On the water / In the bar
The stories of the H28 fleet
at SoPYC on the Swan River.
Summer Sailing Wednesday the 20th of January
Welcome Aloha &
Rita gets to drive.
OMG who let the boys out. Rupert has been slaving away on Georgina and Dave Locke gave the keys to Rita so she could take Rupert and his offsider out for the day. Aloha had the two Drews aboard (father and son) and it was noticeable that she had a clean bottom. Otherwise Glen is still repairing the outside track and suffered noticeably on a boat that could have been really quick on the day. John Wright joined us and Swiftsure Saga gave up John P to let him sail with a plastic boat who was short a man.
A really pleasant west sou wester that was swinging back into the south west as the afternoon progressed and a course two was offered to the fleet. No problems said the skipper and despite our being early on the line, we hung on our eased sails and then dropped down to get a better start than the rest of the fleet. Ergo we were in the lead with Swiftsure Saga and Aloha panting on our heels. Great, now how do we stay there?
Rita and the boys had found themselves buried under a cloud of sail and could have dropped down a little more, sailing her own race rather than taking it up to the fleet. Just not fast. Similarly Anna was suffering the torture of the damned having been spat out the back. Out to Sampson and then our first set of tests occurred with the Royal Perth fleet crossing us. Of course we were on port and vulnerable, but we threaded our way through and immediately tossed to get further out into the middle where the pressure was. Swiftsure had found their way through up the middle and wasn't that far behind while the rest of the fleet went into the north to find the gap between the fleets. All of a sudden they were at least a hundred metres back.
Finding Hallmark wasn't as hard as finding Bartlett and the boat was pointing at it from a fair distance, surprisingly we made it in one work. Got to be happy with that. Past the mark and then tack early to stay out where the pressure is. It worked and we kept our lead nicely with Swiftsure doing well on the down wind to keep on our tail. It's a long haul to Como and we had the time to reflect on the day and even a discussion on some shares in a speculative mining company broke out as the owner of a number of them was counting his gains.
Back to the racing and a clean rounding at Como had the boat fired up heading for the Outer startline with a fair lead. Around we went with a chance to check out the boats behind us and they had settled down into a follow the leader race, with little chance of passing anyone unless they did something really silly. The rest of the race was uneventful and the dash out to Dolphin East and return via Como and Thelma was without incident, but provided a bit of fun on a nice reach down to the marks. Then along the beach and for once a run along the freeway, not dipping into the beach. Up to the line and across for a fastest. Which was enough to begin with.
Over the line: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
On handicap: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
We felt sure that Aloha by their very presence should have taken at least a place, but the handicapper apparently knows his stuff and as we crossed the line, so the handicaps had us placed in the same order.
A small comment about last Saturday. I've since learnt that David Gilham's Arajilla was hit not once but twice. Once by a Cole 32 aptly nicknamed " Collison" and then by a power boat who then decided to flee the scene without stopping. They have the boats name and rego number.. he won't go far.
Once again the first few slides are of Georgina and the work is progressing with a number of people offering help. The very fact that he's on the jetty is proving to be of enormous benefit to him and a huge distraction as well as he is always ready to stop and have a chat as people admire the on-going work.
Welcome Aloha &
Rita gets to drive.
OMG who let the boys out. Rupert has been slaving away on Georgina and Dave Locke gave the keys to Rita so she could take Rupert and his offsider out for the day. Aloha had the two Drews aboard (father and son) and it was noticeable that she had a clean bottom. Otherwise Glen is still repairing the outside track and suffered noticeably on a boat that could have been really quick on the day. John Wright joined us and Swiftsure Saga gave up John P to let him sail with a plastic boat who was short a man.
A really pleasant west sou wester that was swinging back into the south west as the afternoon progressed and a course two was offered to the fleet. No problems said the skipper and despite our being early on the line, we hung on our eased sails and then dropped down to get a better start than the rest of the fleet. Ergo we were in the lead with Swiftsure Saga and Aloha panting on our heels. Great, now how do we stay there?
