Read all about the trials and tribulations on board the club yachts! |
Race Reports
wayward 8 - Sunday 22nd March 2020
This will have probably been our last race for a while. We had four entries but only three starters. Satisfaction DNS. Slipknot, MisMatch and Near and Farr all opted to reef their mains (it was peaking 22 knots at bean rock so sensible to reef). MisMatch raced single handed - kudos to him. While SlipKnot had three and Near & Farr were double handed! It was a fun race and involved lots of tacking, which meant Darcy was very busy. Darcy initially started with a reefed main and slightly furled head sail, then chose to fully unfurl and made huge gains as well as excellent decision to tack early before passing North Head. Past North head it was time for lots of tacking... tack, tack tack. Pretty tiring and Darcy decided to retire.... if he had continued to race he would have won! A decision was made to shorten the course and have the finish line under the harbour bridge. More tacking for both boats and lots of determination from both crews to finish first. After more tacks Near and Farr sailed under the harbour bridge with SlipKnot following a few minutes later. Not only was it a great race, it was a great weekend on the water. Hopefully it will not be too long until we are next out on the water :-) Results: 1st Near & Farr 2nd SlipKnot Mismatch DNF Satisfaction DNS |
wayward 7 - Saturday 7th March 2020.
Due to wind being on the nose it was decided by all the skippers that the race would start at North head, turning left going along rangitoto (past rangi light) to West Bay Rakino. We had a good breeze which meant that Near & Farr had to reef (she has to reef over 17 knots) while the others went for full sails. Results: 1st Near & Farr 2nd Satisfaction 3rd Mismatch 4th Arabesque spot prize to Arabesque who sustained a breakage :-( ************************************ Race report from MisMatch The weather looked perfect for a weekend away with club mates. We had MisMatch, Near & Farr, Arabesque and Satisfaction all steaming up the harbour towards North Head. There was a generous Easterly wind on the nose so skippers decided to start the race from North Head and head to Rakino across the north side of Rangitoto. Near & Farr with a reefed main took off around North Head followed closely by the mighty Satisfaction under full sail. Myself and Nigel followed behind both single handed. The wind got a bit fresh once around Rangi light and heading North East. Near & Farr had the right idea with a reefed main and had a good fight with a fully powered up Satisfaction through some choppy seas. I recorded a peak of about 21.8 knots of wind so it was always going to be hard work for Nigel and i being single handed. Just as we made the tack into Rakino the wind and sea state died down which made for some nice sailing. Phil and his good looking Satisfaction crew dropped anchor at Mototapu for lunch and a swim. The rest of us dropped anchor just west of West Bay Rakino. So nice to be there with no other boats around - until about 5pm when another 300 boats showed up for the night! What a great night we had. I forgot just how awesome it was to be out on the water with great mates. Sunday morning breakfast, cup of tea and a swim and head off home. Thanks for an awesome weekend Sam, Dunc, Nigel, Maranda, Phil and Marnie ********************************** Near and farr’s race report With our newly anti fouled hull we were amping to get out on the water With the decision to start the race at north head due to the wind on the nose, we made another decision which won us the race… the decision to reef our main. Satisfaction may have questioned if this was the correct decision as they opted for full sails v our No2 head sail and reefed main. Satisfaction tried to battle with us by Rangi light but could not get past us nor could they get the same height at us… good decision (we would have battle to keep our height with a full main as we would have been over powered and had to have eassseeeed the main). It was a great race and kudos to Darcy and Nigel for racing single handed. Conversations you only have on a boat – “oh I do hope Phil has got a photo of our bum!!” & “Oh gosh phil has got a bit of a green bum!” "where is Satisfaction?" - "they are anchored and having lunch" ...... ..... Nigel "is that what they call that these days??!!!!!" West Bay is one of our favourite anchorages and what better a place to spend the night with our great mates and enjoy some banter! Another great weekend with HYC. Looking forward to racing again in a weeks time. |
Wayard 5 - Sunday 9th February 2020
