The end of Winter Sailing. For now!

Today saw the final races of the Pakuranga Sailing Club winter series for dinghies.

A total of 31 boats fronted the starters cannon, including  Scout Cutter, Sunburst, Starling, Gypsy, Phase 2, Spiral, Seabird, and Topper class boats.

In addition, there were around 10 or more various boards, of both sail and kite power, plus a fleet of large keelboats racing through regularly, from the nearby Panmure Yacht Club. This meant that at any one time, there were upwards of 50 boats in the river directly in front of the sailing club. With speeds varying from very sedate, up to the 30+ knots of the kiteboards, it was pretty tricky keeping up with the action.

Warm Northerly winds, blowing a steady 15 knots, created a near perfect day to end the series.

The cutters, which earlier in the series were quite slow, had improved from the competition, and were going like rockets, especially on the upwind legs. All of them had brought their A game, and it showed, with very intense close racing.

The sunbursts, although still going quick, had a much bigger spread in the fleet, as some of them struggled with the breeze after a largely light-wind series.

The prizegiving afterwards, as always, was a fun filled affair, and every boat got a prize.

Looking forward to next year, although I can foresee a few little battles over who gets to go sailing if the weather is good.

Beginner training starts at Weymouth next Sunday, with advanced training beginning in early October, once the learners program is finished. All levels can be catered for, check the WYC program for details of which topics are on which dates.