We have also been looking at some repairs to our caged area in conjunction with GCCC and we have been advised that the upgrade plans have been approved so fingers crossed that we will soon have our upgrades in place .
8.30 am Sunday Juniors;
As everyone knows the morning started with some pretty ordinary weather conditions predicted and it was surely looking that way by 7.30 am so as a safety precaution I posted that all juniors would be two up sailing due to the conditions . It seems we have a big group of very keen junior sailors as despite the already windy conditions we still had a large group of sailors signing on and rigging boats . With the winds up around 8/14 knots we decided on just a reaching course tacking toward the bridge and yes there were a few capsizes with I think the first boat in was Willow and Emma but they soon had their boat back up and off they went again . Tristan and his crew had a few issues early mainly not enough weight but after a break on shore they were again back out there giving it a go , Cooper and his crew had a great sail and from memory I dont think they had any capsizes all I remember was some very smooth tacks so well done boys . I have to mention two young sailors who were just so funny and that was Madison and her brother Timothy who was very nervous in the windy conditions which soon turned into a bit of screaming as his sister built up speed on the reaches and when timothy reacted she just smiled and smiled typical sister mine would have done the same but he did survive and probably talked about it for the rest of the day!
10.30 am Training ;
With the predicted increase in wind speeds not eventuating this group set their boats up for wind conditions around 10/14 knots n/e which is well within their range of skills so Charlie and I decided on triangles but before we went out we had a briefing about upwind sailing with firstly downhaul and outhaul settings but most importantly mainsheet block to block upwind sailing . To achieve better upwind we explained that the mainsheet blocks should be no more than 100 mil apart on the upwind and that it was very important to take the lifts when available . Madison opted for a tera because of the windy conditions and despite struggling at times in the gusts and her light weight she managed to sail well . Emmerson struck rudder trouble so had to pull out early while Ross just as usual gave it his all but did struggle with taking lifts resulting in a few swims and a small rigging failure with the main sheet unravelling and the tiller coming out of the box? Cgarlie wanted to show Abby how to go upwind and gybe the boat so he swapped places and we followed him for a couple of laps so she could see how its done , so how did it go well no sooner was she back on board her boat speed just increased and she was absolutely smoking on the reaches and broadreaches . Not sure who had the most fun Abby or Charlie.
1.30 pm Open Racing;
With the conditions staying around 10/14 knots and it being a non championship race we only had a small group so we decided to head out into the main channel to do some windward leeward short races and yes including downwind gybes which ultimately caused a few problems with Peter wrapping his mainsheet around the boom and Nick snapping his gooseneck in race three .We had atemporary PRO as well who I must say needs some work on his communication skills as he had us totally confused as to where he wanted the start line but we put it where he said which we new would cause complaints from other sailors which it did so we moved it to a proper upwind start but again true to form as PRO he said thats where he wanted it anyway and that it was our fault as we didnt go to his briefing ( by the way there wasnt a briefing ? ) so who was the in charge yes you guessed it Greg !!! The upwinds were tough with the current absolutely roaring out so they were sailing right over the sand bars where Ben forced Greg to run aground and hit a mark and we couldnt get the smile off his face even Greg was laughing as he went over the line . Race four conditions really changed with the winds increasing to a gusty 20 knots making the upwind really tough but the downwind gybes were fantastic well except for Bens last gybe wich you guessed it put him in the drink all in all a good sail.
CU on the water
J Murphy