On the Water and in the bar.
The stories of the H28's on the Swan River in 2026
Wednesday the 18th of February 2026
Yes, its been a while and may be a bit fragmentary for a period yet.
I received a call to join Nerrima for a cameo run on the mainsheet with a couple of regulars (Greg and Christina) doing the trim and the legend himself Les Brooker on the helm. We had a full deck of boats joining the H28 fleet and 7 boats were aspiring to make their mark on the river.
A run outside to see what the breeze was doing with the seabreeze making its way in to cool the river off. It was light to begin with at around 10 knots, but the starters had no reason not to offer a course one and thankfully they didn't send us up the Canning as that might have made one or two of us blink.
"Which end" said Les; clear air or join the crowd on the pin end. We has Alma and Wynella on our tail and the other four, Corella, Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Anna playing the crowd at the pin. Not too bad a start though for pure speed it was Lockie and Brian just getting away, but we were doing fine and led the rest into Sampson, ready for the run up to Print. We rounded well and Les tucked himself in behind Lockie with Brian taking the lead. Kept going too, as we had good height and the boat felt fine.
Ready for the tack over to Print with Alma coming in from way out on the left as he had elected to tack off to avoid the bad air from the fleet. A little bit of tacking and dodging and around we went with a comfortable gybe that set us up for a pole on starboard. Up it went and I will state that Nerima's spinnaker pole is longer than usual. Hard to manoeuvre around.
However, it got us down there, but we couldn't keep Alma out and he managed to get inside us on the mark. Bugger. Down to fourth. Then the work up to Robins with the usual ducking and dodging of boats and the timing of a dip that managed to get us past Wynella on the wrong side. Well sailed Glen. But it was a tester of a run and most of the boats stayed out in the middle and dived across to Robins late in the peace. But we managed to get back our place and arrived at the top in fourth again.
We made Robins comfortably with most of the boats not too far away, but our task was simple.. point the boat at Addison and enjoy the ride. A starboard pole of course and no one managed to get near us, though by the time we got to Addison, the fleet had tightened up and there was a bit of argy-bargy which had one yacht moving off to do a spinny to clear the protest flag being waved at them. Back up to Robins and we noted that Swiftsure Saga had decided to go right into Heathcote, either it was going to be a winner or not. As we went around the mark, the three in front were setting their line for Como and we had the pleasure of the Div. One fleet passing through us on their second lap. Got a couple of decent photos too.
By now, we had a decent breeze with 15 knots on the bottom and topping out around 21 knots. Fun and the boat was responding well. But what was that waving from the start box.. a shortened course.. but for who? The Div. Three boats were beginning to fold up their sails and as we watched Mariner approaching the finish line another hooter sounded. Yup, that's us over and done. Well actually no.
The engine refused to fire up and with the jib down, I was asked to take the helm while the regulars tried the various fixes they knew of. Eventually the result was clear, we needed a tow in. The rescue boat was called for and shortly we had a line on and they took us home with a bit of jiggery pokery to get the boat down to where we live. Many thanks to them for their help and the rest of the H28 people as we made our way down the pens.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Alma
On handicap: Alma, Mariner and Wynella
Well done Ralph, that was the first win for the summer season. And many thanks to Conor Nicholas senior coach, who stepped into the role of sail admin to get the results up as well.
Some of the photos today were supplied by Guy Gibson from the bow of Wynella. Keep it up please!
Yes, its been a while and may be a bit fragmentary for a period yet.
I received a call to join Nerrima for a cameo run on the mainsheet with a couple of regulars (Greg and Christina) doing the trim and the legend himself Les Brooker on the helm. We had a full deck of boats joining the H28 fleet and 7 boats were aspiring to make their mark on the river.
A run outside to see what the breeze was doing with the seabreeze making its way in to cool the river off. It was light to begin with at around 10 knots, but the starters had no reason not to offer a course one and thankfully they didn't send us up the Canning as that might have made one or two of us blink.
"Which end" said Les; clear air or join the crowd on the pin end. We has Alma and Wynella on our tail and the other four, Corella, Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Anna playing the crowd at the pin. Not too bad a start though for pure speed it was Lockie and Brian just getting away, but we were doing fine and led the rest into Sampson, ready for the run up to Print. We rounded well and Les tucked himself in behind Lockie with Brian taking the lead. Kept going too, as we had good height and the boat felt fine.
Ready for the tack over to Print with Alma coming in from way out on the left as he had elected to tack off to avoid the bad air from the fleet. A little bit of tacking and dodging and around we went with a comfortable gybe that set us up for a pole on starboard. Up it went and I will state that Nerima's spinnaker pole is longer than usual. Hard to manoeuvre around.
However, it got us down there, but we couldn't keep Alma out and he managed to get inside us on the mark. Bugger. Down to fourth. Then the work up to Robins with the usual ducking and dodging of boats and the timing of a dip that managed to get us past Wynella on the wrong side. Well sailed Glen. But it was a tester of a run and most of the boats stayed out in the middle and dived across to Robins late in the peace. But we managed to get back our place and arrived at the top in fourth again.
We made Robins comfortably with most of the boats not too far away, but our task was simple.. point the boat at Addison and enjoy the ride. A starboard pole of course and no one managed to get near us, though by the time we got to Addison, the fleet had tightened up and there was a bit of argy-bargy which had one yacht moving off to do a spinny to clear the protest flag being waved at them. Back up to Robins and we noted that Swiftsure Saga had decided to go right into Heathcote, either it was going to be a winner or not. As we went around the mark, the three in front were setting their line for Como and we had the pleasure of the Div. One fleet passing through us on their second lap. Got a couple of decent photos too.
By now, we had a decent breeze with 15 knots on the bottom and topping out around 21 knots. Fun and the boat was responding well. But what was that waving from the start box.. a shortened course.. but for who? The Div. Three boats were beginning to fold up their sails and as we watched Mariner approaching the finish line another hooter sounded. Yup, that's us over and done. Well actually no.
The engine refused to fire up and with the jib down, I was asked to take the helm while the regulars tried the various fixes they knew of. Eventually the result was clear, we needed a tow in. The rescue boat was called for and shortly we had a line on and they took us home with a bit of jiggery pokery to get the boat down to where we live. Many thanks to them for their help and the rest of the H28 people as we made our way down the pens.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Alma
On handicap: Alma, Mariner and Wynella
Well done Ralph, that was the first win for the summer season. And many thanks to Conor Nicholas senior coach, who stepped into the role of sail admin to get the results up as well.
Some of the photos today were supplied by Guy Gibson from the bow of Wynella. Keep it up please!