Christchurch Estuary Champs 2019 by Ian Kington

There once were four skippers,
they were honest and true,
their names were Wes, Ian, Peter and Hugh!

​One Sunday they entered the Estuary Champs,
a record for blokes who often get cramps.
It seemed a good idea before the meeting,
but oh, how different it was at the briefing!

With reefed up sails and snotters attached,
the Shellbacks seemed eager and freshly hatched.
The wind was blowing at 40K per hour,
and a lot of crews were feeling sour,

But still they went out upon the briny,
to soon return feeling flushed and grimy.
Full marks for oldies who can still have dreams,
of crashing the waves and eating ice-creams.

Top marks to Hugh for lasting the longest,
and Peter - for saying he was the strongest.
Deciding to sit in the comfort of “Honda”
debating on wind-speed did he and Pat ponder?

No boat in water as it turned out in the end,
but his boat was intact and his new car had no bend.
(But it did have a new tow-bar!)
In the end I’m sure there’s a moral to this story,
but I can’t report that it finished in glory.

Registrations were made but no starts were had
and that’s because conditions were bad.
​
So congratulations to all the good chaps
that made the effort, in a boating event
​that could have been smooth as leather,
but turned out to be rubbish because of the weather.    

Photo by Steve Nolan