Results: 1st Near & Farr 2nd Cloud Ten  Photo of Cloud Ten racing on Sunday Race Report from Near & Farr We decided to race back from Issey bay after a lovely few days cruising with the company of Cloud Ten. We both chose to reef... hey why not "it's easy to knock a reef out if the wind dies" apparently easy for us, not so for Cloud Ten. Our imaginary start line should have meant that we could get to the finish line on one board. Cloud ten had a better start than us and were much higher than us...hmmmmm they might not have to tack. Duncan worked hard and we gained better height and Cloud ten lost height... there was no way in hell they would not have to tack. Duncan kept muttering about wanting a "massive magical lift".... it did not arrive so we had to tack and follow Cloud tens track. They then tacked again..... hmmm time to do some shouting ..... it was quite bizarre did they not hear me yell " STARBOARRRRRRD"...... normally the whole of the north island hears me! They must have balls of steel..... .hmmmmm they did dip but we also adjusted course...we mentioned protesting but yeah nah we were only jesting. We tacked again and heading along the container terminal side, while Cloud ten opted for Devonport side. For the second time we discussed knocking the reef out and this time the wind did not pick up. We decided to knock the reef out as we were never going to catch them up reefed (they had a lovely clean bottom and our bottom was filthy.... must book in an antifoul)..... easy peasy to knock the reef out all done from the cockpit. The larger sail area helped us gain and then over take Cloud ten by the bridge... the wind did pick up but with cracked sheets it was manageable. We then started singing "the hokey cokey" pull your mainsheet in, your head sail in let your mainsheet out, let your headsail out In, out, in, out You shake it all about You do the hokey cokey And you turn around That's what it's all about Woah, the hokey cokey Woah, the hokey cokey Woah, the hokey cokey It was all about trimming and singing and some bad dancing on my part.... Duncan was helming and singing while I trimmed sung and danced in the flukey wind. They were gaining on us... but we managed to maintain our lead. We finished ahead of Bronny and Scotty.... just!!!! It was a great race and always fun to sail in great company. Race Report from Cloud Ten After a great week away we ended up with the HYC crew in Izzy bay on our last night. This coincided with the scheduled wayward race home. I popped my head out in the morning and saw there was wind and made the call to up pick and go. Near and Farr answered that call and we were off. We both reefed and motored out of the bay, once next to each other we said ready set go and unfurled our headsails and started. We were pleased we had reefed as the gusts were pretty strong, the wind angle was better than expected and we were hoping to lay the harbour entrance. The outgoing tide had other ideas though, at this point Near and Farr were pointing higher and above us but we had been leading all the way. Our first tack was not flash and we lost ground and Near and Farr passed ahead of us. The second was much better and we caught back up. It looked like Near and Farr still had the edge and were going to pass in front, but next minute they weren’t and Scotty said you’re going to have to dip. I called for a big ease and went around there stern, there was heaps of room. Sam and Dunk were muttering about a protest because they had to adjust there course with big smiles on their face. Scotty and I smiled back and carried on. We were leading through the city but the wind had lighted and was down to 10-12 knots so we were going much slower. Although in the tide we stayed in the middle and had more breeze. We were nearly at the bridge when Near and Farr caught up and past us. I was wondering what we were doing wrong, then I realised they had shaken out their reef. Dam it! After the bridge the wind picked up again so we’d lost the opportunity to shake out our reef in the light. We were hoping Near and Farr might get overpowered but because it was eased sheets they were handling the full main fine. We were slowly catching them though. Once around Kauri Point the wind went to our aft quarter and that was the end of our advantage. There was only 4 minutes in it at the finish so we were still happy with our race. Well Done Sam and Dunk! |
Sailing Captain Report: 14 October 2019
Hi All, This is a quick Sailing Captain & Committee report to formally announce the 2019/20 Summer Racing Program and to remind everyone of the Opening Day this weekend. My thanks to the Sailing Committee consisting of Gill Moore, Mark Jones, Steve Old, Tamas Sebesteny for their assistance in producing the program and associated documentation. 2019/20 Summer Racing Program Our apologies for the delay on the release on the Summer program. We were waiting to formalise some dates for the Devonport Yacht Club 3 Handed/3 Legs Race; planned as the 100miler/50 miler. Unfortunately, the dates have not been released yet. We have released the program as it is; however, it is subject to some change (in red on program). We will notify the club in due course of the confirmed dates/any changes. The 2019/20 Summer program is planned to start with Friday night Dinghy Training & Introduction on Friday 18th Oct 2019 at 5pm, and a Keelers/Div. 5 skippers meeting. Keeler/Div5 Skippers Meeting; There is a ‘skippers’ meeting on Friday 18 Oct 2019, @ 7pm, in the club. Agenda is to discuss the summer program and pass the latest course list on, plus a possible rules/protest forum (TBC on the night). Followed by a question session. OPENING DAY Sunday 20 Oct 2019 The Summer Racing Program will start with Opening day on the Sunday 20 Oct 2019 for both Keelers (Div5) and Dinghies (Div1&2). Racing is planned to be around the buoys and close to the club. This will be followed by a social event put on by the House committee. NOR has been posted. • Dingy Divisions (1 & 2) 3x Races starting at 1230hrs • Keeler Division (5) 1x Race starting at 1300hrs Happy sailing Regards Sean Munro HYC Sailing Captain |
