Hi everyone , After a dry spell the rain has returned coming up from down south pushed along by strong winds to absolutely deluge the coast overnight , the good part is that it fills the dams and water tanks the bad part for me is I hadn't mowed the lawn so now it will go wild !
8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
After Saturday mornings single digit start to the day Sunday actually started quite mild I didnt even need track pants . The day dawned with blue skies and light winds and with conditions like that it was going to be perfect for Juniors . We had a solid group of 10 budding sailors in the group including a couple of newbies and after a short briefing we lined up everyone on the beach and prepared to send them off so you know what happened yes the wind dropped out so everyone struggled around the course that was until the southerly showed up which caught everyone out sending a few boats under the bridge with flapping sails ? I haven't towed boats back for a while so I was kept busy especially after Charlie jumped on the Taz replacing Dean who was having trouble with the jib and tacking . Lucas and Tain had to get a tow as well but that was from Kelsie crashing into them then she ended up under there as well and her and Blake drifted all the way to the pool before I got them and dragged them back to the club side . I should mention that the wind speed was 6/7 knots from the south so it wasn't really a drama . Generally everyone sailed well even Kelsie despite her under bridge excursions and Simca who just cruised around with Taylor , all in all a great session.
10.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With Addy , Eddy and Aidan out of action sick and Kaleb away we only had Ollie and Teegan for this session and I offered them a combination of theory and then on water practice . It was decided to discuss gybing techniques and tactics with even a couple of senior sailors listening in . What did we discuss ? well mainly gybing procedures relative to both an upwind mark rounding and then a reach rounding but mainly it was about commitment to the manouvre from the start . Finally we hit the water with Ollie going out first in his Bic in around 8 knots of southerly . The deal was that he had to do 12 gybes before he could come in even when he capsized at number 8 he went back out and completed the task well actually he did 15 gybes luckily I was counting. We then sent Teegan out in her opti yes opti as she is a new junior sailor at the club and I soon found that more than work on her gybes we worked on telltales as she wasnt really sure how they worked resulting in her gaining better boat speed which improved her tacks and gybes with more flow in the boat .
1.30 pm Open Racing;
With nine boats rigging and a forecast for even stronger winds I set a start just short of the canal and set two buoys down south creating atriangle course which included a couple of windward leewards and triangles . The start was as usual hectic and as predicted Ben broke first well actually Tom broke first confusing the 1minute signal for the start and setting off in clear air only to have to cvome back and start just behind the fleet . Casey had one of her best starts ever being right up with Greg and Peter and would you believe Tom after starting last was third to the top mark . Charlie had a blinder of a start as well but faded towards the end when the radial became just to much hard work . Michelle and Ben had a good race as well with Michelle really getting back into sailing after a long break and Ben looks smoother every week . By the final lap Peter was out in front and seemed unbeatable but as I said to Pat my crew, Greg who was coming second never gives up and true to his style he managed to comee from behind and with a final helling hand gust from mother nature beat Peter over the line by less than a meter and yes that did make him smile . The best determined effort for the day went to Torin because despite I believe 9 capsizes he still managed to finish the race so well done Torin
Upcoming;
30th June John Murphy Invitational Mid Winter Cup ( should be a great weekend !
CU on the water
John Murphy
8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
After Saturday mornings single digit start to the day Sunday actually started quite mild I didnt even need track pants . The day dawned with blue skies and light winds and with conditions like that it was going to be perfect for Juniors . We had a solid group of 10 budding sailors in the group including a couple of newbies and after a short briefing we lined up everyone on the beach and prepared to send them off so you know what happened yes the wind dropped out so everyone struggled around the course that was until the southerly showed up which caught everyone out sending a few boats under the bridge with flapping sails ? I haven't towed boats back for a while so I was kept busy especially after Charlie jumped on the Taz replacing Dean who was having trouble with the jib and tacking . Lucas and Tain had to get a tow as well but that was from Kelsie crashing into them then she ended up under there as well and her and Blake drifted all the way to the pool before I got them and dragged them back to the club side . I should mention that the wind speed was 6/7 knots from the south so it wasn't really a drama . Generally everyone sailed well even Kelsie despite her under bridge excursions and Simca who just cruised around with Taylor , all in all a great session.
10.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With Addy , Eddy and Aidan out of action sick and Kaleb away we only had Ollie and Teegan for this session and I offered them a combination of theory and then on water practice . It was decided to discuss gybing techniques and tactics with even a couple of senior sailors listening in . What did we discuss ? well mainly gybing procedures relative to both an upwind mark rounding and then a reach rounding but mainly it was about commitment to the manouvre from the start . Finally we hit the water with Ollie going out first in his Bic in around 8 knots of southerly . The deal was that he had to do 12 gybes before he could come in even when he capsized at number 8 he went back out and completed the task well actually he did 15 gybes luckily I was counting. We then sent Teegan out in her opti yes opti as she is a new junior sailor at the club and I soon found that more than work on her gybes we worked on telltales as she wasnt really sure how they worked resulting in her gaining better boat speed which improved her tacks and gybes with more flow in the boat .
1.30 pm Open Racing;
With nine boats rigging and a forecast for even stronger winds I set a start just short of the canal and set two buoys down south creating atriangle course which included a couple of windward leewards and triangles . The start was as usual hectic and as predicted Ben broke first well actually Tom broke first confusing the 1minute signal for the start and setting off in clear air only to have to cvome back and start just behind the fleet . Casey had one of her best starts ever being right up with Greg and Peter and would you believe Tom after starting last was third to the top mark . Charlie had a blinder of a start as well but faded towards the end when the radial became just to much hard work . Michelle and Ben had a good race as well with Michelle really getting back into sailing after a long break and Ben looks smoother every week . By the final lap Peter was out in front and seemed unbeatable but as I said to Pat my crew, Greg who was coming second never gives up and true to his style he managed to comee from behind and with a final helling hand gust from mother nature beat Peter over the line by less than a meter and yes that did make him smile . The best determined effort for the day went to Torin because despite I believe 9 capsizes he still managed to finish the race so well done Torin
Upcoming;
30th June John Murphy Invitational Mid Winter Cup ( should be a great weekend !
CU on the water
John Murphy
RSS Feed
