The fourth of the Solo Series the 24th of August 2014
Starting with a glorious day and little or no wind, it was with great pleasure that the breeze punched in on the time clock around 11.30 and allowed RO Les to get the am session over and done by 12.30.
The boats streamed out onto the water for the afternoon session in a building nor-wester which never got above 14 knots but sat comfortably between 8 and 12 knots moving 10 degrees to either side as the mood took the wind god.
It was the first sign that the winter thaw was on as the Flying 15's streamed back onto the water with a lot of un registered boats coming out to play - Jodie and Shero, the Jerwoods, and the fearsome combo of Adele and Deano out on el Toro to warm up the day. As the start team commented, "where have they all come from ????? Most of them haven't registered". Greg Howell was seen on the water with Sharpey and they swapped spots on the boat to try and improve their sailing, but as Alan commented "doesn't really work" as they were questioned as to why and what brought the change about. The 125's were a colourful lot and their drive at the line was great in the action that occurred. Sometimes there were problems with the definition of port and starboard, but I'm sure that will be sorted out by their experienced coaches. The 420's are missing the "heavies" and Jayden Dalton is starting to make his presence felt with another good day on the water racking up four firsts on the day.
The Flying Doctor aka Richard Leslie and his fullrig " The Best Medicine" was in fine form racking up 3 firsts and a second with Colin Dibb not far behind him. In the laser radial fleets, the Japanese visitors came up from FSC and Ken Fujimoto took out the day. The enfants terrible of the laser radial fleet were in full flight and all four were up to their usual tricks; standing up on the start line to see what was coming up the river, jiving around behind the start boat and generally having fun. The 4.7's had Caelin Winchcombe and Zac Littlewood neck to neck over the day, with Zac adding to the overall lead he already has. The Opti's managed to get 21 boats out onto the water, however the attrition rate was a little high as the day wore on. There was a small problem in the habit of the Opti fleets to flock around their coaches after each race and mess up the flow of boats that were still racing.
The Moths came out in force with perfect conditions for them and a fleet of seven rocketed around the track. Welcome by the way to Kirsten Norris who recently bought a Moth and was foiling occasionally around the course, suffering from every new foilers malady ...how do you stay up on these things? Looking at their scores over the day, it appears that they may not have been telling sailing admin of the changes in their craft as I noticed that Max who was certainly on the water today, did not sail.. A new boat Max???
And finally the Pelicans, much beloved of the sailing fleet, in that most us of trained in something similar. (Mirrors and Sabots for me). Six on the start line and getting better all the time as they managed to get away and sailed forward (most of the time). Best boat on the day was Up the Creek, crewed by Elly Creek and Maddison Thomas.
A fine job done by the start team over the day and my thanks to RO Les Swinton for the ride on the start boat on the day. Thanks also to SoPYC for the day on the water.
Enjoy the images
The boats streamed out onto the water for the afternoon session in a building nor-wester which never got above 14 knots but sat comfortably between 8 and 12 knots moving 10 degrees to either side as the mood took the wind god.
It was the first sign that the winter thaw was on as the Flying 15's streamed back onto the water with a lot of un registered boats coming out to play - Jodie and Shero, the Jerwoods, and the fearsome combo of Adele and Deano out on el Toro to warm up the day. As the start team commented, "where have they all come from ????? Most of them haven't registered". Greg Howell was seen on the water with Sharpey and they swapped spots on the boat to try and improve their sailing, but as Alan commented "doesn't really work" as they were questioned as to why and what brought the change about. The 125's were a colourful lot and their drive at the line was great in the action that occurred. Sometimes there were problems with the definition of port and starboard, but I'm sure that will be sorted out by their experienced coaches. The 420's are missing the "heavies" and Jayden Dalton is starting to make his presence felt with another good day on the water racking up four firsts on the day.
The Flying Doctor aka Richard Leslie and his fullrig " The Best Medicine" was in fine form racking up 3 firsts and a second with Colin Dibb not far behind him. In the laser radial fleets, the Japanese visitors came up from FSC and Ken Fujimoto took out the day. The enfants terrible of the laser radial fleet were in full flight and all four were up to their usual tricks; standing up on the start line to see what was coming up the river, jiving around behind the start boat and generally having fun. The 4.7's had Caelin Winchcombe and Zac Littlewood neck to neck over the day, with Zac adding to the overall lead he already has. The Opti's managed to get 21 boats out onto the water, however the attrition rate was a little high as the day wore on. There was a small problem in the habit of the Opti fleets to flock around their coaches after each race and mess up the flow of boats that were still racing.
The Moths came out in force with perfect conditions for them and a fleet of seven rocketed around the track. Welcome by the way to Kirsten Norris who recently bought a Moth and was foiling occasionally around the course, suffering from every new foilers malady ...how do you stay up on these things? Looking at their scores over the day, it appears that they may not have been telling sailing admin of the changes in their craft as I noticed that Max who was certainly on the water today, did not sail.. A new boat Max???
And finally the Pelicans, much beloved of the sailing fleet, in that most us of trained in something similar. (Mirrors and Sabots for me). Six on the start line and getting better all the time as they managed to get away and sailed forward (most of the time). Best boat on the day was Up the Creek, crewed by Elly Creek and Maddison Thomas.
A fine job done by the start team over the day and my thanks to RO Les Swinton for the ride on the start boat on the day. Thanks also to SoPYC for the day on the water.
Enjoy the images