Rita and the boys had found themselves buried under a cloud of sail and could have dropped down a little more, sailing her own race rather than taking it up to the fleet. Just not fast. Similarly Anna was suffering the torture of the damned having been spat out the back. Out to Sampson and then our first set of tests occurred with the Royal Perth fleet crossing us. Of course we were on port and vulnerable, but we threaded our way through and immediately tossed to get further out into the middle where the pressure was. Swiftsure had found their way through up the middle and wasn't that far behind while the rest of the fleet went into the north to find the gap between the fleets. All of a sudden they were at least a hundred metres back.
Finding Hallmark wasn't as hard as finding Bartlett and the boat was pointing at it from a fair distance, surprisingly we made it in one work. Got to be happy with that. Past the mark and then tack early to stay out where the pressure is. It worked and we kept our lead nicely with Swiftsure doing well on the down wind to keep on our tail. It's a long haul to Como and we had the time to reflect on the day and even a discussion on some shares in a speculative mining company broke out as the owner of a number of them was counting his gains.
Back to the racing and a clean rounding at Como had the boat fired up heading for the Outer startline with a fair lead. Around we went with a chance to check out the boats behind us and they had settled down into a follow the leader race, with little chance of passing anyone unless they did something really silly. The rest of the race was uneventful and the dash out to Dolphin East and return via Como and Thelma was without incident, but provided a bit of fun on a nice reach down to the marks. Then along the beach and for once a run along the freeway, not dipping into the beach. Up to the line and across for a fastest. Which was enough to begin with.
Over the line: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
On handicap: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
We felt sure that Aloha by their very presence should have taken at least a place, but the handicapper apparently knows his stuff and as we crossed the line, so the handicaps had us placed in the same order.
A small comment about last Saturday. I've since learnt that David Gilham's Arajilla was hit not once but twice. Once by a Cole 32 aptly nicknamed " Collison" and then by a power boat who then decided to flee the scene without stopping. They have the boats name and rego number.. he won't go far.
Once again the first few slides are of Georgina and the work is progressing with a number of people offering help. The very fact that he's on the jetty is proving to be of enormous benefit to him and a huge distraction as well as he is always ready to stop and have a chat as people admire the on-going work.
Saturday the 16th of January 2021 The start of the summer sailing sessions.
Sinking? & should have bolted it down &
Cover that boat!
A plethora of incidents to accompany the days racing with a retirement shortly after starting. However the first few slides are a continuation of the work on Georgina. With a rare dedication Rupert is continuing to work on Georgina and is probably learning a hell of a lot about his boat in the process. He has the help and guidance from the other skippers and Bill Richards is offering help in the rebuilding of the deck beams though there are always the little surprises as Rupert found out to his cost when the post on the foredeck just fell away. Ooops. But you can see that he has been at work and the skip at the top of Jetty 3 is loaded up each day with the remnants of a fine teak deck that existed in her earlier years. More to come I'm sure. The build of the cabin is afoot and there will probably be a week or so when we don't see him .. the lid will be under way.
Back to the sailing and the Easterlies just haven't stopped blowing. 17 to 25 knots today, with life jackets for all and a smaller sail up front. But after watching Barry Arnolds Cole 32 doing sideways wobbles, none of us bothered to put a kite up. A windward start made it interesting and the four H28's crossed the line with Swiftsure Saga and Corella battling up the middle and Karoleeya electing to go high while Wynella took the low. Well, we were following Corella around the mark and managed to squeeze out one of the others. Not sure who, as there was a lot of shouting going on but I suspect it was Wynella and Karoleeya roared around the up wind mark just behind us. Before we had gone much further Karoleeya abruptly turned around and returned under full sail. As yet it can only be put down to one thing, she was filling up. A long hot period and no sailing makes a boat open up quickly. A pity.
