On the water / In the bar
The stories of the H28 fleet
at SoPYC on the Swan River.
Summer Sailing Wednesday the 3rd of March
Things that could go bang &
Just to prove that a clean bottom always doesn't work.
The skipper happily announced to me that we had won the summer series .. and by one point. Hang on, we've only sailed 7 races so far in this series. I knew that we had come third in the Spring series with Swiftsure Saga taking the series by a whisker from Wynella, but seven races does not make a series. I'll leave it alone as to go any further down that track would lead to confusion.
However it was a welcome return to the water for Bill Richards who was laid low last week. He managed to recover sufficiently well enough to sail today, but he had a battle on his hands even though he had cleaned the hull prior to sailing. The forecast was for thunderstorms, a riotous nor easter of 15 to 20 knots and rain. Welllllll No! A soft northerly that blew all around the place and then fell out in spots... it just depended where you were on the water as to whether you had the breeze or not. And a light winds course four to boot.
Bill cleaned the hull as I'd mentioned and was full of chuff.. he took the lead on the way to Sampson and it looked as though he was going to get away on the way to Robins and indeed he managed to get around the mark leaving both us and Wynella in his wake. Glen by the way, wasn't having the best of days and settled for a decent handicap improver as he fell further back in the field.
On the way across to Dolphin East Bill had the choice of tacking to put his boat on the same tack as us or go further to the north around the on coming Royal Perth Fleet. Not the best of ideas. We stayed in the middle away from the RP fleet and picked up good pressure. Forging ahead, we found a lay line to Dolphin East and headed across to find that Bill had dropped behind us to the tune of 50 to 7 meters. Nice one. So keep the theme going and head off for Como ready to aim for the outer start line.
Around we went and looked back, only to see Wynella ( falling further back) just rounding Como and we realised that Bill was still the one to beat as his handy lower handicap was going to make it very hard to get both first and fastest. Down to Sampson and around we went with Bill close by.. but the chance to get a pole out first had the boat surging ahead and despite the 4 or 5 gybes, we kept our lead in the fluctuating breeze getting around King and aiming the boat toward Print. Some tight reaching took us to the mark and then an open reach down to Thelma allowed us to open up the lead a little. A pole was set , but Bill had a big help from a favourable wind change and took off after us. But in all, too little too late and with a 71 second lead we slipped over the line. Wynella arrived later on, as their search for pressure had been fruitless and it was 1707 hrs before they reached the line and headed for the pens.
Over the line: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Mariner and Wynella.
Georgina has had the splining done and if you go to the video section, its up on line. Well done to Lockie, Brian Cross and father and son Jason and Rupert Ledger. At present Rupert is working on the rest of the glassing on the boat and will probably go back into the water on Friday. Wait and see.
Karoleeya is undergoing a shift in management and more will come out in due course. It will be interesting to see how things fall.
Sooner or later the mast will arrive for The First Jindarra and Andrew must be sweating on the fitting as they will have to tune the boat's rigging before racing the championships in 10 days time.
The ABBA meeting with shipwright Ian Weaver as the guest speaker was a great event with a number of H28 owners popping in to listen to him. The session was packed with information and perhaps in future he could split the session into two, to allow more of us a chance to ask questions as there were those who had them but didn't find a chance to get the question in. Next time perhaps.
But I don't think we will be able to have such a great backdrop with the lightning flaring behind him, silhouetting the city.
Things that could go bang &
Just to prove that a clean bottom always doesn't work.
The skipper happily announced to me that we had won the summer series .. and by one point. Hang on, we've only sailed 7 races so far in this series. I knew that we had come third in the Spring series with Swiftsure Saga taking the series by a whisker from Wynella, but seven races does not make a series. I'll leave it alone as to go any further down that track would lead to confusion.
However it was a welcome return to the water for Bill Richards who was laid low last week. He managed to recover sufficiently well enough to sail today, but he had a battle on his hands even though he had cleaned the hull prior to sailing. The forecast was for thunderstorms, a riotous nor easter of 15 to 20 knots and rain. Welllllll No! A soft northerly that blew all around the place and then fell out in spots... it just depended where you were on the water as to whether you had the breeze or not. And a light winds course four to boot.
Bill cleaned the hull as I'd mentioned and was full of chuff.. he took the lead on the way to Sampson and it looked as though he was going to get away on the way to Robins and indeed he managed to get around the mark leaving both us and Wynella in his wake. Glen by the way, wasn't having the best of days and settled for a decent handicap improver as he fell further back in the field.
On the way across to Dolphin East Bill had the choice of tacking to put his boat on the same tack as us or go further to the north around the on coming Royal Perth Fleet. Not the best of ideas. We stayed in the middle away from the RP fleet and picked up good pressure. Forging ahead, we found a lay line to Dolphin East and headed across to find that Bill had dropped behind us to the tune of 50 to 7 meters. Nice one. So keep the theme going and head off for Como ready to aim for the outer start line.
Around we went and looked back, only to see Wynella ( falling further back) just rounding Como and we realised that Bill was still the one to beat as his handy lower handicap was going to make it very hard to get both first and fastest. Down to Sampson and around we went with Bill close by.. but the chance to get a pole out first had the boat surging ahead and despite the 4 or 5 gybes, we kept our lead in the fluctuating breeze getting around King and aiming the boat toward Print. Some tight reaching took us to the mark and then an open reach down to Thelma allowed us to open up the lead a little. A pole was set , but Bill had a big help from a favourable wind change and took off after us. But in all, too little too late and with a 71 second lead we slipped over the line. Wynella arrived later on, as their search for pressure had been fruitless and it was 1707 hrs before they reached the line and headed for the pens.
Over the line: Mariner, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Mariner and Wynella.
Georgina has had the splining done and if you go to the video section, its up on line. Well done to Lockie, Brian Cross and father and son Jason and Rupert Ledger. At present Rupert is working on the rest of the glassing on the boat and will probably go back into the water on Friday. Wait and see.
Karoleeya is undergoing a shift in management and more will come out in due course. It will be interesting to see how things fall.
Sooner or later the mast will arrive for The First Jindarra and Andrew must be sweating on the fitting as they will have to tune the boat's rigging before racing the championships in 10 days time.
The ABBA meeting with shipwright Ian Weaver as the guest speaker was a great event with a number of H28 owners popping in to listen to him. The session was packed with information and perhaps in future he could split the session into two, to allow more of us a chance to ask questions as there were those who had them but didn't find a chance to get the question in. Next time perhaps.
But I don't think we will be able to have such a great backdrop with the lightning flaring behind him, silhouetting the city.
Summer Sailing Wednesdays the 24th of February
Plonky comes out for a ride with Captain Araldite &
Oh, the indignity! Towed home.
Alan Sharpe is a really nice guy, recently retired and a fantastic F15 sailor. WTF is he doing on an H28? Apparently he saw us out on the water last week and bent the skippers ear. With Bob Harrup away on holidays he was more than happy to jump on board Mariner to talk tactics. The over load on the boat was getting over the top so Graham jumped onto Corella for the afternoon and Ron stayed in his beach shack in the south. They gave us a course 3 with 14 to 17 knots on offer, slowly shifting into the sou west and back again.
