With a gentle Westerly wind the last of the Winter Series was sailed in ideal conditions. The course was set using the ODM jointly with the HYC Div 5 yacht race, and set on a transit between the orange post on the club, but starting in the opposite direction! The first mark of the course left a mooring buoy to starboard, and then downwind into Hellyer’s Creek to leave the large black/white conical buoy to port. Two downwind/upwind legs and then back to the ODM completed the first race, with all the youngsters finishing before the yachts returned from Meola to finish their first race. The second race was started just after the yachts started their second race, but the sound signals were confused by the sirens from the Farmer’s Market going off for a lengthy period. This meant the juniors had to rely purely on the visual flag signals. Two were over the line, OCS, and had to restart, which put them a long way behind due to the strong tide. However there was still some good racing and the standard of sailing has improved considerably. Sincere thanks go to Sean Munro who organised all the on the water stuff. A very warm welcome to Tamas Sebesteny, who has recently qualified as a YNZ Learn to Sail Instructor, and helped out on the water with a safety Boat. Also to his family, Gabby and boys, Barnabas and Ben, who all got involved either on the water or at the after match food and debrief. It is great to have more talent joining the junior sailing team. Last but not least a big thank you to Justine who ran the BBQ as well as writing down results, and giving me a lift to save me driving with my bad shoulder. The bring a platter worked well with plenty of food for everyone. And welcome back to the Wills family who turned up for an hour, having only just landed back in NZ after their holiday in the USA. Sailor of the Day went to Cohen Laban-Jefferies, who showed a huge improvement, sailing a testing upwind course for the first time. Pirate of the Day went to Grace Munro for mutineering; nice one! Overall points winner for the Winter Series was Kieran Munro; full series results to be published soon. The new Programme will be finalised and published this week. The planned Working B this Friday is cancelled. Gill Moore Dinghy Sailing Coordinator |