A course three and a long hike down the breeze to find the mystery mark known as Bartlett. A mystery? Well we very rarely get given a course 3 and no one remembers where it is. Following Lockie is no use either and we made a lot of ground by spotting it first. Around Bartlett and up to Dolphin East with a bend to Thelma. All upwind works and some of the gusts had us standing on our ears as the boat was constantly being buffeted by the changes in the breeze out of the East. Corella went one way and we went another and managed to get the lead by Thelma. A broad smile broke on Bills face only to have him then remark that "he won't let me get away with that." A remark was thrown at him from the crew... "well make it hard for him then" and the smile came back again.
And down the breeze we ran again with Deepwater as our bottom mark and a run out to the mystery mark once more. Addison then beckoned and it was our turn to lose the lead as we didn't cover Corella on the way down. More fool us. Away they went and by Addison we had dealt with various S80's and Cole 32's who were going in the same direction as us and were holding us back from chasing across to cover David. Too late and they were already aimed at Thelma and despite trying a deeper track than they, the breeze favoured them and we were just lucky to shoot Thelma rather than have to do it again.
Where Wynella was the question? At last glance they were having a small problem with what looked like an overwind on the starboard side. It wasn't to be and the starboard track had blown up. Rueing the damage, Glen admitted that bolting it down would have been the way to go and I hope that he checks the port side as well. However they persevered and put the jib onto the inside tracks. Didn't make them go any faster though.. not on a big day when you are trying to vent the air off the sail.
Off to Dolphin East and all we could do was stare at Corella's transom and hope that he didn't get too far away. This time it was our turn to have to double tack at Thelma on the return trip from Addison as we just weren't lucky with the breezes. Eventually we bent around the mark and eased the sheets on the way down to the finish line. But a good second over the day and a welcome return to the water for the new year.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Corella and Wynella.
Hopefully things will have cooled down shortly as it was another 36 degree day and with the drying easterlies, its not as comfortable as you would like to be.
Sinking? & should have bolted it down &
Cover that boat!
A plethora of incidents to accompany the days racing with a retirement shortly after starting. However the first few slides are a continuation of the work on Georgina. With a rare dedication Rupert is continuing to work on Georgina and is probably learning a hell of a lot about his boat in the process. He has the help and guidance from the other skippers and Bill Richards is offering help in the rebuilding of the deck beams though there are always the little surprises as Rupert found out to his cost when the post on the foredeck just fell away. Ooops. But you can see that he has been at work and the skip at the top of Jetty 3 is loaded up each day with the remnants of a fine teak deck that existed in her earlier years. More to come I'm sure. The build of the cabin is afoot and there will probably be a week or so when we don't see him .. the lid will be under way.
Back to the sailing and the Easterlies just haven't stopped blowing. 17 to 25 knots today, with life jackets for all and a smaller sail up front. But after watching Barry Arnolds Cole 32 doing sideways wobbles, none of us bothered to put a kite up. A windward start made it interesting and the four H28's crossed the line with Swiftsure Saga and Corella battling up the middle and Karoleeya electing to go high while Wynella took the low. Well, we were following Corella around the mark and managed to squeeze out one of the others. Not sure who, as there was a lot of shouting going on but I suspect it was Wynella and Karoleeya roared around the up wind mark just behind us. Before we had gone much further Karoleeya abruptly turned around and returned under full sail. As yet it can only be put down to one thing, she was filling up. A long hot period and no sailing makes a boat open up quickly. A pity.
A course three and a long hike down the breeze to find the mystery mark known as Bartlett. A mystery? Well we very rarely get given a course 3 and no one remembers where it is. Following Lockie is no use either and we made a lot of ground by spotting it first. Around Bartlett and up to Dolphin East with a bend to Thelma. All upwind works and some of the gusts had us standing on our ears as the boat was constantly being buffeted by the changes in the breeze out of the East. Corella went one way and we went another and managed to get the lead by Thelma. A broad smile broke on Bills face only to have him then remark that "he won't let me get away with that." A remark was thrown at him from the crew... "well make it hard for him then" and the smile came back again.
