8.30 am Sunday Juniors :
Well with a slight nip in the air early but blue skies and light winds on the water it looked just perfect for this session and with a dozen budding sailors signing on and heading outside to start rigging their boats it was looking good for a great morning of sailing . OK you guessed it mother nature decided to turn the winds down low ok really low and with an incoming tide yes the bridge did come into play with nearly everyone drifting under the bridge at some stage but with Charlie in one boat and me in the other whenever anyone looked like going under the bridge we either towed or pushed them back out to the sailing area . With the really light conditions ( 1knot s/e ) Itold everyone who sailed solo to sit on the boom side and in that way the light breeze didnt need to hold the boom so that they could catch the wind and hopefully sail and I dont know what happened but at least half the fleet listened and after a couple of innitial laps Jade was the first to really get going followed by Aithan . Slowly everyone got the idea and we soon had less towing and pushing and more light weather sailing well I say light but really the wind was virtually still but they all managed a great effort at both tacking and gybing around the course . It was great to see a couple more young sailors asking for a go on their own and being such light windss it was a perfect day for mistakes that didnt result in capsize . Oh yes quite a few did capsize in the end yep we agree they are crazy!
10.30 am Sunday Training :
By the time everyone got rigged and we sat down for a briefing we actually had a light but consistant breeze ( s/e ) so at least it wasnt going to be as tough as the early session . We sent Jade of with Charlie to work on her upwind sailing as we had seen in the previous couple of weeks that she was struggling but with Charlie following her around the course which of course included an upwind she looked to be improving as the session went on . Addy was just off in the bic so we enchouraged the other Bic sailors to try and follow and watch how she worked upwind which over a few laps slowly worked and even though they couldnt point as high they at least did a reasonable job of the course . We had another new sailor in Jack who although he never says much at 8.30 class definitely looked excited about stepping into a Bic for the first time and after a few early hickups ( channel Markers ) he was soon sailing around the course . Abbey Eddy and Jackson in the lasers all did well mainly on the upwind but the top mark bearaways were a bit slow yep you guessed it they were all letting the sail out to slow resulting in their boats running wide around the top mark and then not letting their sails out enough on the downwind but a constant barrage of let the sail out from the safety boat slowly worked I thought !
1.30 pm Youth Racing:
With the adults off and away with Glen and Charlie in charge , we sat down for a briefing for the Youth race as it was going to be a serious upwind downwind course in around 4/6 knot winds so I thought I should target the action needed for a successful upwind and also downwind focusing on speed . Unlike previous weeks nearly everyone was at the start line on time well except for Jackson who started outside the line and had to come back and start inside the start area . Addy in the Bic just nailed the upwinds with good speed great hiking out and smooth bearaways . Abby and Eddy had a close race for about half the course then Abby started to pull away and Jackson with a good burst of upwind speed overtook Eddy who was just over pointing consequently slowing her boat . Jackson then caught Abby but after a bit of a tussle between then Abby again pulled away with both good upwind and downwind speed . In amongst the battle between the lasers Addy ( Open Bic ) just kept powering along with no mistakes and no capsizes which is looking good for the Mid Winter Cup in a couple of weeks .
1.30 pm Open Race :
After a good start and yes you are right no recalls which Iam now totally convinced they only do when Iam the starter just to make me work harder everyone headed of to A mark down at Runners in around 5/6 knots breeze.
In the Lasers Greg and Peter kept each other honest for at least half the race but with Greg in his first race in his brand new boat he slowly edged ahead which Iam sure brought a big smile to his face bring his new boat home first followed by Peter Murry Kate and Casey with Roger a DNF . Yep Casey was last and when asked what happened apparently sailing a radial is a bit different than a 4.7 so guess what her coach is now going to get her to start practicing in well that is after both Midwinter Cup and Youth week at RQ . Charlie and I kept in radio contact as we were both concerned about the wind dropping but both race groups wer lucky that the wind stayed around the 6 knots for both races . So where was Tom well he is off on a two month Bike ride around australia so have a great ride Tom and see you when you get back .
CU on the water
John Murphy