The results are confirmed & correct: 1st Satisfaction 2nd Eye Spy 3rd Blue Beat 4th Pretty Woman 5th Nona 6th Firsty Line honours - Pretty Woman And here are the first few race reports .... Race report from Satisfaction Skipper : Phil Shaw Crew: Duncan and Samantha Number of dancing girls: Zero!! Number of dancing girls spotted: ONE!!! On the riverhead ferry and we are not talking about the guy in drag!! Number of bottles of bubble consumed: Zero Number of achoholic beverages consumed during the race: Zero.... with only three of us on board there was no time for such things and we needed to concentrate! Score out of ten opening day racing: 10++++ It was a brilliant Not the best start but not the worst start, that honour was taken by Pretty Women who were late for the start. It took ages for the old girl (Satisfaction not Samantha) to get over the start line... hmmm was there going to be enough wind for our 17 tonnes?? As the Youngs and Firsty took off, Pretty woman gathered momentum and soon over took us.... bugger. We watched the fleet ahead of us hoist kites and then we watched the action –Pretty woman were double handed and it did not look like much fun. However on the plus side the wind had picked up to over 15knotts... perfect for us... not so much fun for the others. We pasted Nona near the bridge and now were on a mission to catch up with the rest. Before torpedo we were discussing our mission to gybe the main... this should be fun, and then bang the old girl did it for us. Not far from Blue Beat and Eye spy... can we get past them, which side should we go. Hmmmm lets split them up, so we edged between them both and held our breaths ... the little blue boat had earlier been demonstrating the art of the “round up”..... “pleaaaaaaaase don’t round up we muttered under our breaths!!!!” Phew we got through and continued on our way with BB and the Spy behind us. On wards we sailed but always glancing over our shoulder to check were the Y88’s were... “eye spy are catching up....” then “gust on” with which we were more comfortable and would pull away from her. The last leg was tricky... gusts then lulls... soooo much concentrating and we even gained on Firsty. But always aware that we could not rest on our laurels as Eye Spy never give up and one small mistake from us could be a ticket for them to over take us. We finally crossed the finish line not far behind Firsty and with Eye Spy finishing not too long after us.... phew that was a work out! Sails down and beers for a very parched crew.  Tired but happy crew It was a fantastic day on the water and we loved every minute. The conditions were great for us, our finishing position would have been a very different story if it had been a tacking race! Many thanks to Nigel and Mickey in the start tower, Trevor for the course and the game of poker and also to Cristin and Sharon for the food. Race report from Eye Spy: Opening Day Race for the Summer Season!! I wanted to set a course a little different from the norm for this auspicious occasion. The wind needed to play ball and the prediction was for 15knts from NE. That it was, as we rounded Kauri point. To start with tho we were not sure about the course. Had we bitten off more than we could chew? The start went very well for us though given any more time and we would have drifted over. We get first on start and see Firsty is called back. Pretty Woman has turned up late but great to see they made the effort. Speaking of effort……..two handed and they stuck the kite up………nicely done. Did note a spot of bother at time to lower it though. Considering they were two up……hats off to ya! We had a great kite ride and dropped it at Kauri point just before getting into trouble. Great work team! Next mark was Chelsea to starboard and initially it didn’t look like we would make it on one board so we took all the lifts we could. After a quick ride through to the bridge we got into the usual battle with Blue Beat. Side by side at this stage and with the same sail configuration we forged on towards Torpedo Bay. Firsty had got ahead of us and Pretty Woman went passed like we were standing still. Alright lets play with blue beat then. At Torpedo we rounded with Bluebeat getting an inside line. The wind had gotten to approx.. twenty knots at this stage and we were wishing we had the No.2 headsail on. Nothing between the boat speeds and words were only a matter of time…………windward boat keep clear! We guide Bluebeat past the mark before dipping down to go round. I hear a crash and a few choice words behind but a daren’t look as I needed to work out our next move. Bluebeat caught yet again and held a position close and inside us. Not much room for mistakes eh………..plenty of room for Satisfaction to cruise on through between us though. Good thing no-one rounded up eh. Satisfaction set course up the middle of the harbour and Bluebeat followed. My crew reminded me, too much tide there. So we power up the city side of the harbour and pass Bluebeat crossing the tide before the bridge. Its pretty much a drag race from this point on. We were over powered on occasion but were glad of the extra sail area in the lulls. Maybe we can catch Satisfaction hard on the wind on the last leg? Pretty Woman and Firsty finish well ahead. Well done to both. The distance to Satisfaction reduced but they held their position. We Looked back to see we had pulled well away from the other two 88s. Big smiles from all of us. What a great day to go sailing. Many thanks to my crew……….Mark, Lisa and JK and to all the others making for a great race. Well done to Brad and crew for making the effort from the city. Race Report from Firsty Tim, Paddy and Craig on board for the opening day race. After a bit of a dodgy start in no wind we managed to get enough wind for a kite hits and struggle to the front of the fleet. Spinnaker down at Kauri point then came a most frustrating leg of over powered under powered as we battled the nor easter gusting over the land. Pretty woman got past us just before the bridge. Gybe at torpedo buoy then around Resolution and try to avoid the tide on the way back. The leg back was a bit more eased sheets so a bit easier. Tight hauled all the way from Kauri Pt with gusts and calm was a bit frustrating and hard work for the deck crew, to the finish 2nd on line after Pretty Woman, Satisfation was not far behind. Back to the marina and the boys were treated to an excellent side show form a lovely young lady on the Red boats ferry. |
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