Monday, July 24, 2006

October

Sunday 1st

WILDCAT Weekend. Pack a tent and stay the night. Bring panadole
Ray/Ross weather reports
Scott Saturday papers and fuel...


Sunday 8th
Ah, a pleasant return to the water. The middle of the school holidays and the weather clear and warm. Hardly a cloud in the sky and barely a breath of wind on the water. Two races for the day with mild to light breese from the east. There was some hope that the breese would move in, but it was not to be. 1ts Brian Bath, 2nd Scott machon/ Brice Haffner, 3rd Tom Dalton, 4th Ray Muld, 5th Peter Walcha, 6th Les Turner and 7th John Wright and crew for Port Macquarie

The light conditions suited the AClass boats. Both races were won by Brian Bath. The second race was a close race and it was Ray Muld and Ross Kneebone who led for most of the race on a Hobie 16, but as the winds dropped the A class drifted over the line a narrow winner.

As most boats drifted in to shore the much awaited southerly arrived and it was a quick exit to the shore.


Sunday 15th

A steady south easterly greeted the sailors on Sunday morning. The report indicated a decreasing breese moderating to 15-20 knots during the day. As the boats rigged on shore the breese did moderate and settle in at a comfortable 15 knots with the occasional blow in at 20-25kn. Perfect conditions for experienced sailors and keen competitors.

Everkeen Les arrived with the newly purchased NACRA 16sq. Rigged with the dutiful assistance of NACRA legend and club life member Ross Kneebone. Les hit the water- literally, on the first run out it was the quick and agile filly that tipped les from his perch and into the water. No sooner in the water than he was up again and testing the integrity of the 16sq.

There were two races on the day. Thanks to Ross for taking up the time and setting a short and fast course for the small fleet. Tim Haffner was going with youth and experience on the Taipan 5.7 with a three man crew for the day. Brice and Graham probably had plenty to do as the Taipan was a little like a cut snake with a blustery 15-25kn southerly whipping along.

A windward and return course with a 600m work made sure that there was no time for the crew to rest as the tacking was constant.
In the first race there was nothing that could be done to cathc the Taipan as it finished three laps of the course in a very quick 15 minutes, followed 18 seconds behind by Ann and Scott on Taipan 4.9 then Les just behind on the 16sq.

The second race saw Les again enter the water from above and it was the 4.9 of Scott and Ann who finished the course first followed by Les. Tim felt it was his duty to eject the more experienced of the crew to help Les with the 16sq and it was Graham who found himself in the water ( quite by surprise) and assisting Les to right the 16sq.

Sunday 22nd October
The rains continued throughout the weekend and the skies were a lesser shade of grey. When most of us would be looking through the papers and contemplating a day at the movies, others were sipping their lattes and reading the sports section of the paper and yet others would be engaged in conversations on lounges. Yes, there are people who watch, those who read about it, those who talk about it, but there are a few who do it.
The breeze was more than a kiss on the face and the salty smell lingered as the wind whipped across the lake. As the crews rigged their boats they looked south towards the darkening skies and set their sails and rigging to cope with the conditions. Today, these mistresses would be fast across the lake. A combination of flat water and gusty southerly made the day a memorable outing.
The sage and salted members of the race committee set an adventurous course to take advantage of the winds, there was no point sheltering in close to the shore so the race was set to the far island south of Whoota. This course exposed the boats to the funnelling winds caused as the bracing southerly bickered and fought its way through the narrow gap between Booti Booti headland and the Whoota mountain.
The pre race was closely contested and it was Peter Dorahy and Les Turner who led the field away. Turning at the sand mark, they headed towards the island and reached across the lake. The course was open and the winds had strengthened, there was no real tactics in the race, from now on it was simply down to boat speed. Working hard into the wind was Scott Machon and Bryce Haffner on No.4. They worked hard at keeping the boat down and were going hard for the island mark. Rounding the island, it was Machon/Haffner in front of Dorahy and Turner.
Often, coming home is never as much fun as leaving, but this was something different. The return reach was a combination of speed and fear. The boats drove hard in the reaching breeze, as each gust came the boats would rear-up and drive hard. The boats were fast across the water, dancing across like hurled skipping stones.
With pure speed as their answer it was the crew of Scott Machon and Bryce Haffner who finished ahead of the fleet. The second and third places filled by Peter Dorahy and Les Turner.
Next weekend sees racing as usual with a build up to the November weekend with the hotly contested Presidents Cup being raced as usual on the first weekend in November.
The Fish

Sunday 29th

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