This year the monohulls are hosting the presentation night and we have decided for a movie theme.
More information can be found here
More information can be found here
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Congratulations to Blur on achieving third place in the NSW States
We had a bit of a slow start to the season in the monohull class - both the number of entries and the light breeze !
Only one Sharpie and one 505 appeared along with two Flying 11s, the foiler Moth and two B14s. Hopefully we can get a better attendance this week. The breeze was very light during the morning but filled in as we left the beach to head out for the start - in fact we were fully powered up and looking forward to a decent first race. Unfortunately just as the gun went it lightened off to about 5 knots. Dean shot away on the foiler Month followed by Space Monkeys, Go-Itchi-Go and Panther. The two B14s were late for the start and Elliott in his new Flying 11 decided to just do some practice to get familiar with the boat. As the breeze died, Dean decided to head back in as a foiler Moth isn't much fun when it can't foil. Space Monkeys pulled out a good lead on Go-Itchi-Go in the variable conditions and Panther was sailing well. As the race progressed, Go-Itchi-Go caught back up to Space Monkeys and at mark X, Panther was just in front with Space Monkeys and Go-Itchi-Go just behind. The sprint to the line saw the faster boats get past for line honours with Space Monkeys getting the gun. There were no other finishers. Handicap results were Go-Itchi-Go first, Space Monkeys second and Panther third - all very close. We had a bit of a slow start to the season in the monohull class - both the number of entries and the light breeze !
Only one Sharpie and one 505 appeared along with two Flying 11s, the foiler Moth and two B14s. Hopefully we can get a better attendance this week. The breeze was very light during the morning but filled in as we left the beach to head out for the start - in fact we were fully powered up and looking forward to a decent first race. Unfortunately just as the gun went it lightened off to about 5 knots. Dean shot away on the foiler Month followed by Space Monkeys, Go-Itchi-Go and Panther. The two B14s were late for the start and Elliott in his new Flying 11 decided to just do some practice to get familiar with the boat. As the breeze died, Dean decided to head back in as a foiler Moth isn't much fun when it can't foil. Space Monkeys pulled out a good lead on Go-Itchi-Go in the variable conditions and Panther was sailing well. As the race progressed, Go-Itchi-Go caught back up to Space Monkeys and at mark X, Panther was just in front with Space Monkeys and Go-Itchi-Go just behind. The sprint to the line saw the faster boats get past for line honours with Space Monkeys getting the gun. There were no other finishers. Handicap results were Go-Itchi-Go first, Space Monkeys second and Panther third - all very close. The season is certainly ending up slowly for the monohull class with a small fleet turning out for the second last race. Mainiac was on duty leaving Pleasure & Pain and Space Monkeys as the only two Sharpies - and Dean tried out his new foiler moth.
There was no wind until just before start time but then a light NE breeze came in allowing a course to be set. At the briefing it was announced that we would trial a windward/return course due to the light winds - seemed to go quite well. Dean was having fun before the race but the wind dropped a little making it hard to sail the moth. Pleasure & Pain and Space Monkeys had a very close race for the first lap never being more than about three boat lengths apart. This all changed when Pleasure & Pain went right and Space Monkeys went left on the next work - with Space Monkeys pulling out a good lead. This then stayed pretty static through to the end with Space Monkeys taking out line honours and handicap. Next week is that last race of the season and is a Club Championship for the monohulls. All interest is on who will take out the Sharpie championship with only a point separating Pleasure & Pain and Mainiac. Results are now updated and available on the website. I missed the club racing again on Saturday but from what I have been told it was a pleasant day on the water with a 505 and a couple of Sharpies out. I will be back at the club next race so will grab all the results for the last few weeks and bring them up to date on the website.
We only have two more club racing weekends before the end of the season - would be great to see a good number of boats on the water before we pack them away for the winter. A number of Sharpies will be attending the Batemans Bay regatta on the Anzac weekend as its the last weekend of State Titles for us. I think Blur is still in with an outside chance of winning. Space Monkeys is looking for a light crew to sail with us that weekend as Michael is away travelling - anyone interested please email. We also need a fill-in for the club race on Saturday 11th. Mainiac is on duty next club race. John and Amelia will be doing it for the first time - if anyone wants to give them a hand I am sure it would be welcomed. Two northeasters in a row - how good is that ? After days like Saturday you forget all the flukey, light breezes - and just have fun.