It was all about the start (again) and the drag race down to Sampson had us neck to neck with Corella with Glen and John close behind. The first mark was the most important and Corella threw everything at us they could to get away, but thanks to a recently cleaned hull we kept up. And kept up and kept up. Despite the best efforts of the crew on Corella it was going to be our nose inside their transom at the mark and around we went dropping bad air on them from the get go. Anna and Wynella both made their minds up and tacked away early as we held on and then aimed at the mark, working hard to be able to hold David Locke off.
After King, then to Robins with a dip into the bay and up the line we went to Robins with Lockie and the entire Royal Perth fleet on our tails. We were doing well until we made the top and rotated around it only to find that Phil had a knot in his main sheet and couldn't let off the main fast enough. Nearly ran into a large RP boat who was roaring up the river next to the mark. But we made it and happily we set our pole for the run to Print and then back to Robins via Foam. A slight hiccup with the pole, but no time lost thanks goodness and our lead was still secure. Keeping out of the depths of the bay we found a good starboard lay into the mark and then tack and bear away with a pole going up almost immediately. Fast.. !
However Lockie was starting to be troubled by John Wright who is also known for not giving up. Once he had the boys on the boat flowing, it was an interesting thing to watch and as Lockie fell back a little (or we surged) Anna would get closer. Making Print we set up for Como and with the recent problem with the mark going for a wander, they had put a blue marker flag out to advise us of its current and proper location. Around we went, aiming at the outer startline and my time was taken up twitching the headsail to ensure that the boat was fast.
A good gybe and then the chase was on for Anna and Corella with Anna beginning to push forward again. Poor Lockie, he was hoping for a win on the day. But Glen and Wynella weren't worried they had managed to get their handicap down to a reasonable level. A win for them was on the cards. Well away by the time we were aiming for Addison and the boat kept surging forward with the urging of Plonky to Brian to keep your eyes stuck to the headsail ribbons like araldite. Even more so as when we flipped around Addison and headed off to the finish line via Como to starboard. The line was going to be ours but the interest was between John and David. Lockie made the line 2 seconds in front of John Wright but lost out thanks to his superior handicap.
Unfortunately Glen and the boys were a little late coming in.. One of the oil lines broke on his normally reliable diesel. Lockie was kind enough to go out and bring him back in. Fortunately he had crossed the line.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Anna
On handicap: Wynella, Anna and Mariner.
On shore:
Georgina is coming up onto the hardstand to be splined this weekend and everyone is welcome. Rupert needs to clean the paint off the hull before the splining can begin.
Andy Bell may have his mast on shortly, but its still in the mystery zone. Rumour has it that the stick cost 17,000 and transport was another 3,000.
And Casilda is up for sale. The boat is down around Geographe Bay and there are those who were talking about buying her and bringing her up to the river to get the mast off her. It was 6 years since I have seen her
Tehana is up for sale and is under offer. (I have heard the rumours as to the new owner but until it happens)
Plonky comes out for a ride with Captain Araldite &
Oh, the indignity! Towed home.
Alan Sharpe is a really nice guy, recently retired and a fantastic F15 sailor. WTF is he doing on an H28? Apparently he saw us out on the water last week and bent the skippers ear. With Bob Harrup away on holidays he was more than happy to jump on board Mariner to talk tactics. The over load on the boat was getting over the top so Graham jumped onto Corella for the afternoon and Ron stayed in his beach shack in the south. They gave us a course 3 with 14 to 17 knots on offer, slowly shifting into the sou west and back again.
It was all about the start (again) and the drag race down to Sampson had us neck to neck with Corella with Glen and John close behind. The first mark was the most important and Corella threw everything at us they could to get away, but thanks to a recently cleaned hull we kept up. And kept up and kept up. Despite the best efforts of the crew on Corella it was going to be our nose inside their transom at the mark and around we went dropping bad air on them from the get go. Anna and Wynella both made their minds up and tacked away early as we held on and then aimed at the mark, working hard to be able to hold David Locke off.
After King, then to Robins with a dip into the bay and up the line we went to Robins with Lockie and the entire Royal Perth fleet on our tails. We were doing well until we made the top and rotated around it only to find that Phil had a knot in his main sheet and couldn't let off the main fast enough. Nearly ran into a large RP boat who was roaring up the river next to the mark. But we made it and happily we set our pole for the run to Print and then back to Robins via Foam. A slight hiccup with the pole, but no time lost thanks goodness and our lead was still secure. Keeping out of the depths of the bay we found a good starboard lay into the mark and then tack and bear away with a pole going up almost immediately. Fast.. !
However Lockie was starting to be troubled by John Wright who is also known for not giving up. Once he had the boys on the boat flowing, it was an interesting thing to watch and as Lockie fell back a little (or we surged) Anna would get closer. Making Print we set up for Como and with the recent problem with the mark going for a wander, they had put a blue marker flag out to advise us of its current and proper location. Around we went, aiming at the outer startline and my time was taken up twitching the headsail to ensure that the boat was fast.
A good gybe and then the chase was on for Anna and Corella with Anna beginning to push forward again. Poor Lockie, he was hoping for a win on the day. But Glen and Wynella weren't worried they had managed to get their handicap down to a reasonable level. A win for them was on the cards. Well away by the time we were aiming for Addison and the boat kept surging forward with the urging of Plonky to Brian to keep your eyes stuck to the headsail ribbons like araldite. Even more so as when we flipped around Addison and headed off to the finish line via Como to starboard. The line was going to be ours but the interest was between John and David. Lockie made the line 2 seconds in front of John Wright but lost out thanks to his superior handicap.
Unfortunately Glen and the boys were a little late coming in.. One of the oil lines broke on his normally reliable diesel. Lockie was kind enough to go out and bring him back in. Fortunately he had crossed the line.
Over the line: Mariner, Corella and Anna
On handicap: Wynella, Anna and Mariner.
On shore:
Georgina is coming up onto the hardstand to be splined this weekend and everyone is welcome. Rupert needs to clean the paint off the hull before the splining can begin.
Andy Bell may have his mast on shortly, but its still in the mystery zone. Rumour has it that the stick cost 17,000 and transport was another 3,000.
And Casilda is up for sale. The boat is down around Geographe Bay and there are those who were talking about buying her and bringing her up to the river to get the mast off her. It was 6 years since I have seen her
Tehana is up for sale and is under offer. (I have heard the rumours as to the new owner but until it happens)
Summer Saturday Sailing the 20th of February
The skipper was sick &
Two boats.
Very little for me to report this week as I wasn't on the water. John P rang on Saturday morning and gave me the news that Bill was not going to be able to sail and he held doubts about Wednesday as well. That left Wynella and Aloha to take up cudgels and as Karoleeya wasn't able to get a crew together (they all had something else on) Wynella and Aloha battled it out between themselves in a course one and about 12 to 17 knots out of the SW.
It must have been an exciting race as Wynella crossed the line 50 seconds in front of Aloha and that's not much to talk about over 2 hrs and 45 minutes of racing. However Aloha took the win with a nod to her lesser handicap and Wynella a second on handicap and a nice reduction in her handicap as well.
Till Wednesday.
The skipper was sick &
Two boats.
