The Algal Bloom Leighton offshore race
Back in the mid 2000's the amount of water coming down the Swan was minimal ( still is ) and there was a huge problem with algal blooms in the upper parts of the river. As you may guess, it started to make its way down river, the issues are complex and the best description of the effect can be seen at this website . http://www.wa.canoe.org.au/?Page=7808
To the crunch... the river has been closed on a number of occasions due to the effects of the algal bloom and in desperation in 2000 , a number of the river clubs went down the river , under the bridges and out to Leighton beach and started to race out there. The Algal Bloom cup was struck and has been raced for ever since.
My apologies for the lateness of the up load..... Olive picking season is on and I now have a barrel of kalamata olives soaking in water .
Bernie Kaaks was right...... the easterly stopped in all day and the Algal Bloom was sailed on flat water close to Leighton Beach on the day. A good number of boats representing SoPYC, RPYC and RFBYC made their way down river for the event and some unexpected additions added to the final numbers of the fleet.
The start was uneventful except for the late arrival of a contender in Fleet one, something had happened on his mast and he was busy repairing it as he sailed up to the line. Hope it wasn't too expensive Chris. The course was a triangle-sausage - triangle that most of us are familar with and left enough room for the breeze at the top rounding to be a little troublesome for those who chose to fly a shy kite. Great photo's though. Enjoy the images
To the crunch... the river has been closed on a number of occasions due to the effects of the algal bloom and in desperation in 2000 , a number of the river clubs went down the river , under the bridges and out to Leighton beach and started to race out there. The Algal Bloom cup was struck and has been raced for ever since.
My apologies for the lateness of the up load..... Olive picking season is on and I now have a barrel of kalamata olives soaking in water .
Bernie Kaaks was right...... the easterly stopped in all day and the Algal Bloom was sailed on flat water close to Leighton Beach on the day. A good number of boats representing SoPYC, RPYC and RFBYC made their way down river for the event and some unexpected additions added to the final numbers of the fleet.
The start was uneventful except for the late arrival of a contender in Fleet one, something had happened on his mast and he was busy repairing it as he sailed up to the line. Hope it wasn't too expensive Chris. The course was a triangle-sausage - triangle that most of us are familar with and left enough room for the breeze at the top rounding to be a little troublesome for those who chose to fly a shy kite. Great photo's though. Enjoy the images