A cooler 20 degree day with light 10 knot NE breeze with up to 18 knot gusts (some would argue that wind strength we experienced was somewhat less at times). This presented a lovely day for another great turnout of eleven (11) cats made up of 7 small (Paul Leaudais and Ross Fyfe – doing duty) and 4 large cats. This week was president vs secretary around the lake race.
Duty crew Paul Leaudais and Ross Fyfe setting a round the lake course. Start line out on southern side of Gooseberry Island, next mark was starboard rounding the reef, then along the shallows up towards the radio towers starboard rounding of this mark then over towards Koonawarra port rounding this mark and down to oak flats, port rounding. On the way back headed to the mark over near the radio towers port rounding then back to the X mark and then to the finish line.
At the small cats start on starboard heading towards the club house some turned early towards the middle of the lake whilst others chose to head closer to the shore. Those who headed towards the middle of the lake early appeared to get a more favourable run. In the distance 2 paper tigers could be seen flying south down along the shallows obviously finding a nice strength breeze over that edge of the lake. The wind moved around a bit on the work to the reef resulting in some additional tacking. Once around the reef a nice run was had along the shallows down to the next mark then heading out toward Koonawarra. The response boat went out ahead to help identify the mark. A nice steady breeze saw some of the lighter sailors out on the wire. Once down to oak flats some chose to head towards Windang and others tacked back in towards Koonawarra before heading back across to the shallows. Billyo maybe pushing a little to far in close to the point and scraped bottom. After initial concerns there appeared to be no damage and he continued on. Hot Pepper, Billyo and Jack Pot were in touch with each other whilst the other cats were still ahead. Heading down near the shallows on east side of the lake we caught up with Blue Tongue. When heading down to the shallows buoy “Jack Pot” managed to pick up a “crab pot” which slowed him to a stand still until the offending crab pot was able to be removed. The wind finally kicked in to a genuine 15 knots or so on the final run to X resulting in a screaming run on the final leg home. Once around the X a tricky work to the line resulting in a couple of tacks some good tussles.
Scratch times(not adjusted) across finish line were as follows:
15:19:32 Tony Zahra 526 "White Wave" Maricat S/Sloop
15:22:40 Ralf Steyer 6286 "Dark Horse" Windrush S/S
15:30:00 Tony Sanderson 6346 "Groove Thing" Windrush S/Sloop
15:35:58 Jack Kroek 6306 "JackPot" Windrush S/S
15:36:38 Hugh Lewis 6327 “Hot Pepper” Windrush S/Sloop
15:37:02 Jody Mathews 4556 "Blue Tongue" Windrush S/S
15:37:58 Bill Ledger 182 "Billyo" Nacro 14 sq
Tony Zahra had a great run and was less than a minute behind Ross Boyd’s A class finishing ahead of the other 2 large cats. Ralf not too far behind and then a bit of a gap to the rest of the field. A couple of close tussles approaching the finish line as can be seen by the finish times.
And so ended the last race before Christmas. A number sticking around for a few drinks and a bite to eat. All the best for Christmas and new year and looking forward to seeing you all again next half of the season.
General:.
Regards Hugh Lewis
Small Cats delegate
Duty crew Paul Leaudais and Ross Fyfe setting a round the lake course. Start line out on southern side of Gooseberry Island, next mark was starboard rounding the reef, then along the shallows up towards the radio towers starboard rounding of this mark then over towards Koonawarra port rounding this mark and down to oak flats, port rounding. On the way back headed to the mark over near the radio towers port rounding then back to the X mark and then to the finish line.
At the small cats start on starboard heading towards the club house some turned early towards the middle of the lake whilst others chose to head closer to the shore. Those who headed towards the middle of the lake early appeared to get a more favourable run. In the distance 2 paper tigers could be seen flying south down along the shallows obviously finding a nice strength breeze over that edge of the lake. The wind moved around a bit on the work to the reef resulting in some additional tacking. Once around the reef a nice run was had along the shallows down to the next mark then heading out toward Koonawarra. The response boat went out ahead to help identify the mark. A nice steady breeze saw some of the lighter sailors out on the wire. Once down to oak flats some chose to head towards Windang and others tacked back in towards Koonawarra before heading back across to the shallows. Billyo maybe pushing a little to far in close to the point and scraped bottom. After initial concerns there appeared to be no damage and he continued on. Hot Pepper, Billyo and Jack Pot were in touch with each other whilst the other cats were still ahead. Heading down near the shallows on east side of the lake we caught up with Blue Tongue. When heading down to the shallows buoy “Jack Pot” managed to pick up a “crab pot” which slowed him to a stand still until the offending crab pot was able to be removed. The wind finally kicked in to a genuine 15 knots or so on the final run to X resulting in a screaming run on the final leg home. Once around the X a tricky work to the line resulting in a couple of tacks some good tussles.
Scratch times(not adjusted) across finish line were as follows:
15:19:32 Tony Zahra 526 "White Wave" Maricat S/Sloop
15:22:40 Ralf Steyer 6286 "Dark Horse" Windrush S/S
15:30:00 Tony Sanderson 6346 "Groove Thing" Windrush S/Sloop
15:35:58 Jack Kroek 6306 "JackPot" Windrush S/S
15:36:38 Hugh Lewis 6327 “Hot Pepper” Windrush S/Sloop
15:37:02 Jody Mathews 4556 "Blue Tongue" Windrush S/S
15:37:58 Bill Ledger 182 "Billyo" Nacro 14 sq
Tony Zahra had a great run and was less than a minute behind Ross Boyd’s A class finishing ahead of the other 2 large cats. Ralf not too far behind and then a bit of a gap to the rest of the field. A couple of close tussles approaching the finish line as can be seen by the finish times.
And so ended the last race before Christmas. A number sticking around for a few drinks and a bite to eat. All the best for Christmas and new year and looking forward to seeing you all again next half of the season.
General:.
- Next half of the season commences again Saturday 7th January 2017
- A reminder for those small cats interested that Cuddy cup 1st Saturday after new years day at Swan Lake. If interested come talk to Paul Leaudais, myself or Tony Sanderson for details.
Regards Hugh Lewis
Small Cats delegate
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