Very little for me to report this week as I wasn't on the water. John P rang on Saturday morning and gave me the news that Bill was not going to be able to sail and he held doubts about Wednesday as well. That left Wynella and Aloha to take up cudgels and as Karoleeya wasn't able to get a crew together (they all had something else on) Wynella and Aloha battled it out between themselves in a course one and about 12 to 17 knots out of the SW.
It must have been an exciting race as Wynella crossed the line 50 seconds in front of Aloha and that's not much to talk about over 2 hrs and 45 minutes of racing. However Aloha took the win with a nod to her lesser handicap and Wynella a second on handicap and a nice reduction in her handicap as well.
Till Wednesday.
Summer Wednesday Sailing the 17th of February
You cant keep a good man down &
First boat around Sampson will win the race
That second title just about summed up the race. We were presented with a course one on a day where there was a lot more west in it than they and the BoM site were prepared to admit. Regularly sailing down the middle of the river instead of bouncing in and out of the bay it was clear we had a strong westerly and the point of order was that we could hold a port pole all the way to Print from Deepwater.
Oh well. Half a dozen boats headed out onto the water to be presented with a course one with a west sou wester on the compass, about 10 to 15 knots and a northerly start . Lockie (Corella) got away early and despite every attempt, we just couldn't catch him. We were a little quicker upwind, but downwind he was getting away from us. His main stroke of genius for the day was taking Barby out for a sail and as a lucky charm she worked beautifully.
Up the middle of the river with John Wright and Anna hanging on to our tail and despite our best efforts, he was still there at Deepwater though Wynella was having a handicap adjustment day and fought it out with Bill on Swiftsure Saga for fourth and fifth place. The Minto family had Aloha out for the day and dutifully followed everyone, having mucked up the start and crossed the startline in 6th spot. Away from Deepwater to Print with the aforesaid port pole (a little edgy but it worked) and then back up to Robins ready for a pleasant reach across to Dolphin East where we practiced our gybe and pole set on the way to Como. It seemed to work, but we just weren't catching up with Corella one bit.
Straight down to the outer startline with the predictable knock at Heathcote Dolphin and then lean into the mark rolling around the outer startline on our way back to Sampson and the small triangle. By this time the big boats were coming through and we managed to get a bit of the action from them and they were flying spinnakers … ummmm Wednesday is J&M as far as I knew.
Around the small triangle of King, Print, Como and Thelma with a SS27 hard on John Wrights transom, but as every H28 sailor knows, "You can't keep a good man down," and John managed to keep Anna between the SS27 and the finish line. Well sailed and aptly rewarded with a handicap win.
Over the line. Corella, Mariner and Anna.
On handicap. Anna, Corella and Mariner.
To Georgina: Rupert has the cabin on the boat.
Perhaps a little rough around the edges, but it will now take a bit of time to trim to fit and then fill the rough edges and gaps before she is glassed. He still has to fit the new chain plates, but there is a bulkhead or two to come, inside the boat which will tighten up the hull considerably.
You cant keep a good man down &
First boat around Sampson will win the race
That second title just about summed up the race. We were presented with a course one on a day where there was a lot more west in it than they and the BoM site were prepared to admit. Regularly sailing down the middle of the river instead of bouncing in and out of the bay it was clear we had a strong westerly and the point of order was that we could hold a port pole all the way to Print from Deepwater.
Oh well. Half a dozen boats headed out onto the water to be presented with a course one with a west sou wester on the compass, about 10 to 15 knots and a northerly start . Lockie (Corella) got away early and despite every attempt, we just couldn't catch him. We were a little quicker upwind, but downwind he was getting away from us. His main stroke of genius for the day was taking Barby out for a sail and as a lucky charm she worked beautifully.
Up the middle of the river with John Wright and Anna hanging on to our tail and despite our best efforts, he was still there at Deepwater though Wynella was having a handicap adjustment day and fought it out with Bill on Swiftsure Saga for fourth and fifth place. The Minto family had Aloha out for the day and dutifully followed everyone, having mucked up the start and crossed the startline in 6th spot. Away from Deepwater to Print with the aforesaid port pole (a little edgy but it worked) and then back up to Robins ready for a pleasant reach across to Dolphin East where we practiced our gybe and pole set on the way to Como. It seemed to work, but we just weren't catching up with Corella one bit.
Straight down to the outer startline with the predictable knock at Heathcote Dolphin and then lean into the mark rolling around the outer startline on our way back to Sampson and the small triangle. By this time the big boats were coming through and we managed to get a bit of the action from them and they were flying spinnakers … ummmm Wednesday is J&M as far as I knew.
Around the small triangle of King, Print, Como and Thelma with a SS27 hard on John Wrights transom, but as every H28 sailor knows, "You can't keep a good man down," and John managed to keep Anna between the SS27 and the finish line. Well sailed and aptly rewarded with a handicap win.
Over the line. Corella, Mariner and Anna.
On handicap. Anna, Corella and Mariner.
To Georgina: Rupert has the cabin on the boat.
Perhaps a little rough around the edges, but it will now take a bit of time to trim to fit and then fill the rough edges and gaps before she is glassed. He still has to fit the new chain plates, but there is a bulkhead or two to come, inside the boat which will tighten up the hull considerably.
Summer Covid Sailing Saturday the 13th of February
Aloha sailed a blinder on the 1st leg &
Sailing on borrowed time.
Make no mistake about it, Drew Minto the younger, sailed all over us today and made a very strong point of his ability. The boat is performing well and if he had chosen to throw up a kite, he could very well have taken the race with a first and fastest. But the technical side of sailing needs be addressed and that includes knowing where your marks are, it cost him the lead and the chance of a better showing to the rest of the fleet.
Four H28's on the water and perhaps 38 boats on the water overall. Very little action from the other clubs, though we did see the start boat from Perth Dinghy SC out there. The starters very kindly gave us a course 4 and it was enjoyed by all as it gave us something different from the usual course one. ( Brickies A and B )
A sou wester that built and was full of holes and swept (IMHO) into the west periodically, giving some of us unexpected gains with speeds from 15 to 19 knots at the best. Getting off the line wasn't a problem and we managed to get below Karoleeya and Wynella, taking them up a little and that gave young Drew his first chance to get away. We caught him around the channel and he was forced to tack behind us, but got onto a lift (remember that wandering sou wester) and took off. Swiftsure Saga still had enough in reserve to get in front of him on the next set of tacks, but on the next run up the wind he had the speed and pointing ability to rise above us and began to create merry hell as he was pointing at the mark and drowning us in bad air. We put up with it as best we could as Wynella was behind us and Karoleeya had followed his philosophy of going down the middle and was well away from us.
Rounding second at Deepwater, we noticed that Aloha was heading off to Bartlett... "No" said Bill "that's not right" and a hurried check of the map and where we were in relationship to it. Slowly we edged away down to where we thought it was and we noted that Wynella had adopted our line as well. Catch up time and the pair of us hurried along while Aloha decided belatedly to come down. It was a line ball run as we had to break their overlap at the mark but a quick flick of the tiller had us clear in front and running to Hallmark with Armstrong as our next turning mark. Now Aloha had Wynella to deal with and we left them to battle it out. We made Armstrong, turned the mark and set a starboard pole to get us on our way. Looking back, Aloha poled out their jib while Wynella went to put up the big red spinnaker that they have borrowed from Bill with the promise to pay him for it. Karoleeya made around shortly after and popped up their kite as well.
