Safety , I would like to remind everyone about the dangers related to our boat ramp regarding Barnacle and Oystrer Cuts in that area even though it is cleaned regularly it doesnt stop the build up and as was found last sunday they will cut through thin booties quite easily so best to keep clear where possible
8.30 am Sunday Juniors :
With mother nature promising to throw some strong winds at us as the day progressed and with our normal big crew of Juniors turning up to sail we soon had 9 boats ready and on the beach so it was off to briefing with a special emphasis on safety . Charlie and Adam set up a reaching course to suit the s/s/e winds which started out around 4/7 knots with the odd small bullet but very gentle . As usual Brendan and I had beach duty which meant standing in the water teaching . The winds soon picked up to around 6/9 knots and everyone was starting to develop more speed but the slightest mistake brought on capsize with even the odd chock top . Everyone were handling these stronger conditions well although it was cold in the wind but I then noticed dark clouds building in the south and heading our way bringing increased wind speeds which were soon above our safe operating speed for juniors so with still about 10 minutes to go we decided for safety to bring everyone back to shore and a shower .
10.30 am Training :
Originally this session was going to be cancelled as the storm had hit the Juniors earlier but we decided to rig anyway and then we went and had a chat mainly about the conditions and how we could sail them . My thoughts were they wouldnt want to go but I was wrong they all wanted to get out there so with a bit of trepidation from the safety boat crew and me we sent them off but conditions soon worsened so I called them all back in for another talk thinking they would all pull the pin but you guessed it they all said lets go back out as they were having fun!!! I can honestly say it blew me away as we are talking ages from 7 to 12 sailing in 20 knots plus so rather than say any more I though I would just list these legends names :
Sailing Legends
Jade
Ross
Emerson
Jack wildest capsize of the day
Dean
Madison
Truly awesome work everyone
1.30 pm Open Racing:
Well as you can guess the conditions were getting a bit wild out there by the time racing came around with gusts on the water of 25 knots and half metre waves so Charlie and I decided on a triangle in our channel with A set down near runners but just a bit shorter than normal . Mat found the sandbank prior to the start which was a sign of capsizes to come and Ben found that just a simple rigging mistake ( outhaul ) can certainly bugger up your day after looking very competitive early so it was left up to Greg Peter and Tom to race on and yes they all had a swim with Gregs being the worst going over twice , he said he lost control in a 30 plus gust and she just rounded up been there and done that myself ! Tom and Peter fought it out with some incredible speed from both boats and yes I forgot the camera ! Tom finally got in front and came home first with Peter and Greg who was actually making ground after his early capsize . There was talk of a second race but by the look on everyones faces I think they were quite happy to come in ! never seen Tom puffing so hard as he came over the line .
CU on the water
J Murphy