Race Report from Gary Swain, Blue Beat What a start Blue Beat was in the right place at the right time in 4 years. Heaps of tide not much wind; at long last we were the hunted oh shit what do we do now??? Anyway doing well until that bloody Unity got in the way we tried but the ......... Got passed!! It was a great day; when we learn how to sail they will be in trouble!!!!!!!!!!!!! cheers Blue Beat Race Report from Craig McMillan,Unity Well it seems that the winter winds in Auckland are either too heavy for racing or very light. The Race started with winds of 2 knots gusting 4 and a brutal outgoing tide. Got to make a conservative start in case the wind drops and leaves us at the mercy of the tide. Looks like we were a bit too conservative, in fact just a bad start. Just managed to avoid Eye Spy at the mark but we had much ground to make up. Managed to clear out a few boats by getting the kit up and sailing deep in the middle of the tide. Managed to get around Young Entertainer by good luck rather than good management but still can't get that Blue Beat. Light downwind run, then a light beat in as shallow as we could back up to Meola and nearly caught up to that Blue Beat and get involved in a luffing match. Just managed to get the Blue beat again on Starboard Gybe to get clear ahead at the mark. Just a matter of keeping out of that tide all the way home in the light winds. Finally a nice gust of wind at the finish. Not enough to get foiling over the finish line though. Good race to Blue Beat who beat us on Handicap. Well done Gazza Craig. Race report from Stewart McMillan, Stinger A challenging sail. Light airs, 3.3m. ebbing tide. Course should be able to be shortened with big tides like this. Enjoyed the sail except for the rain, putty, faulty course navigation and fading breeze and then more drizzle. Race report from Trevor May, EYE SPY Three on board today for what would prove to be a frustrating day.......... We decided to start at the pin end so that we could run up the line if early. With the tide as it was ....early was not an option. With a little help from "Unity" early and colliding with the ODM is where we were at. Unsure of the rules concerning the ODM we decided to restart by re-rounding. Easier said as I miss read the tide again and took a second attempt. Off to chase the pack. By this time only 3 sails were visible. The balance had rounded Kauri point and headed to Rhona. Bit O work to do fellas......turned out to be a relaxing day on the water, sailing alone. Kite runs down to Rhona and very light beats back up against the tide took its toll. "Stinger" we managed to overtake and nearly pipped "Tai-rangi" but Steve knows how to place himself between us and the finish line. Nicely done. A bad day on the water is always better than a good day in the office eh. Race Report from Darcy Blackmoore, Young Entertainer Sundays racing was full of promise. We had just watched ETNZ thrash our old mates Luna Rossa in 20 odd knots of breeze. Our Sailing Captain had inside information that our race track was going to see 50 knots squalls this afternoon! Me and the crew reckoned we could get the old girl up on the foils in that much breeze! We had about 3 knots of wind with two knots of tide on the start line. Not a bad start and had a sweet kite set. All was going ok until i got the course wrong! We travelled about twice the distance of the others and were left stuck in the tide making no head way in very light winds. Managed to get across the line in third spot - with some very good crew work to make up some time. Well done people!!! Note to self: - I am not that smart. Go to club early and write course down on paper showing marks, land, start line, finish line, direction, etc etc. |
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