HYC Sailing Captain Report: Dinghy Sailing 03 Nov 2019
Hi All, It was fantastic to observe a very good fleet of Dinghies for a beautiful day on the water, where the sunscreen was definitely required. The wind however was up and down in wind strength and a little frustrating for the sailors. It slowly filled in overtime to become a steady breeze when we were finishing for the day! In the end it was pleasing to see the sailors enjoying themselves. Three races were completed with Kieran (Starlings), Cohen (Firebugs) and Astin (Opti) winning on the day, well done! It was great to see Denis & Nixon (Mistral) and Tamas & Ben (RS Feva) on the water, let’s hope we can get a few more Open Class Dinghies out as the summer progresses! Div.2 Dinghy Series Results (3 Races Combined) Open Dinghy: 1. Denis & Nixon (Mistral) 2. Tamas & Ben (RS Feva) Starlings: 1. Kieran Munro 2. Ollie Smith 3. Grace Munro Firebugs: 1. Cohen Laban 2. Barnabus Sebesteny 3. Kaelem Swanepoel Opti: 1. Astin Thornton 2. Quinn Heald 3. Kiera Smit For future Dinghy racing could we please ensure everyone arrives on time and there is no delay like Sunday, for getting on the water for the first race. I have increased the time window for arriving at the club to prepare for racing to 2 hrs, so please refer to the updated sailing program for changes. Parents please ensure there is all hands on the ramp to help launch the boats as this will help to make things run a little smoother at the start. Next Dingy Events Two Learn to Sail events to be held on the Friday 8th & 15th November, and racing on Sunday 17th November @ 8.30am for a 10.30am race start.  ********************************** CALL TO ARMS: GOLDEN RIVET 1 Against CCYC (Postponed race) Sunday 8rd December 2019; 1300 start. Could I request the Keeler Skippers please commit to racing the Golden Rivet Series; it’s time to take back the silverware after losing it last year. We need a minimum Team of 5 to compete, but the Sailing Committee would really like to see a big turn out to what is always a great day of racing against our neighbouring club, plus a good social event. We have combined the Mark Foy Golden Rivet series races and Surprise races so the results will also count towards the Surprise series. Could you please let Gill and Sean know if you are available to race; our contact details are at the end of this report. If you have questions Sean can be contacted on 021 713098 or alternatively Gill on 027 5353498. Sean’s email is seanmunronz@gmail.com Happy racing and cruising! Regards HYC Sailing Committee |
HYC Sailing Captain Report: Opening Day 20 October 2019
Hi All, It was great to observe a good fleet from all divisions on the water for the Opening Day of the Summer season. The wind and weather played the game; we had a good breeze on the Div.5 course and shifty but pleasant wind strength on the Dinghy course. It was pleasing to see a full club room at the prize giving, with both Senior and Junior members enjoying themselves post an excellent days sailing. In the Div.5 Keeler division, ‘Slipknot’ took home the Silverware, winning on line and handicap, well done to Gary Swain and his crew! Craig and his ‘Firsty’ team had the best start of the day. Great work Greg for sailing with the Keelers and taking out the Multihull division. Good luck to both the ‘Firsty’ and ‘Slipknot’ crews in the Coastal Classic on Labour weekend, hope you enjoy the great race up the coast! On the Dinghy course four races were completed with Ollie (Starlings), Cohen (Firebugs) and Astin (Opti) winning on the day, well done! Our Junior Sailors of the day were Grace and Astin; congratulations to you both for sailing very well. The spot prizes for the day went to Craig Macmillan and Barnabus Sebesteny, I hope you make great use of the Burnsco Vouchers. Thanks to the House committee for their excellent efforts in putting on the BBQ and raffles. And thank you to Gill and the Sailing committee for their efforts in in running the racing for the day. Handicap Results: Div.5 Keelers 1. Slipknot – Gary Swain 2. Firsty – Craig McMillan 3. Near & Farr – Samantha & Duncan Leach 4. Waterwitch (DNF) – Gary Matthews Line: Slipknot Best Start: Firsty Div.1 Results 1. Greg Jones Div.2 Dinghy Series Results Starlings: 1. Ollie Smith 2. Grace Munro 3. David McGowan 4. Tamas Sebesteny Firebugs: 1. Cohen Laban 2. Barnabus Sebesteny Opti: 1. Astin Thornton 2. Kiera Smit CALL TO ARMS: GOLDEN RIVET 1 Against CCYC