Hi Everyone , I thought summer was fast approaching with the temperatures slowly on the rise but this week Monday and Tuesday was feeling like July again with all the junior sailors at this weeks camp wearing wetsuits including the Instructors . It was so cold that I went back to wearing my winter offshore sailing jacket although it didn't stop both the juniors and the instructors jumping in the water and sailing with our new young sailors . Just to clarify the jumping in the water statement Eddie , Addy , Brendan and Declan jumped in the water not Charlie and me although we did get wet anyway as the conditions deteriorated by each afternoon with high winds and very choppy water .
8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With the sun shining and perfect conditions for our beginner fleet consisting of 12 budding sailors including a few newbies the boats were quickly rigged and everyone moved into the class area for the pre sail briefing . I was impressed by all our previous weeks sailors and their being able to point out the wind direction and where the no sail zone is . The conditions were excellent with a wind of around 3/5 knots which was definitely a lot slower than last week where everyone had both towing and capsize practice where this week it was all about trimming the sail to get the best results Daniel and his crew were just cruising in the taz and Ciarna and Zoe showed good skill with both of them having a go at steering around the course with some very good tacks and sail trimming to catch the best amount of wind . There was a bit of towing as well as the outgoing tide increased and everyone started drifting south but then the wind picked up and everyone sailed back up to the capsize area and yes you guessed it they all started capsizing which rounded out a great morning session .
10.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With this class rebuilding again as others move on to racing it is attracting a very keen group of level three sailors who are up for the challenge of this new learning curve in their sailing experience . Guys like Tain and Tom who only recently moved up plus Alex absolutely enjoyed the conditions with the winds at a consistent 4/6 knots meaning they could hike out more and gain more speed through the tacks . The wind speed did improve as well during the session making it important for everyone to hike out and keep the boat level right Eddie ? which gave everyone more speed resulting in better tacks and gybes . There was the odd mainsheet tangle and letting go of rudders resulting in the odd coming together but overall I think everyone was pretty happy with their efforts on the day .
1.30 pm Open Racing;
With what was looking like one of our bigger fleets ( 18 boats ) for Sunday racing and winds basically easterly it was a perfect day to run both channels starting down at runners and firstly doing a couple of laps of the soverign channel then rounding the day out with two laps of our channel finishing at the club . Everyone was keen to get going and with the OK dinghy sailed by Michael sitting right on the start line with less than thirty to go definitely made for a good start well except for Steve who got pushed out and had to come back and start again . With the ok slowly pulling away the race between the radials became a bit of an epic struggle with everyone seeming to have a go at leading the bunch . Everyone was giving their all with some really good speed shown but the battle allowed Michael to jump away in the lead and even though Ben (radial), Matt ( full rig ) and Casey and Michelle ( radial) tried to bridge the gap Michael sailed over the finish line with room to spare followed by Ben, Matt, Casey and Michelle . Everyone actually sailed well with even our relatively new sailors like Lance showing a big improvement well maybe stop letting go of the steering in the gybes right Lance !
Bunnings Fundraiser ;
I would just like to thank everyone who donated their time last saturday with our fundraiser and even though the overall customer numbers were down not only with us but Bunnings also on the day we still managed toraise money for more safety equipment for the club . A special thanks to Charlie B who went the whole day with me starting at 6.30 am and finishing at 5.00 pm truly a big day !
Pan Pacific Master Games only 5 weeks away and yes we would love some volunteers especially during the week so let us know if you are available . Click here for event details.
CU on the water
John Murphy
8.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With the sun shining and perfect conditions for our beginner fleet consisting of 12 budding sailors including a few newbies the boats were quickly rigged and everyone moved into the class area for the pre sail briefing . I was impressed by all our previous weeks sailors and their being able to point out the wind direction and where the no sail zone is . The conditions were excellent with a wind of around 3/5 knots which was definitely a lot slower than last week where everyone had both towing and capsize practice where this week it was all about trimming the sail to get the best results Daniel and his crew were just cruising in the taz and Ciarna and Zoe showed good skill with both of them having a go at steering around the course with some very good tacks and sail trimming to catch the best amount of wind . There was a bit of towing as well as the outgoing tide increased and everyone started drifting south but then the wind picked up and everyone sailed back up to the capsize area and yes you guessed it they all started capsizing which rounded out a great morning session .
10.30 am Sunday Juniors ;
With this class rebuilding again as others move on to racing it is attracting a very keen group of level three sailors who are up for the challenge of this new learning curve in their sailing experience . Guys like Tain and Tom who only recently moved up plus Alex absolutely enjoyed the conditions with the winds at a consistent 4/6 knots meaning they could hike out more and gain more speed through the tacks . The wind speed did improve as well during the session making it important for everyone to hike out and keep the boat level right Eddie ? which gave everyone more speed resulting in better tacks and gybes . There was the odd mainsheet tangle and letting go of rudders resulting in the odd coming together but overall I think everyone was pretty happy with their efforts on the day .
1.30 pm Open Racing;
With what was looking like one of our bigger fleets ( 18 boats ) for Sunday racing and winds basically easterly it was a perfect day to run both channels starting down at runners and firstly doing a couple of laps of the soverign channel then rounding the day out with two laps of our channel finishing at the club . Everyone was keen to get going and with the OK dinghy sailed by Michael sitting right on the start line with less than thirty to go definitely made for a good start well except for Steve who got pushed out and had to come back and start again . With the ok slowly pulling away the race between the radials became a bit of an epic struggle with everyone seeming to have a go at leading the bunch . Everyone was giving their all with some really good speed shown but the battle allowed Michael to jump away in the lead and even though Ben (radial), Matt ( full rig ) and Casey and Michelle ( radial) tried to bridge the gap Michael sailed over the finish line with room to spare followed by Ben, Matt, Casey and Michelle . Everyone actually sailed well with even our relatively new sailors like Lance showing a big improvement well maybe stop letting go of the steering in the gybes right Lance !
Bunnings Fundraiser ;
I would just like to thank everyone who donated their time last saturday with our fundraiser and even though the overall customer numbers were down not only with us but Bunnings also on the day we still managed toraise money for more safety equipment for the club . A special thanks to Charlie B who went the whole day with me starting at 6.30 am and finishing at 5.00 pm truly a big day !
Pan Pacific Master Games only 5 weeks away and yes we would love some volunteers especially during the week so let us know if you are available . Click here for event details.
CU on the water
John Murphy
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