Not to be trifled with, Aloha decided to take Wynella up and a couple of moments of mirth from the lead boat as we watched Wynella avoiding Aloha. But our first corner was Print and making the mark, we shot off into the bay trying to get ourselves a good line up the breeze to Applecross Spit and then Deepwater. Of course we didn't do it one, but it was fascinating watching as the two boats behind us had swapped position and Wynella was trying hard to catch us. The breeze was freshening by now and as most people know, Swiftsure enjoys the pressure. However our handicap was going to be against us no matter what and Glen was doing well enough, keeping about a minutes separation between us that lengthened on the up wind and shrank on the downwind, as we hadn't bothered with a spinnaker.
The next pair of laps had us go to Dolphin East from Deepwater then to Addison and the breeze had gone far enough into the south for us to carry the pole all the way without gybing. Easy enough. The first time down, we were treated to Wynella with the speed wobbles as the kite had the boat rolling backwards and forwards. The second round had us meet up with a pair of yachts that were worth photographing on the way through and a rare snap of Karoleeya heading up wind with Farrago under kite on the way down the hill. One last look at Wynella with the borrowed red spinnaker pulling her along and then the very tight reach from Addison down to Thelma and then the tack out for the line where we watched Glen on Wynella take a glorious lift up to the mark, shortening his time over the line to just about a minute behind.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Aloha.
On handicap: Aloha, Karoleeya and Wynella.
The photo of the keel is that of Suzanna having been primed with rust converter. By Monday she will be back in the water and following suggestions from the various visitors who have called through, she may hang on the boat lifters straps overnight to let her take up enough to prevent her from going straight to the bottom.
Aloha sailed a blinder on the 1st leg &
Sailing on borrowed time.
Make no mistake about it, Drew Minto the younger, sailed all over us today and made a very strong point of his ability. The boat is performing well and if he had chosen to throw up a kite, he could very well have taken the race with a first and fastest. But the technical side of sailing needs be addressed and that includes knowing where your marks are, it cost him the lead and the chance of a better showing to the rest of the fleet.
Four H28's on the water and perhaps 38 boats on the water overall. Very little action from the other clubs, though we did see the start boat from Perth Dinghy SC out there. The starters very kindly gave us a course 4 and it was enjoyed by all as it gave us something different from the usual course one. ( Brickies A and B )
A sou wester that built and was full of holes and swept (IMHO) into the west periodically, giving some of us unexpected gains with speeds from 15 to 19 knots at the best. Getting off the line wasn't a problem and we managed to get below Karoleeya and Wynella, taking them up a little and that gave young Drew his first chance to get away. We caught him around the channel and he was forced to tack behind us, but got onto a lift (remember that wandering sou wester) and took off. Swiftsure Saga still had enough in reserve to get in front of him on the next set of tacks, but on the next run up the wind he had the speed and pointing ability to rise above us and began to create merry hell as he was pointing at the mark and drowning us in bad air. We put up with it as best we could as Wynella was behind us and Karoleeya had followed his philosophy of going down the middle and was well away from us.
Rounding second at Deepwater, we noticed that Aloha was heading off to Bartlett... "No" said Bill "that's not right" and a hurried check of the map and where we were in relationship to it. Slowly we edged away down to where we thought it was and we noted that Wynella had adopted our line as well. Catch up time and the pair of us hurried along while Aloha decided belatedly to come down. It was a line ball run as we had to break their overlap at the mark but a quick flick of the tiller had us clear in front and running to Hallmark with Armstrong as our next turning mark. Now Aloha had Wynella to deal with and we left them to battle it out. We made Armstrong, turned the mark and set a starboard pole to get us on our way. Looking back, Aloha poled out their jib while Wynella went to put up the big red spinnaker that they have borrowed from Bill with the promise to pay him for it. Karoleeya made around shortly after and popped up their kite as well.
Not to be trifled with, Aloha decided to take Wynella up and a couple of moments of mirth from the lead boat as we watched Wynella avoiding Aloha. But our first corner was Print and making the mark, we shot off into the bay trying to get ourselves a good line up the breeze to Applecross Spit and then Deepwater. Of course we didn't do it one, but it was fascinating watching as the two boats behind us had swapped position and Wynella was trying hard to catch us. The breeze was freshening by now and as most people know, Swiftsure enjoys the pressure. However our handicap was going to be against us no matter what and Glen was doing well enough, keeping about a minutes separation between us that lengthened on the up wind and shrank on the downwind, as we hadn't bothered with a spinnaker.
The next pair of laps had us go to Dolphin East from Deepwater then to Addison and the breeze had gone far enough into the south for us to carry the pole all the way without gybing. Easy enough. The first time down, we were treated to Wynella with the speed wobbles as the kite had the boat rolling backwards and forwards. The second round had us meet up with a pair of yachts that were worth photographing on the way through and a rare snap of Karoleeya heading up wind with Farrago under kite on the way down the hill. One last look at Wynella with the borrowed red spinnaker pulling her along and then the very tight reach from Addison down to Thelma and then the tack out for the line where we watched Glen on Wynella take a glorious lift up to the mark, shortening his time over the line to just about a minute behind.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Aloha.
On handicap: Aloha, Karoleeya and Wynella.
The photo of the keel is that of Suzanna having been primed with rust converter. By Monday she will be back in the water and following suggestions from the various visitors who have called through, she may hang on the boat lifters straps overnight to let her take up enough to prevent her from going straight to the bottom.
Summer Covid Sailing Wednesday the 10th of February
A thousand Ifs & A new logo for the H28's
Ernie turned 80.
Ok, lets get the easy things out of the way and then deal with the sailing. To begin with we lost the fifth championship race to the Covid lock down and Glen was particularly regretting it as it would have been the chance he needed to pull ahead in the championships and get ahead of the current champ.
Rupert covered up Georgina and left her safe and dry while the tropical low came and went, with all our gardens getting a big soak. Much needed. He's experiencing a bit of a problem with the temperature being a bit cool for the glues to go off and the cabin is taking longer than he thought.
Suzanna is up on the hard and from what I've been able to see is in excellent shape considering where she has been. Mind you there are a number of things that will need attention to, but Robin is across most of these and will spend the time now rather than have to haul the boat out of the water again. But he has a problem that's not unique. His main halyard has disappeared up the mast and its going to be a case of dropping the mast or going up on the spinnaker halyard in a bosuns chair.
And finally Te Hana; formerly owned by Roghan Anderson over at Freshy is being looked at by one the Fitzhardinge tribe (the family that owned Nova, before the Weavers bought her). But he freely admits that he will need permission from the family treasurer and a leave pass to go with it. Good luck Tim.
18 to 25 knots on a Southerly with a course three on offer, the flags were hung out for a Martin - Weaver dash and PFD's for all. Mariner has the new H28 logo on her main. Tell us what you think.
If that wretched SS22 Eutopia doesn't get out of the way while we are in the start process, he will become the next victim. Silly fellow. Half the fleet were up behind the line circling in the pond ready to dive down and the rest were aiming trying to be quick to the line. We were waved through a tight patch by Bill between Swiftsure Saga and the box mark. If he hadn't, well we may not have done so well. If David Locke had taken Bill up, well neither of us would have made the start on the first try.
