7th Sept, Malolo Lailai, Fiji

Today was the first of the serious yacht races. We had been invited as crew on Nemesis as Jonny had decided he wasn't racing Newt anymore.
We put the engine back on the dinghy and it started but cut out. After several attempts it wasn't starting so we radioed Nemesis to pick us up on the way to the start. Also on Nemesis were Ishka and Andy (Drimia).
The race was through the start, round a mark marking the edge of the reef, a beat to a mark 2 miles out and then back to the finish line. After a reasonable start we made good progress up the beat. Rounding the windward mark behind a 2 catamarans and 2 monohulls we were pleased with the beat. Back to the finish line despite some spinnaker pole issues we managed to pass one of the monohulls but another one was gaining. As we headed round the reef some indecision as to were the finish line was meant we lost one or maybe even two places but it was a good race and we are looking forward to the big race on wed.
After the race we anchored off the sandbar for an afternoon of fun activities. There was a beer drinking competiton, hairy chest competition and wet t shirt competition – none of which we entered but that provide good entertainment! And I did manage to get a free t shirt from the wet t shirt competition!! The final activity was a tug of war – New Zealand against the Rest of the World which the Rest of the World won!!
Back at Newt Jonny spent the afternoon trying to fix the outboard – replacing the fuel, checking the spark plugs but it is still not working properly. We are going to borrow T Rexs spare outboard for the rest of the week while we carry on trying to fix ours. Tomorrow we are going to buy some new fuel to make sure that there is no water/ dirt in our fuel.
We headed ashore in the evening for a bbq. The bar has bbq grills that you can use and sells potatoes, garlic bread and salad to go with your meat. We had a lovely evening with Andy (Calysta), Lynn (White Hawk) and her guests Fernlee and Tony and Jane and Andy (Drimia).