Week 108: Musket Cove Regatta (13nm)

This week was all about the Musket Cove Regatta, a world famous annual event that always draws a huge crowd of boats. Even with all the border restrictions, 67 boats made it out for what might be the only international regatta anywhere in the world this year. Alec and I vied for the trophy in the Hobie Cat dinghy races and joined the crews of some of the top racing yachts in what made for an unforgettable week!

Captain’s Log

Monday 5th to Thursday 8th October: Made the short hop from Denerau back to Musket Cove (one that we are becoming fairly familiar with now) where we enjoyed a few quieter days in the lead up to the Regatta. Amari arrived on Wednesday, which gave us an opportunity to come together for a long-awaited and much-discussed brunch (with Amari’s signature buttermilk biscuits – so delicious!) and a follow up game of Catan. Despite the fact that we have played a lot more than Amari, Grace schooled us with her ore monopoly!

Friday 9th to Monday 12th October: The Musket Cove Regatta was easily one of our more action packed four days – see Story of the Week below.

Story of the week: The Musket Cove Regatta

The Musket Cove Regatta is one of the most popular yachting events in the South Pacific and it usually heralds the parting of ways amongst cruising friends as Fiji usually forms a crossroads for boats to then depart to the various options for cyclone season. This year, the regatta had been delayed by a month to give more time for cruising boats held up by COVID to arrive, and interestingly the travel restrictions meant that most of these boats were likely to be staying in Fiji. So it was less a celebration of a successful cruising season, and more a celebration of what Fiji has been able to offer the cruising community this year (with 67 boats in total registering for the event!).

The regatta had also been shortened from a week to four days, but it seemed like the organisers were still determined to pack all the usual events in, and so for the first time in a few years we had a busy schedule in front of us. We had been told that the Hobie Cat dinghy races were one of the most fun events, so we signed up for that and the various dinners but decided that the Stand Up paddleboard races sounded a bit energetic (in contrast with the 3km Rum Run that Laura decided could be done as a walk). Then there were two separate yacht races that we decided to sit out given the potential stress if we damaged Serenity, but our broker insisted that we could each take a place on two different yachts that she was involved with instead, which sounded like a perfect compromise.

The Hobie Cat races took place over three days as there were a lot of entries – we’re told it’s the most popular event every year, and 2020 was no exception. Races were 1 v 1 in a knock out competition, which meant in all there would be five rounds of racing to reduce 48 teams to 3 for the final. The format was a Le Mans start (see video above) followed by two laps of a triangular circuit off the resort’s main beach.

Among the entries there was a wide range of experience, particularly because the light wind conditions meant people felt safe having a go even if they’d never done it. I was pleased by this as I was new to Hobies, too (well, and dinghies altogether…). Helpfully, Hobie Cats are a two-person dinghy, which also meant Alec and I could enter as a team. Alec helmed and trimmed the main, while I dealt with the little jib and provided balast where required. It was a great introduction for me to learn about dinghy sailing as there isn’t much pressure on the crew.

Each of first two days of the regatta had one round of competition, and we won both our races so we were through to the final day. Even though the wind was light and we weren’t going anywhere fast in these rounds, I absolutely loved the experience! Hobies don’t need much to get going and the feeling of zipping along so close to the water was exhilarating. It was also really cool to work as a team, and I had a lot of fun as we worked to perfect our tacking and gybing techniques.

The other main event of the first couple of days was the Rum Run, a 3km circuit of the island with rum tasting stations every 500m or so. Our crew decided to do it as more of a Rum Saunter given the heat, which had several excellent side benefits. First, going slow allowed us to really appreciate how absolutely gorgeous the views were in the late afternoon light. It also meant that we were bringing up the rear, and could therefore provide assistance to the organisers by helping finish the leftover rum at each station as we arrived ;).

Sunday, day three, was dedicated to the most prestigious race of the weekend – the Marsden Cove Round Malolo Classic (yacht race around the island). Our broker, Anna, managed to secure us places to join in on other boats, with Laura on Roxanne (another boat Anna is selling) and Alec going to Pandora (Anna and her partner’s boat). We both had epic days out, and Roxanne even won the monohull category! Pandora took a reputable third, despite the fact that they’d never flown their Code 0 before and that none of the instruments worked!