Playing the breeze all the way up to Martin, it was only a lucky gust that took us up above the mark and if that hadn't come along we would have been buried well and truly. The run to Sampson was similar and if the breeze hadn't kicked in after we crossed the start line, well we might have been nailed before the next mark. If, if, if...…..
Across to King with a bit of care in choosing when to go. Had (If) we covered Lockie immediately we may have dropped as badly as he did but no, we made it across and found ourselves still in the lead at King and looking at a chance to get to Robins first, after we had dipped back into Frenchies to come out again on the lifts in the bay. Hard on the bloke on the main, but it works. Phil was working the main and with a bit of luck, lifted us all the way to the mark and the last gust took us around it nicely. If we had had to tack Lockie would have got us.
Down to Print, sailing almost by the lee at times and then across to Foam before we burrowed into the bay again, this time we went a bit further and made the mark with a bit of work, but our problem came from the fact that we were burying the rail and slowing the boat every time. Lockie had gone wide and came down on us like a tonne of bricks and only a bit of luck and a good tack got us away, but not for long as he was on our port rear quarter and looking to speed up at Print again as this time we were on our way to Como and a dash to the outer startline. If we had made one mistake he would have had us for dinner.
All this way, we had Swiftsure Saga and Wynella not far away, ready to pounce if an over wind or a bad tack was made. No room for error. And to cap that off, we had Aloha sailing well enough to give Wynella a hard time.
Around the outer startline and off to Sampson once again with a good rounding and again the decision to run a pole was down to a yes, no, maybe; nah as we slipped into the southerly again. Off to King with the beam sea rolling the boats heavily going to the mark and neither of us getting the best of the crossing. We both tacked and I thought we were ok, but Corella came back on a good starboard and our only hope was to lee bow him. If we'd made it, well and good. But we didn't and Lockie just took off. So stare at Corella's transom for the rest of the race down to Addison, back past Como and then to the finish line. The rest of the fleet weren't too far behind.
Over the line: Corella, Mariner and Swiftsure Saga.
On handicap: Mariner, Corella and Swiftsure Saga.
At the end of the day, a quick beer on the hill and then inside to have a beer with Ernie Little in the chair for his 80th birthday. A few beers and couple of platters of goodies which probably ruined our dinners, but were very much appreciated. Happy birthday Ernie.
A thousand Ifs & A new logo for the H28's
Ernie turned 80.
Ok, lets get the easy things out of the way and then deal with the sailing. To begin with we lost the fifth championship race to the Covid lock down and Glen was particularly regretting it as it would have been the chance he needed to pull ahead in the championships and get ahead of the current champ.
Rupert covered up Georgina and left her safe and dry while the tropical low came and went, with all our gardens getting a big soak. Much needed. He's experiencing a bit of a problem with the temperature being a bit cool for the glues to go off and the cabin is taking longer than he thought.
Suzanna is up on the hard and from what I've been able to see is in excellent shape considering where she has been. Mind you there are a number of things that will need attention to, but Robin is across most of these and will spend the time now rather than have to haul the boat out of the water again. But he has a problem that's not unique. His main halyard has disappeared up the mast and its going to be a case of dropping the mast or going up on the spinnaker halyard in a bosuns chair.
And finally Te Hana; formerly owned by Roghan Anderson over at Freshy is being looked at by one the Fitzhardinge tribe (the family that owned Nova, before the Weavers bought her). But he freely admits that he will need permission from the family treasurer and a leave pass to go with it. Good luck Tim.
18 to 25 knots on a Southerly with a course three on offer, the flags were hung out for a Martin - Weaver dash and PFD's for all. Mariner has the new H28 logo on her main. Tell us what you think.
If that wretched SS22 Eutopia doesn't get out of the way while we are in the start process, he will become the next victim. Silly fellow. Half the fleet were up behind the line circling in the pond ready to dive down and the rest were aiming trying to be quick to the line. We were waved through a tight patch by Bill between Swiftsure Saga and the box mark. If he hadn't, well we may not have done so well. If David Locke had taken Bill up, well neither of us would have made the start on the first try.
Playing the breeze all the way up to Martin, it was only a lucky gust that took us up above the mark and if that hadn't come along we would have been buried well and truly. The run to Sampson was similar and if the breeze hadn't kicked in after we crossed the start line, well we might have been nailed before the next mark. If, if, if...…..
Across to King with a bit of care in choosing when to go. Had (If) we covered Lockie immediately we may have dropped as badly as he did but no, we made it across and found ourselves still in the lead at King and looking at a chance to get to Robins first, after we had dipped back into Frenchies to come out again on the lifts in the bay. Hard on the bloke on the main, but it works. Phil was working the main and with a bit of luck, lifted us all the way to the mark and the last gust took us around it nicely. If we had had to tack Lockie would have got us.
Down to Print, sailing almost by the lee at times and then across to Foam before we burrowed into the bay again, this time we went a bit further and made the mark with a bit of work, but our problem came from the fact that we were burying the rail and slowing the boat every time. Lockie had gone wide and came down on us like a tonne of bricks and only a bit of luck and a good tack got us away, but not for long as he was on our port rear quarter and looking to speed up at Print again as this time we were on our way to Como and a dash to the outer startline. If we had made one mistake he would have had us for dinner.
All this way, we had Swiftsure Saga and Wynella not far away, ready to pounce if an over wind or a bad tack was made. No room for error. And to cap that off, we had Aloha sailing well enough to give Wynella a hard time.
Around the outer startline and off to Sampson once again with a good rounding and again the decision to run a pole was down to a yes, no, maybe; nah as we slipped into the southerly again. Off to King with the beam sea rolling the boats heavily going to the mark and neither of us getting the best of the crossing. We both tacked and I thought we were ok, but Corella came back on a good starboard and our only hope was to lee bow him. If we'd made it, well and good. But we didn't and Lockie just took off. So stare at Corella's transom for the rest of the race down to Addison, back past Como and then to the finish line. The rest of the fleet weren't too far behind.
Over the line: Corella, Mariner and Swiftsure Saga.
On handicap: Mariner, Corella and Swiftsure Saga.
At the end of the day, a quick beer on the hill and then inside to have a beer with Ernie Little in the chair for his 80th birthday. A few beers and couple of platters of goodies which probably ruined our dinners, but were very much appreciated. Happy birthday Ernie.
Summer Sailing Saturdays the 30th of January.
It wasn't Rita's fault,
The breeze that came and went & Suzanna is coming to SoPYC.
The start of the day had us all looking around, presuming that we were going to be in strife on the easterly but we had four on board with young Rupert from Georgina coming out for a ride.. Not a problem, but all of a sudden he wanted to throw up a spinnaker didn't he. More later. A sou easter that dropped off and came back, swung abruptly and ran in fronts down the river. Either you were in it or you weren't. The over all effect was fair sailing but you had to be prepared to change your mind almost as quickly as the breeze changed.
Aloha, Corella, Wynella, Swiftsure Saga and Karoleeya all came out and 4 of the 5 flew kites. Not a bad day for the fleet. The start was fine and as you expect Bill had SSS going well and managed to get off the line well with Lockie on our tail. He chose to tack off to the east and picked up a fine lift while we held on for a little longer much to our loss as Dave Locke did a fine job on the freshening breeze , making it to the turning buoy before us and we had Wynella on our tail as well as the other pair of Karoleeya and Aloha not far away.