Sunday 3rd November 2019; 1300 start. Could I request the Keeler Skippers please commit to racing the Golden Rivet Series; it’s time to take back the silverware after losing it last year. We need a minimum Team of 5 to compete, but the Sailing Committee would really like to see a big turn out to what is always a great day of racing against our neighbouring club, plus a good social event. We have combined the Mark Foy Golden Rivet series races and Surprise races so the results will also count towards the Surprise series. Could you please let Gill and Sean know if you are available to race; our contact details are at the end of this report. Next Race: Keeler (Div.5): Golden Rivet 1/Surprise 1 Note: The 1st Wayward is also coming up so the NORs for the next 3 races will be released in the next few days.   If you have questions Sean can be contacted on 021 713098 or alternatively Gill dinghy sailing dinghysailing@hycnz.org.nz Sean’s email is seanmunronz@gmail.com Happy racing and cruising, and again good luck to crews on the Coastal Classic! Regards HYC Sailing Committee |
Sailing Captain Report: Winter Series Racing Sunday 15 Sept 2019 & 2019/20 Summer Racing Program
Hi all, Two HYC Keelers got on the water for a Harbour Race with CCYC (9x Boats) on Sunday. It was from what I understand, an excellent day on the water. Firsty managed to come away with the win on line and handicap, well done Craig and his crew! The best start went to Escape, well done to Trev and his team. Craig and his ‘Firsty’ team took out the 2019 HYC Winter Series, well done!! I am sure Craig will be shouting his ‘Firsty’ team a beer! Below are the race results: Results: Race 12 Best Start: Escape 1. Firsty 2. Escape Overall Series Results (Final) 1. Firsty 2. Escape 3. Slipknot 4. Eye Spy The next Dinghy race day is scheduled for this Sunday 22th September at 1200hrs. Sheds open at 1045hrs. We will look to have 3 races, possibly 4. 2019/20 Summer Racing Program: OPENING DAY Sunday 20 Oct 2019 The 2019/20 Summer program is planned to start with Friday night Dinghy Training & Introduction on Friday 18th Oct 2019 at 5pm, and a Keelers/Div. 5 skippers meeting. Keeler/Div5 Skippers Meeting; There is a skippers meeting on Friday 18 Oct 2019, @ 7pm, in the club. Agenda is TBA. Opening Day The Summer Racing Program will start with Opening day on the Sunday 20 Oct 2019 for both Keelers (Div5) and Dinghies (Div1&2). Racing is planned to be around the buoys and close to the club. Time is TBA but likely to be around mid-day. This will be followed by a social event put on by the House committee. NOTE: 2019/20 Summer Racing Program will be released to Social media, the Website and Club members in the next two weeks. The sailing committee are just finalising a few dates and liaising with some external organisations before its release. Our apologies for the delay. Happy sailing or more probably, happy pre-summer boat maintenance! Regards Sean Munro HYC Sailing Captain |
Sailing Captain Report: Winter Series Racing Sunday 01 Sept 2019
Hi all, Three HYC Keelers got on the water for a Harbour Race with CCYC (5x Boats) on Sunday in a light breeze which built and then died off toward the end. It was from what I understand a great day on the water, all be it a little frustrating for some. Slipknot managed to come away with the win on handicap, well done Gary and his crew! Firsty secured the line honours for the combined fleet and the best start, well done Craig and his team. Below are the race results: Race 10 Results: 1. Firsty 2. Slipknot Best Start: Slipknot *********************************** Results: Race 11 Best Start & Line: Firsty 1. Slipknot 2. Escape 3. Firsty ************************************** ************************************** Overall Series Results 1. Firsty 2. Slipknot 3. Escape 4. Eye Spy The next Keeler race with CCYC is scheduled for Sunday 15th September 2019, 1000hrs Harbour/Fleet Race. The next Dingy race day is scheduled for this Sunday 8th September at 1300hrs. Sheds open at 1145hrs. We will look to have 3 races, possibly 4. Happy racing Regards Sean Munro HYC Sailing Captain |
Race reports for Sunday 1st September 2019
Escape Race Report Sunday dawned fine, clear and calm with emphasis on the calm. The forecast was a worrying 5 knots variable with a huge tide running out until mid afternoon. The last two races had been similar conditions with course number 1, the shortest harbour course, being chosen on both those occasions. Crew of the day was Pete, his brother Steve and myself, and for Pete and I it was déjà vu. Motor out to a start in no wind and drift off with the tide. Naturally it was course number 1 again. The sun was shining and a long day on the water was likely if only because the tide meant we couldn’t get back in the marina any earlier than 3.30. Happy Father’s Day! There might have been little or no breeze but the tide was running at over 2 knots so we were soon making progress in the right direction and there was no rush to get there because the tide still had 4 hours to run. Firsty got too far out to the side