And down the breeze we ran again with Deepwater as our bottom mark and a run out to the mystery mark once more. Addison then beckoned and it was our turn to lose the lead as we didn't cover Corella on the way down. More fool us. Away they went and by Addison we had dealt with various S80's and Cole 32's who were going in the same direction as us and were holding us back from chasing across to cover David. Too late and they were already aimed at Thelma and despite trying a deeper track than they, the breeze favoured them and we were just lucky to shoot Thelma rather than have to do it again.
Where Wynella was the question? At last glance they were having a small problem with what looked like an overwind on the starboard side. It wasn't to be and the starboard track had blown up. Rueing the damage, Glen admitted that bolting it down would have been the way to go and I hope that he checks the port side as well. However they persevered and put the jib onto the inside tracks. Didn't make them go any faster though.. not on a big day when you are trying to vent the air off the sail.
Off to Dolphin East and all we could do was stare at Corella's transom and hope that he didn't get too far away. This time it was our turn to have to double tack at Thelma on the return trip from Addison as we just weren't lucky with the breezes. Eventually we bent around the mark and eased the sheets on the way down to the finish line. But a good second over the day and a welcome return to the water for the new year.
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Corella and Wynella.
Hopefully things will have cooled down shortly as it was another 36 degree day and with the drying easterlies, its not as comfortable as you would like to be.
Wednesday the 6th of January A special event.
With the indulgence of the Goolugatup Sailing Carnival organisers. &
We get to sail against the Royal Perth Fleet.
There is still a lot to be sorted out, but the chances are that we will have a fine lot of photos from the day. The H28 fleet may be starting with C fleet this time around and there is still some discussion as to how many boats are coming over from Royal Perth as a good number of them are on their hard earned Christmas breaks. Hopefully we will get enough to make it worth while.
With the indulgence of the Goolugatup Sailing Carnival organisers. &
We get to sail against the Royal Perth Fleet.
There is still a lot to be sorted out, but the chances are that we will have a fine lot of photos from the day. The H28 fleet may be starting with C fleet this time around and there is still some discussion as to how many boats are coming over from Royal Perth as a good number of them are on their hard earned Christmas breaks. Hopefully we will get enough to make it worth while.
We made it!
A breeze that was a right sod to deal with and at least we H28s were able to put half of the C fleet together. Missing a few in action, we welcomed Bruce Uren sailing on Wynella and Russel Shannon from Queensland sailing with Mariner. Even Lockie had a ringer with Les Swinton joining him. Nice to see him there.
Before I start, Rupert received a bit of a help from the gang as he prepared to put the deck on the stern, having replaced the deck beams aft of the cockpit. Cut and fit was all that was required and he had the help of a charming lass who happened to be there. Andy Bells boat is to get its engine back very shortly and will make its way down to Freo after this as the shipwrights have been on holiday. The mast is somewhere in between here and Queensland.
The boys on one of the SoPYC Foundation boats managed to run aground on the freeway prior to the start and was pulled off by the RP boat. Embarrassing.. yes. Cliff wasn't to be seen in the bar as the trophy for the stuff up of the day was presented.
We were a number of miles behind the start as the clock began to count down and we were slowly making our way to the line. Fortunately it freshened and began the cycle that was to drive us mad over the next hour and a half. Big puffs out of the north and as it diminished it flicked into the east. Time and again it repeated and we were watching the fleet as we eventually crossed the line. Getting to the new laid mark we got around mid fleet and then began the plod down to Dolphin West. Slowly and at the back. The decision was made -- go into the north and see what happens. Luck was on our side and Graham the main sheet was calling the gusts. A good idea as we managed to get over the rest of the fleet and were in a good position to head down to the next mark.. Como. Mind you we had our own bit of fun with a spacy 22 who didn't understand the rules properly and was the meat in the sandwich between Swiftsure Saga and Mariner.
In a strong breeze we took off to the right and then barrelled down to the mark with the games on with the rest of the other fleets coming to the same mark. We had the overlaps and made our way down to Como riding the knocks and lifts and made it to the mark on one beat. Watching Eun Na Mara make the same run as we had. Thank goodness we had them in front. Then around we went and made it to the outer startline in one good reach. Around and off to Sampson getting closer to Wynella every tick of the clock.