Away we went to Bartlett, the well known and mysterious mark somewhat south of Perth Flying Squadron. Up we went, close on Corella's tail but under a poled headsail only, All bar Aloha and ourselves had spinnakers up and Rupert was clear that he wanted to get a kite up so in due course John and I rigged the boat for the kite finishing about the time we made it to the area around Bartlett. Around they went and we followed them asap, secure that in the next run down the breeze we were going to hang on. Off down to Dolphin East. So a long set of works on a fairly good breeze out of the east and Rupert had the helm.. all the way to Dolphin East and then away to Thelma. Rupert clearly was enjoying the run as he had the boat going well and our biggest problem was finding somewhere for Bill to be. Lockie on the other hand had gone low and we were slipping into a good spot to be. Up wind of him and sailing quickly. Further behind us Aloha was moving quietly along, but Karoleeya had decided to go walk about having forgotten about Dolphin East and they had to rewind their course. Oh dear me.
But both Corella and Wynella had gone into the north and began to come out on a cracker and we were very relieved to cross Wynella and stick close to Corellas transom. Around Thelma we went and Rupert was summarily relieved of the helm and sent forward to get the kite up. Behind us another spinnaker popped up, yes, that's Wynella but a bit further back. Good one.. that keeps us on Corella's tail for the run down to Deepwater and then across to Bartlett. Now there has always been the problem.. which mark is the one we want. 39B or 39? Well it wasn't Rita's fault as she was up on the foredeck pulling down the spinnaker and the other two on the boat clearly thought that 39B was good enough.
We made our way to 39 ( Bartlett ) and then hailed Corella reminding them of the mark they needed to go around. The lead was ours, if we could keep it, knowing that they don't give up. Getting to Addison we still had the lead and the kite run to Dolphin East was fine. But the return trip to Addison and away to Thelma.. Lockie got above us and ran down the line to Addison very well and took a lead. He wasn't challenged after that as we had to let a Cole 32 through, enough; we were behind. So we wished him well and settled into making the finish as good as we could time wise..
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Karoleeya.
Another couple of photos of Georgina with the deck on and the new repairs to The First Jindarra. Looks tidy and a lick of paint certainly makes her a lot smarter. So Andrew's waiting for a mast now and it should be on in a week or two.
Finally. I sent a message out to the general group about Suzanna. She is coming down to the club to go up on the hard stand for a while as her new owner Robin Wilkinson, a sailor out of RP, is going to assess her condition. While she's there, Robin would value any information that we can offer about her history and of course from the knowledgeable amongst us, he would appreciate any advice that may be made toward her general improvement.
She comes up on Tuesday if the current lockdown situation allows and please remember we have the Covid lockdown this week, so restrain yourselves till next week. She'll be up for a while apparently.
It wasn't Rita's fault,
The breeze that came and went & Suzanna is coming to SoPYC.
The start of the day had us all looking around, presuming that we were going to be in strife on the easterly but we had four on board with young Rupert from Georgina coming out for a ride.. Not a problem, but all of a sudden he wanted to throw up a spinnaker didn't he. More later. A sou easter that dropped off and came back, swung abruptly and ran in fronts down the river. Either you were in it or you weren't. The over all effect was fair sailing but you had to be prepared to change your mind almost as quickly as the breeze changed.
Aloha, Corella, Wynella, Swiftsure Saga and Karoleeya all came out and 4 of the 5 flew kites. Not a bad day for the fleet. The start was fine and as you expect Bill had SSS going well and managed to get off the line well with Lockie on our tail. He chose to tack off to the east and picked up a fine lift while we held on for a little longer much to our loss as Dave Locke did a fine job on the freshening breeze , making it to the turning buoy before us and we had Wynella on our tail as well as the other pair of Karoleeya and Aloha not far away.
Away we went to Bartlett, the well known and mysterious mark somewhat south of Perth Flying Squadron. Up we went, close on Corella's tail but under a poled headsail only, All bar Aloha and ourselves had spinnakers up and Rupert was clear that he wanted to get a kite up so in due course John and I rigged the boat for the kite finishing about the time we made it to the area around Bartlett. Around they went and we followed them asap, secure that in the next run down the breeze we were going to hang on. Off down to Dolphin East. So a long set of works on a fairly good breeze out of the east and Rupert had the helm.. all the way to Dolphin East and then away to Thelma. Rupert clearly was enjoying the run as he had the boat going well and our biggest problem was finding somewhere for Bill to be. Lockie on the other hand had gone low and we were slipping into a good spot to be. Up wind of him and sailing quickly. Further behind us Aloha was moving quietly along, but Karoleeya had decided to go walk about having forgotten about Dolphin East and they had to rewind their course. Oh dear me.
But both Corella and Wynella had gone into the north and began to come out on a cracker and we were very relieved to cross Wynella and stick close to Corellas transom. Around Thelma we went and Rupert was summarily relieved of the helm and sent forward to get the kite up. Behind us another spinnaker popped up, yes, that's Wynella but a bit further back. Good one.. that keeps us on Corella's tail for the run down to Deepwater and then across to Bartlett. Now there has always been the problem.. which mark is the one we want. 39B or 39? Well it wasn't Rita's fault as she was up on the foredeck pulling down the spinnaker and the other two on the boat clearly thought that 39B was good enough.
We made our way to 39 ( Bartlett ) and then hailed Corella reminding them of the mark they needed to go around. The lead was ours, if we could keep it, knowing that they don't give up. Getting to Addison we still had the lead and the kite run to Dolphin East was fine. But the return trip to Addison and away to Thelma.. Lockie got above us and ran down the line to Addison very well and took a lead. He wasn't challenged after that as we had to let a Cole 32 through, enough; we were behind. So we wished him well and settled into making the finish as good as we could time wise..
Over the line: Corella, Swiftsure Saga and Wynella.
On handicap: Swiftsure Saga, Wynella and Karoleeya.
Another couple of photos of Georgina with the deck on and the new repairs to The First Jindarra. Looks tidy and a lick of paint certainly makes her a lot smarter. So Andrew's waiting for a mast now and it should be on in a week or two.
Finally. I sent a message out to the general group about Suzanna. She is coming down to the club to go up on the hard stand for a while as her new owner Robin Wilkinson, a sailor out of RP, is going to assess her condition. While she's there, Robin would value any information that we can offer about her history and of course from the knowledgeable amongst us, he would appreciate any advice that may be made toward her general improvement.
She comes up on Tuesday if the current lockdown situation allows and please remember we have the Covid lockdown this week, so restrain yourselves till next week. She'll be up for a while apparently.
Summer Sailing Wednesday The 27th of January.
A challenging day &
Forgetting where King is can cost you heaps.
Challenging. Not bloody likely; Terrifying - yes.
A sou'wester that had all the hallmarks and the number two strapped onto the boat. Course one on offer and the skipper gave one of the crew away to another boat 'cause he thought the three of us could cope. I surely would have liked to be sailing four up today as when you are bouncing around on the boat you can get hurt. Ask Steve who had a couple of near falls on the day. Just because he was trying to be Eddie everywhere.