With various regattas we were again slightly down in numbers - made up for by 5 sharpies hitting the water along with Dylan in the F11. Welcome back to Sam and team on Voodoo Lounge after a busy month or so of sharpie and 505 events. As you can see Sam has decided to change the name back to the original one for the boat - it seems ever since the previous owner renamed it there has been a string of bad luck. Good indications so far as they got round the course with no damage at all. We also had Felicity from the juniors sailing on Blur and Glenn jumping in as forward hand on Pleasure & Pain. We had some really close racing in the sharpies with four boats taking the lead at some stage during the race. Mainiac was sailing very fast upwind and led comfortably round the first mark followed by Space Monkeys, Pleasure & Pain, Blur, Voodoo Lounge and 1321. Space Monkeys carried a great gust from well behind and managed to be in front by the bottom mark. They held on to the lead for the next few laps with Mainiac, Pleasure & Pain and Blur fighting amongst themselves just behind. Voodoo Lounge had a swim on the last lap which slowed them down a little. 1321 was sailing very well in the conditions - great practice for the F11 states next weekend. Mainiac managed to put a huge hole in their spinnaker and could not carry it on the last lap puting them out of contention. Pleasure & Pain just beat Space Monkeys round the top mark the last time - with the two boats heading high on the way to X to try to get an advantage. Blur sensibly stayed low and at X the boats all rounded at the same time. It looked as though Blur might win the race to the line - however Space Monkeys managed to sail through when Blur tacked to win by 1 second with Pleasure & Pain not far behind. Its not that often we get such close racing - everyone had a great time. Heat times are up on the website. Also, the pointscore is very close with Pleasure & Pain one point in front of Space Monkeys and Mainiac a further point back. For the first time in ages we had both a good fleet of monos and a really nice breeze. Nine boats fronted the starter in a 10-18 knot NE breeze for a handicap start. Hasty handicap calculations were done after the briefing and each boat was allocated a starting time.
A number of boats had different crew. Juniors sailed on three of the five Sharpies - Maddison on Pleasure & Pain, Elliott on Mainiac and Michael on Space Monkeys. All seemed to really enjoy the experience. The handicaps worked pretty well overall - although if Dean sails the NS again we will have to be careful ! With one lap to go, the fleet had closed up pretty well but as the wind picked up, Truck showed their great upwind speed and made a bit of a move. Mainiac were going really well but set the spinnaker on the reach to X which actually cost them time. Space Monkeys and Blur chose the wrong side of the course on the last work and lost touch. At the finish, Dean in the NS won by a few minutes from Italian Stallions. They were followed by Truck and Panther with all the other boats finishing pretty close together. Please remember that if you have input on future courses for club racing you should talk to me over the next couple of weeks I am not sure the weather people are doing a good job this year - forecasts seem to be totally out so far ! Today we had a light SE-E all day which was quite enjoyable but a little different to the 25 knots forecast.
Once again we only had a small fleet turn up for the Club Championship - I know there were some sailors at the TY regatta but we need to start discussing how to get more boats on the water. The courses we sail have once again been raised with some sailors wanting changes. What can we do to make things more interesting ? The actual racing was good with The Ribwich and Space Monkeys crossing tacks up the first work and Pleasure & Pain and Mainiac also very close behind. Dylan in F11 1321 is really starting to sail the F11 well - but maybe its time to give it a name guys ? The Ribwich managed to get a bit of a lead over Space Monkeys on the downwind legs and Mainiac got through on Pleasure & Pain. Over the next laps the fleet got really close with The Ribwich still holding on to a small lead. The run to mark X had The Ribwich just holding on round the last mark from Space Monkeys. Mainiac made up most of what they lost after a bad work and were just behind Pleasure & Pain. Only a couple of minutes covered all five boats across the line. CC results were The Ribwich first, Space Monkeys second and Pleasure & Pain third. Pointscore results were Pleasure & Pain first, The Ribwich second and 1321 third. Sharpie sailors please note the Balmoral states heats are now on March 21/22 Well what can we say about Saturday ? All the forecasts were pointing to a 10 knot westerly changing to a 10 knot easterly seabreeze. What we actually got was a westerly with strength ranging from about 5 knots through to maybe 30 knots !
Four Sharpies and Two Flying 11s turned up to sail. Pleasure & Pain decided not to got out as Alex wanted to do some shopping. Truck had a boat issue and also didn't participate. Space Monkeys had one of the juniors on as crew and Mainiac once again skippered by Rod with a forward hand who owned a Sharpie himself 30 years ago. The two Flying 11s and Space Monkeys started well with Mainiac a little late after an early capsize. Space Monkeys took it easy during the race particularly downwind due to the new crew and only set the Spinnaker twice. Panther pulled out a bit of a lead in the Flying 11s but both boats were sailing really well - the training they have received in the MJs certainly prepares them well. Mainiac discovered that tying knots properly is important when their retriever line detached from the spinnaker on the first drop. Overall it was fun out on the water - better than sitting in front of the TV or mowing lawns. Some good rides were had by all boats. I don't think any of the monos suffered damage. We watched the unfortunate demise of Diggers mast in the TYs - hopefully he can get back on the water quickly. Final pointscore results were Space Monkeys first, Panther second, Mainiac third and 1321 fourth. |
AuthorThese reports are published by the class delegate. Archives
April 2016
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