8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With the winter chills virtually gone Sunday mornings are starting to warm up but it cant be said the water temperature is following , its that first dipping of the toes when launching the safety boats which definitely wakes us up in the morning . The weather was nearly perfect with winds from the N/W at around 4 knots so we set a nice reach across the front of the club so that everyone could enjoy their sail . Alex had his first solo sail and with a bit of help from Charlie really started to sail solo well so much so that we have suggested that he move up to 10.30 class , Athenia with Josh as crew had another go at steering but the old attention span was a bit short resulting it a lot of course adjustment commands from Casey including the odd duct command . When Josh finally had a chance to steer the boat definitely had much straighter lines . It was great seeing everyone really giving it a go and even better watching everyone pitch in to pack up at the end .
10.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With the wind filling in still from the N/W to around 4/7 knots it was perfect for this group to not only practice gybes but also Ollie,s favourite course yes triangles . In the briefing we discsussed what turns we would be making as in gybes , tacks and bearaways or hardening up . It took a lit bit of coaxing and a realisation that the triangle was reversed before everyone realised that their was no bearaway but a harden up instead . It took a while for Mason and Tain to come to grips with especially the harden up mark but with a bit of heavy coaching they both managed to make it back to the top mark . Ollie who doesnt like triangles ? and gybing sailed the course with ease even without gloves at first and Addy just nailed it as did Teegan . Charlie and I realised after following Tain for a while that we need to do some on land tack and gybe training because his feet position is all wrong so hopefully we will get the time next Sunday. Andrew sailed with Ben for the first time in his laser as Ben is thinking of giving lasers a go , might be easier one up Ben as dad looked to be taking up to much room in the tacks !
1.30 pm Open Racing ;
OK mother nature got me again as I thought the wind would drop off so I only set a course in our channel with just a couple of windward leeward legs and triangles . So you guessed it the wind stayed in at around 6/9 Knots from the N/N/E and with the start line down near runners and not as much tide es expected everyone zipped around the course in roughly 40 minutes with Tom first over the line . As everyone still looked fresh we asked if they would all like to go around again and it was a resounding yes so we set a slightly shorter course and had race two . Addy and Teegan also did part of the first course and they both went well with them both getting over the line behind the main fleet and with a decent breeze helping them along the just worked their way to the top mark and then back to the finish , Teegan did a bit more with her dad following in his boat but Addy tied up to the start boat as she was also the race scribe for the day . It is rumoured that we might even be able to put the recall flags back in the bag as lately everyone has behaved themselves but then again maybe we should just keep them handy !
Upcoming ;
Bunnings fundraising barbeque : volunteers will be needed for this important event and as soon as we have a date we will let everyone know hopefully around september .
Pan Pacific Masters Games ; We are starting to recieve entries and also an increase in entry enquiries so its looking good for a great 10 days of sailing in November
School Holiday Sailing Camps ( September ) ; Two sets of dates have been set aside for this holiday event so chek the home page for details
CU on the water
John Murphy