Race report from Isis (single handed) At last a day with some wind. I was solo totally this time the Squabs all had birthday parties or some such thing to attend. Got to Isis early and had a practice sail around the moorings, it been a while since I have done any decent upwind sailing the summer seems to have been all down wind. Decided to take the 3 minutes start set the timer at the 4 minute gun and proceeded to count down. Ooops I was counting 3 mins not 1 min in the excitement, throw it all away, duuuhhhh . Won’t do that again. So off we went no extras, got caught in the hole off Kauri Point managed to squeeze ahead of Kentucky Woman and off we went. Should have had a reef in the main or remember to use the vang!!! As I kept getting rounded up . One sticky moment as a very large BLUE wall drove right over the top of me rounding Rhona it was touch and go as to whether the current was going to push me down on it as the wind had miraculously vanished momentarily? Now heading down wind and I was really wishing I could use the genni as the rest of the fleet headed over the far horizon. Oh well, another beautiful day on the water a lot of fun had at least when you get lapped you get to wave to all your friends as they go past twice. Here’s to next time ISIS out. Race Report from Firsty Last Sunday in Auckland it Blew With number 2 rig, Firsty Flew The hard work made us Firsty too Downwind we had time for a brew But Shakina we couldn't get through What a totally hard working crew Tim, Tom, Bruce, Eric, Dave (he's new) Race report from Che 10, 15, 20, 25 even, after the last few weeks of 0, 5, 7 if you were lucky, I was pleased to be taking Ché out with some breeze and the number 2. With a new crew (5 of us on board) I made the decisions that we were out to have fun as I didn’t want to scare them off and more importantly that I was going to avoid any blue boats. We passed Isis, dipped Eye Spy, went ahead of Blue Beat, stayed well away from Satisfaction (they weren’t racing with HYC but I kept clear none the less), passed well clear of Nona who was going the other direction (there’s a blue stripe on her) - mission accomplished. Not to shabby for a first time out, we managed not to lose anyone overboard, remove any fingers and along the way find a new hangover cure. Thanks to Grey who was ok with being the only bloke on a boat full of women, Cristin, Jenny and Jo, couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks also to the race committee. Race Report from Eye Spy. We have wind!! Numbers at the club were increasing as the meeting time of 1130hrs drew near. 7 people on Eye Spy was probably an over-kill so Eric volunteered to jump to Firsty to even up numbers. A very keen crew assembled and were duly delivered to Eye Spy. Greg, JK, John, Gill, Mark on board today. We managed to get to the start area in plenty of time and proceeded to undertake timed runs towards the line from all angles. Satisfied we knew what we were doing, we waited for our start time of 1313hrs. Firsty was the only boat starting behind us so we had our work cut out. 30 seconds late at the start. Not my best work. First targets……..the other 88s. The lead boats took a very wide line around Kauri point and appeared to run out of pressure by Meola. Greg sais, lets try pointing early that way we could avoid any unnecessary tacking. This worked well and we passed the 88s prior to the top mark. Firsty chased us down and rubbed salt into the wound by passing to leeward. How's that handicap Craig? Foredeck Greg was quick to set the Kite and we made good time to Pile Buoy. Is this a no extras race? We appeared to be the only kite flying. That question was answered on the second, longer downward leg as the upper harbour erupted into a symphony of colour. What a great sight……….a dozen or more kites! Hold the kite for as long as possible so we had an opportunity to make ground on Stratus and Satisfaction. We passed both only to be overtaken again. These two held us off till the finish but provided us with some great close racing. They are right Mr Higgins……Stratus is 70 feet wide! Third place at the prize giving and a six pack from last week. We agree we have room to improve. We look forward to stepping up another gear next race. A great day had by all on Eye Spy. |
Race Reports >