So away to Martin-Weaver and make it, but behind Swiftsure Saga and Corella with Anna and Wynella close on our tails. Hard work on the main with the boat and the need to put a pole up on a windy day was really a case of do we want it? Around Sampson and off to Deepwater with the added prospect of crossing the second division of the Royal Perth fleet. (Who incidentally have sent a letter mentioning the H28's at Foam. What about and why remains unknown)
Then battle the heavy chop all the way up into the middle of the river. It was heaving and the boat was punching through the waves with spray everywhere. When to go was the question and we eventually tossed to take the fleet across to the bay, leaving the RP fleet behind us. Our skipper decided to toss early out of Waylen Bay and rued the day as Anna went all the way in and came down the bay at a rate of knots, rolling us as we watched and wept.
Around Deepwater and point at Print with a pole up and noted that the order of the day had changed. We were sitting behind Anna with the rest of the field strung out behind us. And so it would be for a while. Then behind Swiftsure Saga the shape of a hull with out a stick.. an H28.. was Aloha out, or had one of us lost a rig? No it was Andy Bell coming back from Fremantle with The First Jindarra repaired. Straight down the river with no problems and the diesel now repaired, thumping away. So we left him to his business and the mast will be back in a couple of weeks.
Around Print and across to Waylen Bay where the skipper lined up on Anna and we chased them all the way up to Robins rounding the mark for a rollicking ride to Dolphin East with speeds of 9 knots were noted across the swell and the gybe at the end was going to be a horror. We made it … and probably blew a slug on the main in the process. However the run to Como was just as compelling with big waves and a bit of pumping on the waves to get the boat sliding down the face and faster for it. By the way pumping the main on an H28 is easier than you think. Just go with the flow.
Around Como and down to the outer startline with the pucker factor right up there as we were racing through a beam sea and almost hard on, just enough pressure to make it hard to hang on to the main and letting it off occasionally as we needed to. Around the mark (another horror gybe) and away to Sampson again with the chance catching the two in front ( yes Bill had got through ) and we were being chased by Corella who just wouldn't give up. Sampson and we just went up the breeze whilst we watched as the others began to cross. But hang on, what's happening? King is down there and the others were way over in the distance going elsewhere. Bite your tongue and go for broke. Around King and look back as Anna rounded behind Lockie with Swiftsure Saga slipping into the lead.
Then away to Print again and ducking the Div one boats we prepared for the pole down to Como and a screamer of a reach to Thelma that was almost a work as the breeze was swirling. Then the game began. Follow Swiftsure Saga or tack off with Lockie. Arrrgh! So we elected to go with Swiftsure along the freeway and tossed a few metres on from her (We learnt that Bill tossed because he could see the bottom) but we were looking at the finish line and much to our discomfort we were rolled by an oncoming S97 who had all the rights, so we dipped her and found ourselves over the line in third spot.
But we survived the day.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Corella and Mariner.
On handicap: Anna, Swiftsure Saga and Mariner.
On Georgina; It must have been a long three days, but Rupert got the last of the deck on. Well done to him and clearly he needed the day off. But one hurdle has been jumped. The next will be the cabin and at least he can build that at home. Bill Richards has contributed both a new hatch and the mooring lines piece. So long as they are both well bolted down.....
Not many photos as we were busy today.
A challenging day &
Forgetting where King is can cost you heaps.
Challenging. Not bloody likely; Terrifying - yes.
A sou'wester that had all the hallmarks and the number two strapped onto the boat. Course one on offer and the skipper gave one of the crew away to another boat 'cause he thought the three of us could cope. I surely would have liked to be sailing four up today as when you are bouncing around on the boat you can get hurt. Ask Steve who had a couple of near falls on the day. Just because he was trying to be Eddie everywhere.
So away to Martin-Weaver and make it, but behind Swiftsure Saga and Corella with Anna and Wynella close on our tails. Hard work on the main with the boat and the need to put a pole up on a windy day was really a case of do we want it? Around Sampson and off to Deepwater with the added prospect of crossing the second division of the Royal Perth fleet. (Who incidentally have sent a letter mentioning the H28's at Foam. What about and why remains unknown)
Then battle the heavy chop all the way up into the middle of the river. It was heaving and the boat was punching through the waves with spray everywhere. When to go was the question and we eventually tossed to take the fleet across to the bay, leaving the RP fleet behind us. Our skipper decided to toss early out of Waylen Bay and rued the day as Anna went all the way in and came down the bay at a rate of knots, rolling us as we watched and wept.
Around Deepwater and point at Print with a pole up and noted that the order of the day had changed. We were sitting behind Anna with the rest of the field strung out behind us. And so it would be for a while. Then behind Swiftsure Saga the shape of a hull with out a stick.. an H28.. was Aloha out, or had one of us lost a rig? No it was Andy Bell coming back from Fremantle with The First Jindarra repaired. Straight down the river with no problems and the diesel now repaired, thumping away. So we left him to his business and the mast will be back in a couple of weeks.
Around Print and across to Waylen Bay where the skipper lined up on Anna and we chased them all the way up to Robins rounding the mark for a rollicking ride to Dolphin East with speeds of 9 knots were noted across the swell and the gybe at the end was going to be a horror. We made it … and probably blew a slug on the main in the process. However the run to Como was just as compelling with big waves and a bit of pumping on the waves to get the boat sliding down the face and faster for it. By the way pumping the main on an H28 is easier than you think. Just go with the flow.
Around Como and down to the outer startline with the pucker factor right up there as we were racing through a beam sea and almost hard on, just enough pressure to make it hard to hang on to the main and letting it off occasionally as we needed to. Around the mark (another horror gybe) and away to Sampson again with the chance catching the two in front ( yes Bill had got through ) and we were being chased by Corella who just wouldn't give up. Sampson and we just went up the breeze whilst we watched as the others began to cross. But hang on, what's happening? King is down there and the others were way over in the distance going elsewhere. Bite your tongue and go for broke. Around King and look back as Anna rounded behind Lockie with Swiftsure Saga slipping into the lead.
Then away to Print again and ducking the Div one boats we prepared for the pole down to Como and a screamer of a reach to Thelma that was almost a work as the breeze was swirling. Then the game began. Follow Swiftsure Saga or tack off with Lockie. Arrrgh! So we elected to go with Swiftsure along the freeway and tossed a few metres on from her (We learnt that Bill tossed because he could see the bottom) but we were looking at the finish line and much to our discomfort we were rolled by an oncoming S97 who had all the rights, so we dipped her and found ourselves over the line in third spot.
But we survived the day.
Over the line: Swiftsure Saga, Corella and Mariner.
On handicap: Anna, Swiftsure Saga and Mariner.
On Georgina; It must have been a long three days, but Rupert got the last of the deck on. Well done to him and clearly he needed the day off. But one hurdle has been jumped. The next will be the cabin and at least he can build that at home. Bill Richards has contributed both a new hatch and the mooring lines piece. So long as they are both well bolted down.....
Not many photos as we were busy today.
Summer Sailing Saturday The 23rd of January. The fourth Championship Race.
Could have guessed that it would happen &
Second to Wynella.
An almost perfect day for sailing with the brisk sou wester dropping back into a tidy 15 to 19 knots and not varying much from that. Sure there was the odd drop in pressure, but a good day nonetheless.
