 Nona - Two handed race. Denise and John Hanson on the mighty Nona. What sail wardrobe should we have? Bean Rock is 22 to 18 knots. Number two it is. After a lengthy mill around the start line we were off right behind Eye Spy and ignoring the twanging sounds behind us from Blue Beat. Around Kauri Point heading to Rhona with a match racing fleet ahead and starboard of the main span. Up goes the Westpac wine glass on Blue Beat and after several minutes they are off. As we sail down to the main span and to avoid the start line of the RNZ Yacht Squadron, Blue Beat keeps surging STRAIGHT ahead. Oh no... through the RNZYS start line to the dreaded 6 blasts of the horn. A quick scan and there is no Club pennant on Blue Beat, we might get away with it. If a letter does arrive the secretary will NOT be replying. Around Rhona behind Blue Beat and its a beat back to the finish. The wind is fluctuating between 16 and 6 knots. We manage to make Kauri Point without a tack, using the incoming tide but the pressure is not as strong as with Eye Spy and Blue Beat. By this time Blue Beat is leading with Nona "tale end Charlie" but trying to catch Eye Spy. Through the moorings, Blue Beat without incident, and over the line. Time to tidy up and back to the Club for a tea. Thanks to Peter and JK for the start and the Y88's for the play. Eye Spy - Single handed. Another disappointing turnout for a race. But as usual the Young 88s came out to play. There was no-one in the tower to start this race so Gazza and I lined up side by side and said GO. Not the most technical of starting procedures but hey......... Forecast was for 15 knots so I chose the number two headsail with the idea that it would be easier to tack. As things turned out there was not alot of tacking to be done so I could have gone with the number one as Blue Beat did. The course took us to a south orange, back to the ODM, over to Beach Haven, to south orange again, then finish. Gazza got the better of me on the first lap but I hung on close waiting for a chance to pounce. He pushed me as far into the shallows as he dared with calls of "water" coming from Eye Spy. The calls were initially ignored. A threat of protest may have ensued at this time. Blue Beat returned to his true course and all was well. Post rounding Beach Haven Eye Spy was able to point higher which meant Blue Beat was first to tack. Eye Spy covered and remained ahead till the finish. A good battle once again. Eye Spy-Two handed. Two other 88s to play with in this race!! My trusty crew was Nigel Watkins. No sail change was made from the first of today's races and it appeared that we were the only one with a number two......... JK was in the tower to set us off. Confusion reigned as the 1300hr start time came and went. Fortunately we were all on the "same page" and started around 1305hrs. Eye Spy got a good start and lead the 3 strong fleet down to Kauri Point. The spinnaker was set ready to hoist but the wind was rarely aft of the beam. We decided to watch Blue Beat and see how successful they were. Their kite filled after the third hoist. Who packed that? They came "trucking" after us straight through someone's start/finish line. Oh if looks and gestures could kill.............maybe a letter is in the post? We rounded Bayswater mark a minute or so ahead and proceeded to extend upwind. Nekminute........we were getting caught. It was as if we had picked up a net or something. We couldn't point and we felt sluggish. Blue Beat passed us like we were standing still and Nona was able to make Kauri point without tacking!. We had to tack and in doing so appeared to dislodge whatever we were taking for a ride. We managed to ride over the top of Nona and set after Blue beat. We had chewed into his lead but the come back was not enough. Third place after handicap. On the podium. Thanks to JK for doing the start. Blue Beat - Single Handed Single handed was get all two boats out though Its hard work when you dont have crew ( who get the drinks , water of course) Trev and I had a race and lots of fun Weldone trev Blue Beat - Double Handed Two hand blue beat had the tightly Tim on board We had a slow start but made up water with the spinnaker, once we got it up We checked steve's boat out as we went past the rig is in fine tune. Great finish we where first over the line and the handy capper MADE us loose by ten seconds! Cheers for a great day |
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