Hi Everyone , Well its been a long road but the storage extension to the club is definitely getting closer with council fully supporting the upgrade and all documents signed its now time for our builder to sort out dates for the project to begin and fingers crossed it will be before Xmas and if so we will be able to enjoy the extra area just in time for both our Try Sailing Day and our Club Xmas Party . We have to especially thank our local councillor Cameron Caldwell who,s support of the club has never wavered and each time we have gone to him for advice or support he has always done his best to help us out so a big thank you to Cameron.
8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
It was looking a bit iffy for the day with a forecast of 25/30 knots but earlier on in the morning things were looking good with the wind speeds hovering around 8/10 knots at the Seaway . I had a few early enquiries but the weather seemed to be holding on so I decided that Juniors would be on , things were looking good early and as everyone arrived the conditions only came up to around 10/12 knots so after a short briefing we took the boats to the beach and made ready to launch . Charlie and Abby set a reaching course in the S/E winds and we soon had as usual Cooper and Dan ready to go and you guessed it the moment they left it went from 10/12 to 20 plus knots and the boys only made it about 50 metre,s from shore and a big bullet caused them to nose dive so I turned around towards everyone else and just said know and we just put the boats back on the grass and packed up . Cooper and co had a struggle getting the boat up in the conditions but with a bit of help from the safety boat they soon had it up and back to shore with both boys looking decidely wet . We decided then to offer everyone and sail on the laser and both Charlie and Casey ( day off work ) took turns in taking everyone out and yes even the old laser was humming .
10.30 Youth Training :
With conditions worsening most of the group decided not to sail but we knew that for one Abby would go out as she had to try the new boat ( hull number 210 ) We did warn her it would be a wild ride as these newer boats are very quick especially compared to her old boat but she was determined so off she went and she soon found out that it was true with the boat soon humming on the reach but ultimately she blundered and went for a swim ! at least the new boat is easier to get up.
Ross and Jade also went out and as Jade said to her dad its only 20 knots dad so Iam going and yes she had an early capsize but then was just flying while Ross with the ever overuse of the main sheet had a few swims well at least until he put Emmerson on board for ballast which really worked resulting in a lot of yahooing on the broad reaches and yes he did use the 4.7 and not the radial which was a very smart move . They were back in by 11.45 apparently because the safety crew who were wet were just too cold and pulled the pin . These youth sailors totally impress me as this isnt the fir4st time they have ventured out in 20 plus and actually enjoyed the rush so well done everyone !
1.30 pm Open Race;
With Cconditions getting even windier most of the silors pulled the pin but the die hards in Greg Tom Ben and Nic were still keen to give the conditions a go and seeing that it wasnt a championship race we decided to set a start down at the canal and a rounding mark at the x ( which is illegal ) at crab and a shallow wing mark and have a series of 1 lap races . Conditions were around 25plus knots with some nasty gusts so it was going to be a real test even the starts were tight with the odd yell of starboard . Tom just relished in the conditions and was never headed while Ben nad Greg fought over second and third while nic who is non turbo brought up the rear but not by much . The down winds were awesome with some great speed but the best was Greg and Ben in the last race fighting over second and coming right at the finish boat and you guessed it they both picked up a bullet about 5 boat lengths out so yes they were just holding control so much that we on the finish boat started moving over to the starboard side as we thought they would capsize over the top of us but no they cruised past with big grinns on their faces not sure if the grins were because they had a great finish or that they actually made it ?
29th of November is our annual last race marathon so everyone should wipe the dust off and join in to celebrate what has been a very interesting racing year!
CU on the water
J Murphy
RSS Feed
