A cool and overcast day with a moderate southerly greeted our large cat fleet. The rigging area looked a little bare compared to the usual turnout; only 2 large and 2 small cats were there with Kurt and Hugh  on rescue duty. I know Les planned to attend the Cock of the Bay at Kurnell on Sunday and was put off Saturday by the strong southerly forecast.

As it turned out, it was a great day for sailing. The wind may have gusted up to 15 knots but no more. It was very pleasant, indeed.

As mentioned, Hugh and Kurt were on duty (thanks for that and for supplying photos) and set a port course with start line in front of the clubhouse and top mark towards Mt Warrigal. The large cats elected to sail sausages only. It certainly takes the procession out of the race – but makes it harder to keep count of the roundings, I find.

Both fleets were sailing match races. Tony Zahra and Tony Sanderson in the small cat fleet, Paul English and I in the large cats. We both hit the start line a little late – Paul politely allowed me the luxury of a head start. Having said that, Paul has strung together a bunch of strong performances, lately; so any assistance he was willing to give was gladly accepted.

Clearly there were wind channels and it was important to try to stay in them as much as possible. Mainly we stayed to the right hand side where it seemed strongest. It was possible to lay Gooseberry Island on port tack on the first three works, but on the last work the breeze had shifted back to the SW. There were numerous jellyfish near Gooseberry so it was risky to cut through there in case a rudder popped up. It was pure luck to miss them.

Here are some photos courtesy of Hugh and Kurt on the duty boat:

At the finish, Paul trailed by only 13 minutes or so. On yardstick it was a very close result with Symphony just edging it out in conditions that suited her. Well done again, Paul.

Overall, it was a much better day on the water than last week!!

Next week is PS19 and Club Championship 7 for Small and Large Cats.
Hope to see you all there - rain, hail or shine!
Regards, Ross Boyd

Sometimes the weather can be very pleasant and sometimes it can be horrendous.  Today we had a bit of both...
The day kicked off with a welcome cool southerly that managed to behave itself for most of the racing, thankfully (apart from a short rain squall).  Then the sky turned green as a nasty storm cell descended upon the de-rigging area and let loose with lightning strikes and hailstones as big as a man’s thumb. To me, it was a very dangerous situation with all the standing masts acting like multiple lightning conductors – Ralf Steyer said he copped a zap of static discharge while dropping his sails!! – it was a great relief to see all sailors sensibly abandon de-rigging and seek shelter.

It was a heavy deluge. The adjacent storm water drain could not cope with the sheer quantity of water and a river of water literally poured through the entire rigging area on its way to the lake.

Lois and I retreated to the car and heard the roof being peppered like small hammer blows. Unfortunately for Bill Ledger, his Honda automatically opened its boot and sunroof – somehow triggered by the heavy hail.   Later, we discovered our car had suffered visible hail damage to the boot, roof and bonnet.  Sorry to say but we’re probably not the only ones to have a damaged car.

Once the hail and lightning eased after 10 minutes or so - the sailors returned to the task of dropping masts and calling it a day. What a day!!!

As for the racing, we did indeed sail heat 6 of the Club Championship and Point Score Race 17. Jody Mathews was on duty with Brad Curry and Hayden Sellers. It would have been a busy day for the duty officers and they did a great job keeping everyone safe.

Four large cats lined up for the start line situated between Gooseberry Island and the clubhouse. We had Paul English on 16sq Playtime, Bob Porter and Kurt Griffiths on Nacra 5.5 Road Apple, Les Porter on A Class Wilbur and me on A Class Symphony. It was a port course with top mark towards Primbee and wing mark towards the IYC channel.

After a clean start, Wilbur and Road Apple took off with great speed. Playtime sailed freer to gain clear air and was also going well. Symphony struggled for boat speed for some reason (old age?). Being so far behind the leaders it was hard to see what was going on – but it looked like Road Apple and Wilbur were having a battle royale. Les said afterwards he foiled faster than he’d ever gone in his life. Downwind it was lifting off without trapezing. Road Apple was first home by almost 2.5 minutes. But taking into account Les’ two capsizes it could have been a very different result. Paul English had problems when his trapeze harness let go on one side and was forced to make running repairs that cost him a heap of time. Even so, Paul came second on yardstick which was a fantastic result!  I told you he’s getting faster!  Congrats to Bob Porter and Kurt Griffiths for a well-deserved win on yardstick!

Well done everyone!

A couple of weeks ago, Paul English and I managed to capture some video of the small cats and monos from the duty boat. It was a tough task but Paul managed to make something of my very shaky amateur video with his pro editing skills. You can view it here:  https://vimeo.com/204737832
 
Hope to see you all again next week!

Winds this week were ideal with a 14 knot Nor'easter.  But with people away at St George’s Basin regatta and Paul English and I on duty, the only Large Cat was Les Porter with A Class ‘Wilbur’.  So, Les elected to have some foiling practise instead.

Out on the duty boat we had the best seat in the house with Les performing some thrilling flybys. 

For the Nor’Easter we set a port course and endeavoured to ensure the wing marks were well placed.  However, once committed to the starting sequence the wind (of course) swung more to the north making the first reach a bit too tight and the second reach a bit too broad. 

Nonetheless, once the Monos and Small Cats were away we managed to capture some shaky video footage of the racing on a phone.  We’ll post something on Facebook when we get a chance.

• No racing on Feb 11th as the club is hosting the MJ States.
  
• Feb 18th is CC 6 for Large Cats.
  

See you all next time!

Not much to say this week.

A big nor'easter (gusting over 30 knots) brought a close to proceedings before the start. Tony and Amie  Zhara were on duty and chose wisely to abandon the race rather than risk life, limb and lots of expensive breakages. This did not deter a few Windrushes from venturing out for a bit of fun in the somewhat sheltered stretch of water in front of the clubhouse.  It was entertaining to watch with Paul Leaudais having an unexpected swim - much to the delight of the 'land lubbers'. 

Regarding scoring, a correction has been made to the way OODs are scored to bring it into line with our Sailing Instructions. . The PKSC Sailing Instructions state that Officers On Duty are to receive points even when races are abandoned or unfinished. Therefore, the abandoned PS1 has been reinstated in the series and everyone gets a DNC apart from the duty officers.  Unfair? I think so, but them's the rules.

See you all next week!
Ross Boyd