Fun times in the rain.

This mornings Pakuranga SC winter series proved challenging in more ways than one.

In the first race, boats drifted in all directions, with virtually zero wind, for around 20 minutes. Two sunbursts managed to excel in the drifting conditions, and opened up a huge lead over the rest of the fleet. Then suddenly, the breeze filled in, gently at first, around five knots, then building very rapidly up to around 15, with a few gusts getting close to 20. Those two sunbursts proceeded to plane flat out down the run, while several of the following fleet fell over! Those that stayed upright got soaked, thanks to heavy rain just before the wind kicked in!

The breeze then settled down to a nice solid 15 knots, which held in for the rest of the time I was there.

Today I took my Laser, so was unable to get any photos.

The second race started while I was de-rigging, having broken a small but crucial fitting between races.
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Later in the day, the trailer yacht winter series continued at Manukau Yacht and Motor Boat Club.

For some reason, the Noelex fleet were absent, so the fleet was five Hartley 16's and one Cherry 16.

As this was the first time in over a year we had had a chance to line the Cherry up against the Hartleys, no-one had any idea how competitive or otherwise we would be.

Unfortunately we missed the first start while helping some fellow Weymouth sailors in a Hartley with rigging problems. Sailing around before the start, cruising downwind, we were significantly slower than all the Hartleys, which was somewhat worrying.

A good start in the second race saw us just behind the top Hartleys, doing better than we suspected we would, as we rounded the first mark. The two robs, sailing in the new Hartley, were struggling to get to grips with the boat, and had fallen behind somewhat. Sailing downwind, we had speed that seemed pretty close to the boats ahead. The breeze was around 15-20 knots, so we had occasional spurts of planing, especially when we sailed a little high.

The next beat the breeze was a little higher, and we were close to matching the top boats. Again, Rob was struggling upwind in the breeze.

Back down to the finish, and although we were a small distance behind the leaders, we had all had a good day on the water, and found out a little more about our boats.

Rob's new Hartley showed moments of brilliant speed, and once they get it tuned up properly should be pretty quick. Stay tuned for more!