reacher up we took off doing 14-16kts up the side of the Island. It was a blast we were just able to hang onto the reacher having it up for the most of the first leg. After doing a few tacks up the back of Malolo Island Spirit tight reached down the back of the Island until we could bear away a little more and put up the big reacher. It was then that she really flew doing 22kts around the back of the Island before gybing and sailing across the line 20mins in front of the next competitior. Spirit not only won line honours she also broke the race record!!! We won the race well and thanks again to our great crew from New Zealand we didn't have any issues along the way. Amazingly the big reacher hung in there during the bottom leg as we were tight on the breeze and the wind had piped up a little pushing the sail to it's maximum and making me a little nervous. The race was followed by a prize giving gala that had local dancers, ceremonies and musicians all taking part. The food and service supplied by the Musket Cove Resort was second to none and everyone had an fantastic time. If your in the area during September I highly recommend taking part in this regatta it's a fantastic way to meet other cruising yachts while taking part in some fun not so serious racing.
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December 2012
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