We are still working on an extension to our caged area with councils help also a more permanent solution to our pontoon and the excessive sand buildup . We have even increased security by adding another camera to the northern carpark thanks to our caretaker Geoff and one of our long time supporters Jeff who paid for the camera and installed it . Today and tomorrow is our last camp for the holidays and the weather is looking perfect , numbers are small but we will still have fun
8.30 am Sunday Juniors :
With blue skies and mild conditions it was looking good for the early class and true to form being school holidays numbers were small but as I said to the kids it was a perfect day for us to teach they a lot more about sailing .
Declan took Milan out who has been away overseas on holidays and after a few laps of the reaching course he convinced her to steer and yes there were a few hickups at first but Dec soon had her cruising around the course . Our other two sailors in Ben and Archie who both can steer but have trouble with tacking mistaking a gybe for a tack so a lot of capsizing so we followed them around in the safety boat and worked on tacking and facing the front . Ok there was the odd hickup but all in all both Archie and Ben did really well with smiles all around back at the beach.
10.30 am Training :
With a few people turning up late we were a bit late hitting the water especially with the huntsman swimming around the boats that andrew had brought from home under his laser cover . Convincing everyone to just jump on their boat and go was a challenge as it seemed that standing there watching the spider come towards you a screaming was apparently more effective? Anyway once we had everyone on the water with a set upwind downwind course in around 4/6 knots the challenge then began which was to work on upwind , Addy with here recent competition experience soon mastered the course but everyone else took a bit of coaching to come to grips with the conditions . We did have to move the inner buoy as the tide went out and people were running aground trying to round the mark Alex and Zac struggled but throughout the session slowly improved especially on the upwind as did Nixon and Edwina . Eddy I noticed during the session was looking at here sail more and more so I think fore the last half we just left her alone . Our fastest sailor on the day was Addy so just think how much faster and smoother she could have been with a bit of roll tacking and gybing right addy?
1.30 pm open racing :
With the winds really swinging North we set a course straight up the main channel so a nice upwind then a run accross then back down to the start finish buoy so yes triangles and windward leewards . . The start was a bit hectic but Tom had it nailed by hanging just behind the line while everyone else hung back so as the flag dropped he was off and you guessed it he was never headed . Chris in the MG was soon up there with him but a sloppy gybe saw him loose his place but it was a dry capsize . Charlie with my full rig on was settled in third throuhgout the race but he did let Greg get past eventually . Roger was up there early also but had an incident and lost places then it was Casey who slowly came through the fleet but as the race went on her fitness and superior boat speed helped her move up to the front of the pack . The best effort came from both Matt and Stuart especially from our novice racer Stuart who has only just started racing and he managed to complete the course behind everyone with no capsizes and much improved upwinds so good effort Stuart .
UPCOMING:
THE CLUB IS CLOSED FOR THE LONG WEEKEND BUT MEMBERS WHO STORE THEIR BOATS CAN GAIN ACCESS BY CALLING THE CLUB
CU on the water
J Murphy