Then a case of repeating the pain all the way to Dolphin west again on a light breeze watching the puffs as they came our way. Lucky I guess, we were still in the lead and putting the rest of the fleet behind us inclusive of the mixed fleet we were in. The turn at Dolphin West was enough and we led the rest of the H28 fleet all the way despite Bill Richards best effort to get onto us. We would like to give thanks to the RP boat who wedged themselves between us and Bill and stayed there. Not even trying to roll us. Lockie had gone out the back on the last dig and despite a good start John Wright fell foul of light winds. Its a lingering day if you don't stay in phase and we were lucky a few times.
Catching up with Glen, we were looking fine till Como and with a bit of dodging involved, all of a sudden the back of his transom was all that was presented to us. Oh well. Next time.
While I don't have the RP fleet results I do know that Glen was pretty slick, with Mariner a minute behind; concentration was the game.. the SoPYC fleet did well over all, but again I'm waiting for the combined results. I don't think that they would give them to us.
See you in two weeks time.
A breeze that was a right sod to deal with and at least we H28s were able to put half of the C fleet together. Missing a few in action, we welcomed Bruce Uren sailing on Wynella and Russel Shannon from Queensland sailing with Mariner. Even Lockie had a ringer with Les Swinton joining him. Nice to see him there.
Before I start, Rupert received a bit of a help from the gang as he prepared to put the deck on the stern, having replaced the deck beams aft of the cockpit. Cut and fit was all that was required and he had the help of a charming lass who happened to be there. Andy Bells boat is to get its engine back very shortly and will make its way down to Freo after this as the shipwrights have been on holiday. The mast is somewhere in between here and Queensland.
The boys on one of the SoPYC Foundation boats managed to run aground on the freeway prior to the start and was pulled off by the RP boat. Embarrassing.. yes. Cliff wasn't to be seen in the bar as the trophy for the stuff up of the day was presented.
We were a number of miles behind the start as the clock began to count down and we were slowly making our way to the line. Fortunately it freshened and began the cycle that was to drive us mad over the next hour and a half. Big puffs out of the north and as it diminished it flicked into the east. Time and again it repeated and we were watching the fleet as we eventually crossed the line. Getting to the new laid mark we got around mid fleet and then began the plod down to Dolphin West. Slowly and at the back. The decision was made -- go into the north and see what happens. Luck was on our side and Graham the main sheet was calling the gusts. A good idea as we managed to get over the rest of the fleet and were in a good position to head down to the next mark.. Como. Mind you we had our own bit of fun with a spacy 22 who didn't understand the rules properly and was the meat in the sandwich between Swiftsure Saga and Mariner.
In a strong breeze we took off to the right and then barrelled down to the mark with the games on with the rest of the other fleets coming to the same mark. We had the overlaps and made our way down to Como riding the knocks and lifts and made it to the mark on one beat. Watching Eun Na Mara make the same run as we had. Thank goodness we had them in front. Then around we went and made it to the outer startline in one good reach. Around and off to Sampson getting closer to Wynella every tick of the clock.
Then a case of repeating the pain all the way to Dolphin west again on a light breeze watching the puffs as they came our way. Lucky I guess, we were still in the lead and putting the rest of the fleet behind us inclusive of the mixed fleet we were in. The turn at Dolphin West was enough and we led the rest of the H28 fleet all the way despite Bill Richards best effort to get onto us. We would like to give thanks to the RP boat who wedged themselves between us and Bill and stayed there. Not even trying to roll us. Lockie had gone out the back on the last dig and despite a good start John Wright fell foul of light winds. Its a lingering day if you don't stay in phase and we were lucky a few times.
Catching up with Glen, we were looking fine till Como and with a bit of dodging involved, all of a sudden the back of his transom was all that was presented to us. Oh well. Next time.
While I don't have the RP fleet results I do know that Glen was pretty slick, with Mariner a minute behind; concentration was the game.. the SoPYC fleet did well over all, but again I'm waiting for the combined results. I don't think that they would give them to us.
See you in two weeks time.