Race Report from Trevor May, Eye Spy Finally another race. Yep....back on the water. The start was tricky in that the outgoing tide could advance us too far and flash-backs to the last race ensued. We started cleanly albeit a little late. Decided to run with the "chicken shute" down to Chelsea which would enable us to run with the big kite on the second run to Rhona. We ran down wind only inches away from Bluebeat. Fortunately for us they were only two handed and that meant a fairly conservative drop prior to the mark on their part. We still had Stratus to do battle with and upwind we cross tacked a number of times. The older n wiser crew of stratus got the better of us by getting out of the tide. One more kite run.....where's that big kite? Oh well the "chicken shute" will do. Where's that Bluebeat? %*!#! she's in front of us and high n dry!!!! Jibe ho!! That'll keep my crew on their toes........ he he. Stayed out of trouble for the last down wind leg tho how difficult can we make it for our fearless foredeck crewman Keith? Very........somehow the kite halyard was released which resulted in Eye Spy running over the sheet. Re-hoist kite!! Retrieve sheet!! Have a breather Keith!! It's not often the spinnaker sheet comes back on board covered in blue anti-foul......... A nice day on the water but history would suggest we should have been further up the results. Best I clean the hull eh. Farewell to "Unity" and good luck with your next purchase Craig. Race Report from Darcy Blackmoore, Young Entertainer Finally got some good breeze for racing on Sunday. We knew we had a good shot at this race with a good beam forward reach for the first run to Kauri Point. Around the corner we sailed conservatively and headed for the mark. We reefed the main before the mark in preparation for the up wind leg. Things didn't go well here.... We made a crap job of reefing the main - a job that should take seconds took minuets and lost us plenty of ground trying to sort the mess. Unity got the better of us and rounded the next mark ahead. We called the tide wrong and had to put in another few tacks to get around Meola. By the time we got to Rhona Unity had amassed a good lead. We new we could pull them back up wind and our crew work came together well. Once around Kauri point and heading for home we knew Young Entertainer could stretch her legs. We made up plenty of time and got close enough to Unity to see the whites of Craig's eyes. But Unity beat us fair and square to take the win. Didn't mind so much as this was probably Unities last race at the club and Craig and the crew sailed a very good race. We will miss you Unity!!! Race Report from Gary Swain, Blue Beat Sailing is a great sport it teaches you that the race is not over till you finish! Blue beat 2 handed had a good start and had great sail till kauri point, up went the spinnaker and we were off. Eye spy came over to have a talk something about up and course or something ( never did listen )the ....... got in front with their 5 crew on board. A nyway tack tack and around Meola we when bugger were in front, where felling pretty happy with our effort MISTAKE 1 the putty got us MISTAKE 2 after trying everything put the motor on ( don't leave a sheet over the side to go around the propeller shaft) Wait there is more MISTAKE 3 we will have enough fuel just .................. wrong, used it all up on trying to get off the putty The M and M's turn up to pull us off the putty ( I owe them many beers ) cheer boys!!! So no fuel, I always wanted to try and sail back to b pier at west park. It was prefect and there was no bugger in sight to see it!! Cheers Blue beat Race Report from Craig McMillan, Unity This was more than likely going to be the last race for Unity under current ownership after 13 years so it was going to be a good race whatever happens. The new owners take over in the next 2 weeks. It was a hotly contested start with about 4 boats in line for the bottle of wine for first over the line. We could see the blue lines of our dirty air coming off the sails and onto Young Entertainer in our minds eye like we saw the lines coming off ETNZ onto Oracle after the start in the morning. But it wasn't to be as Young Entertainer was able to make it out from under our lee to lead us all the way down to the leeward mark at Chelsea. Questioning our sail selection of No2 headsail as the wind speed varied between 14 and 20 knots we were on the border of being underpowered. However we found ourselves outpointing the Entertainer with better boat speed to make a good gain at the top mark. Into the No1 kite at the top mark to make a further gain at the bottom mark. Back on the upwind leg, hello?? What's this?? Blue Beat have stopped on the putty for a break.... must have been too much work for the 2 of them. Unity was going like a train upwind but we overlaid Kauri Pt in an effort to keep out of the tide. This gave an advantage back to Young Entertainer, but not enough as we reached up to the finish hitting 8 - 9 knots in 17 knots of wind. Such an enjoyable sail on the harbour in perfect winds. Just a perfect send off for Unity.. I don't think I want to sell her any more. Thanks to my best mates Wayne and Tim for sharing in the sailing of Unity over the last 13 years and all the adventures we have put her through, Thanks to Janelle, Tom, Wayne & Tim, thanks to the lovely Robyn for not complaining when I Break Out Another Thousand (BOAT) to pay for upgrades and maintenance over the years. Thanks Unity.. I'm gonna miss ya.. |
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