Five boats took to the water initially and Geoff had Carina out with Andy Bells main on the boat. Yes, Andy had convinced Geoff to take the boat out and he had his usuals on board, Bruce and Mark. However there was the unknown to be coped with. She hadn't been sailed for a year and the betting was that she would suffer the same fate as Karoleeya last week. Could have guessed that it would happen and they retired shortly after heading out onto the water. Next week perhaps.
Otherwise, Swiftsure Saga, Wynella, Aloha and Karoleeya headed off on a good day and despite our preference to be at the bottom of the line, we found ourselves leading the fleet as we were all late. Bugger! So go as far as we could into Heathcote, tighten up the sheets and the main and head off to Brickies A and B. Watching the yachts behind us, we watched as Wynella was holding her line very nicely with goof height and speed. Similarly Aloha with a full crew was doing very well and was to prove to be a challenger right through the day. Karoleeya started well but once she swapped tacks onto port she immediately began to fall away, leading me to ask whether the main was as far up as could be deemed safe as the boat had plenty of speed, but no height. The other thought could be the mast and whether the shrouds need adjusting.
No matter, the work up the river was deemed easy enough with the odd scatter of Dragons being fired off from the Freshwater Bay start boat over near Nedlands. Easy to dodge and our main problem were the SS27's on their lurching progress under beam set spinnakers on the way across to Hallmark from Deepwater. Fun to watch though. Well into the bay after Deepwater and then look out for the run up to Brickies with the gusts playing merry hell on our line. At one stage we were miles in front and then we were looking at the pair of Wynella and Aloha on our tails again. Around Brickies A and B then set for the run to Dolphin West keeping an eye out for the boats coming up from Hallmark. A pole and a gybed main was all we needed to keep the boat flowing with the others making their own arrangements. One of the delights of the downwind run was a young mama who was riding with her husband and son in their little power boat. She was wearing a pink bikini that left nothing to the imagination. She was gorgeous! Steve on Karoleeya was attempting spinnaker hoists and eventually packed it away with another couple of holes to be patched. Fair enough, training a crew will give him the odds on a good day when he's a little closer.
Down to Foam and get rid of the pole bending away to head into Waylen Bay and out again with Wynella and Aloha swapping places behind us. My word it was a bang on race for the pair of them. Still we had our own needs and finding Sanders was our next task. We overstood it a little and found that we had given up a little bit of the lead. But the next task was to get to Como for the third leg and thence to Deepwater again with the need to pass Robins to starboard. We forgot. And only a last minute lurch had us heading into Robins, just retaining the lead. But it wasn't to be our day as on the last downwind from Deepwater we had a couple of incidents including a snafu with the pole and having to swing wide to avoid a Red witch. That gave Wynella the lead and despite our best attempts they managed to keep their lead. However it didn't stop me from getting some nice shots of her on the way.
Over the line: Wynella, Swiftsure Saga and Aloha.
On handicap: Aloha, Karoleeya and Wynella.
The work on Georgina continues apace with Rupert getting the work done on the port side of the hull. By Monday he should be looking at beginning to look at put the rest of decking on and then the big job. The cabin. There is about 20 kg of glue holding the boat together so far and by the time he finishes there will be another 30 kg re-enforcing the timber that was left in. It works, and he is planning to put in a ring bulkhead in ply around the front of the cabin as you step down into the cabin and then as he plans to bring the shrouds in, there will be an interior bulkhead similar to the ones in Mariner and Swiftsure to support the loads. Its not over engineering, just playing safe.
Could have guessed that it would happen &
Second to Wynella.
An almost perfect day for sailing with the brisk sou wester dropping back into a tidy 15 to 19 knots and not varying much from that. Sure there was the odd drop in pressure, but a good day nonetheless.
Five boats took to the water initially and Geoff had Carina out with Andy Bells main on the boat. Yes, Andy had convinced Geoff to take the boat out and he had his usuals on board, Bruce and Mark. However there was the unknown to be coped with. She hadn't been sailed for a year and the betting was that she would suffer the same fate as Karoleeya last week. Could have guessed that it would happen and they retired shortly after heading out onto the water. Next week perhaps.
Otherwise, Swiftsure Saga, Wynella, Aloha and Karoleeya headed off on a good day and despite our preference to be at the bottom of the line, we found ourselves leading the fleet as we were all late. Bugger! So go as far as we could into Heathcote, tighten up the sheets and the main and head off to Brickies A and B. Watching the yachts behind us, we watched as Wynella was holding her line very nicely with goof height and speed. Similarly Aloha with a full crew was doing very well and was to prove to be a challenger right through the day. Karoleeya started well but once she swapped tacks onto port she immediately began to fall away, leading me to ask whether the main was as far up as could be deemed safe as the boat had plenty of speed, but no height. The other thought could be the mast and whether the shrouds need adjusting.
No matter, the work up the river was deemed easy enough with the odd scatter of Dragons being fired off from the Freshwater Bay start boat over near Nedlands. Easy to dodge and our main problem were the SS27's on their lurching progress under beam set spinnakers on the way across to Hallmark from Deepwater. Fun to watch though. Well into the bay after Deepwater and then look out for the run up to Brickies with the gusts playing merry hell on our line. At one stage we were miles in front and then we were looking at the pair of Wynella and Aloha on our tails again. Around Brickies A and B then set for the run to Dolphin West keeping an eye out for the boats coming up from Hallmark. A pole and a gybed main was all we needed to keep the boat flowing with the others making their own arrangements. One of the delights of the downwind run was a young mama who was riding with her husband and son in their little power boat. She was wearing a pink bikini that left nothing to the imagination. She was gorgeous! Steve on Karoleeya was attempting spinnaker hoists and eventually packed it away with another couple of holes to be patched. Fair enough, training a crew will give him the odds on a good day when he's a little closer.
Down to Foam and get rid of the pole bending away to head into Waylen Bay and out again with Wynella and Aloha swapping places behind us. My word it was a bang on race for the pair of them. Still we had our own needs and finding Sanders was our next task. We overstood it a little and found that we had given up a little bit of the lead. But the next task was to get to Como for the third leg and thence to Deepwater again with the need to pass Robins to starboard. We forgot. And only a last minute lurch had us heading into Robins, just retaining the lead. But it wasn't to be our day as on the last downwind from Deepwater we had a couple of incidents including a snafu with the pole and having to swing wide to avoid a Red witch. That gave Wynella the lead and despite our best attempts they managed to keep their lead. However it didn't stop me from getting some nice shots of her on the way.
Over the line: Wynella, Swiftsure Saga and Aloha.
On handicap: Aloha, Karoleeya and Wynella.
The work on Georgina continues apace with Rupert getting the work done on the port side of the hull. By Monday he should be looking at beginning to look at put the rest of decking on and then the big job. The cabin. There is about 20 kg of glue holding the boat together so far and by the time he finishes there will be another 30 kg re-enforcing the timber that was left in. It works, and he is planning to put in a ring bulkhead in ply around the front of the cabin as you step down into the cabin and then as he plans to bring the shrouds in, there will be an interior bulkhead similar to the ones in Mariner and Swiftsure to support the loads. Its not over engineering, just playing safe.
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.