at Birkenhead and had to motor clear of the moored boats with no wind to sail. We had a tight battle with a piece of polystyrene going under the Harbour Bridge. It passed us twice before catching a back eddy near Bayswater and finally falling behind. The racing between boats was a little less exciting. Slipknot managed to stay in the middle of the tide best while Firsty and ourselves both drifted out to the Devonport side. It was at that point that a light NE sea breeze finally kicked in and we could truly claim to be sailing. Out front Firsty picked a slightly better line than Slipknot and was leading coming into the first mark at Rough Rock and while we were behind further than we would have liked once you turned the mark it was into the tide and the gap narrowed a lot. We were doing 5.6 knots across the ground coming into the mark and a miserable 1.4 knots coming away from it. It felt like a long way home at that point. But the tide was waning and Firsty was soon round Northern leading and hoisting their big yellow kite closely followed by Slipknot with us at the back . Pete and Steve got our blue kite up in quick order and we all set off for Resolution. We would have preferred our gennaker since it’s bigger than the kite but the angle was wrong. All three boats hugged the wave barrier side at Orakei and benefited from the tidal back eddy there. It was amazing to see how much the speed over ground increased when we got into that counter flow . Round Resolution , hardened up to get around the container wharf, and set off for Kauri Point. Looking ahead Firsty and Slipknot had adjusted for a beam reach rather than downwind so we dropped the spinnaker and hoisted the gennaker. This certainly paid off initially as we took a bit of distance out of the leading two but the wind came behind again and we experimented with flying the gennaker off the kite pole. All good fun but it didn’t make much difference to our distance behind despite them sailing into a hole and recommencing the earlier drifting match. Our turn to do that came soon enough and it was a relief to finally get to the line feeling lucky to come third in a three boat race! We didn’t do too much wrong but we also hadn’t pushed the others too hard so were a bit deflated. We also couldn’t motor straight home due to the low tide and earlier at Chelsea we saw mud I’d never seen before. Sobering to say the least! Still it gave us more time on the water on a sunny Sunday so first world problems really. We were home soon enough. Thanks to Pete and Steve for a well coordinated effort from two guys who hadn’t sailed together for years and to Clearwater for running the race when no doubt Fathers Day lunch beckoned. |
Sailing Captain Report: Winter Series Racing July 28th, 2019
Hi all, Four Keelers and five Dinghies got out on the water on Sunday in a near perfect breeze; it was a great day on the water. Below is a quick report from Trev H and I on both sets of racing; thanks Trev for your input. Trev Higgins Keeler Race Report Fine weather, a good breeze and smooth seas thanks to wind and tide going the same way greeted the 4 boats racing. On the start line were Eye Spy, Escape, Firsty and after some drama with their house batteries Slipknot. A long upwind up tide beat to Bayswater was first up and the four boats had closed up markedly by then. Downwind Firsty was handicapped being only 2 up and not able to fly a kite giving breathing space to Escape out front and letting Slipknot back past them. Trouble with the drop at Meola saw Slipknot drop back to 4th and positions didn’t change on the next two legs to Chelsea and then the finish. Results: Race 8 Best Start: Slipknot 1. Escape 2. Firsty 3. Eyespy 4. Slipknot Overall Series Results 1. Firsty 2. Slipknot 3. Escape 4. Eye Spy Sean Munro’s Dinghy Racing Report Like the Keelers, the Dinghies had a great day on the water. Although the numbers were low compared to previous races, the sailors who raced had a great time in the perfect breeze. Two races were completed, sailing a Windward/Leeward course, and we ran the racing from the Safety Boats. It was excellent to see Tamas out racing and enjoying the winter water temp after a spectacular capsize to demonstrate to the Juniors on how to recover! He had a great tussle with Ollie in the Starling in both races. Cohen, Kaleem and Barnabus had some excellent racing, with Cohen sailing really well to win both races in the Firebugs. Thank you, Phoebe and Altus, for helping on the Safety boats and with the race starts/finishes. Ollie (Starlings) and Cohen (Firebugs) are the current Dinghy Winter Series leaders. It will be nice to see a few more Dinghies on the water for the next race day. Again, thanks to all for a great days racing and thanks to the House committee for putting on the BBQ. The next Keeler race is scheduled for Sunday 11th August 2019, 1300hrs MF Local Race. The next Dingy race day is scheduled for Sunday 11th August at 1400hrs. Sheds open at 1245hrs. We will look to have 2 races. Happy racing Regards Sean Munro HYC Sailing Captain |
1-10 of 174