Tom and Lynn, who own Roxanne, allegedly “don’t race,” but their boat sure does. Roxanne is a 60ft aluminium sloop, custom designed by Wiley Design Group, and shockingly fast. It was mind boggling to see that she would go with only the tiniest puff of wind (Tom explained that the boat design was based off a dinghy – could that be why?). And she could point up to 27 degrees off the wind, meaning in the first leg of the race we didn’t have to tack even once (a considerable advantage that allowed us to edge away right from the start). Anna, our broker, was at the helm, while Tom led trimming, and I winched and ran the lines when we needed to gybe the spinnaker. Lynne worked lines with me and also kept us all hydrated and energised with the most delightful snacks. It was glorious. I mean, there was the odd disagreement, but I had expected constant shouting during a race. I had an amazing time, and of course it is lovely to win! Tom and Lynne even treated us to a glass of champagne to celebrate while we cheered the rest of the boats across the line.

Anna’s partner, Martin, led the charge aboard Pandora. The owner of Musket Cove, Will, was aboard and traded off helming and trimming the main with Martin. Alec led trimming on the foresail (a Code 0 for most of the race), and several other long term Musket residents rounded out the crew for winching, hoisting and running lines. An inconvenient wind shift towards the end of the first upwind leg of the race left a huge gap between Pandora and the three front-running monos that initially seemed insurmountable. So, the crew enjoyed a relaxed couple of hours on the downwind leg around the back of the island, not expected to be able to improve their ranking. However, coming to the downwind mark, they discovered the third place mono had made a mistake, and suddenly Pandora was catching up. All hands sprung to action at the chance of a podium spot and the boys sailed hard on final upwind leg, slowly reeling in #3. With only a few hundred meters to the line, Pandora handily tacked in front and stole third! They now had an advantaged position as they sped to the line, and even though they got an hourglass wrap in the Code 0 on the final tack, they had enough momentum in the bag to cross first, clinching the third place spot!

Monday was the last day of the regatta, meaning it was the final Hobie Cat day. Twelve boats remained so we had two more rounds of head to head races and then the final three boats would compete for the trophy. While the competition got stiffer, Alec’s years of dinghy teaching and sailing skill kept us afloat. In particular, Alec is a magician upwind, managing to coax a significantly better angle out of the Hobie on the difficult upwind leg than any of the other boats. This is particularly notable because Hobies, I have learned, really don’t like to sail upwind! Using this advantage, we were able to take our next two races and make it to the finals!

The finals took a different format than the previous races. The winner would be determined by points won over three races (3 points for first, 2 for second, 1 for third), with all three boats head to head. Each team got to choose first boat in one race, and we kept the Le Mans start. The final twist was a reversal of the direction of the course in the last race! We fought hard, but the team of Will (the resort owner) and his crew were uncannily speedy and managed to edge us in each race. We were able to take a convincing lead over Poppy, the third team, though, so finished in a very respectable second place. We figured only losing to the resort owner was totally fine! It was probably best that we didn’t end unbeaten, or else I may not have ever wanted to race dinghies in future to protect my record!

After a quick shower and patching the cuts and rips we’d gathered in the Hobie races, we headed in to the resort’s big restaurant by the pool for the closing dinner and prize giving. We were delighted to be recognised for our crewing roles in the yacht races, which garnered us an unexpected bottle of rum AND a certificate for a free boat haul out – this we especially coveted as we are due to haul Serenity out in a few weeks to store her for cyclone season! We were then very proud to be called up for our second place finish in the Hobie races, which also came with some incredible prizes including two Samsung smart watches! This surprise load of prizes, all our cruising friends around us, and the amazing party to end to the weekend had us beaming from ear to ear as we dug into the enormous buffet and then danced into the wee hours :).

Parting Thoughts: A fitting finale

We felt incredibly lucky that Musket Cove decided to host its famous regatta despite everything going on in the world and the uncertainty of attendance. Obviously the latter point worked out well, with most of the cruisers in Fiji making an appearance! For us, it brought all our friends together, and made for a truly special celebration of all our time aboard – poingnant as we approach the end our time afloat. Providing that sense of an ending has helped me to start to feel closure, and feel ready to look ahead to going home. <3