Showing posts with label learn to sail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learn to sail. Show all posts

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Scouts enjoy Weymouth YC hospitality

Today saw some great sailing weather, with warm temperatures, and fresh winds. With winds varying between 10 and 20 knots, the action on the water was pretty cool too!

To ensure the scouts had an enjoyable experience, two sunbursts were used, with two trailer yachts also taking them for rides.

Later in the day, the two trailer yachts had a short race around Shark Island, with the quicksilver finishing comfortably ahead of the beachcomber.

While there is no official sailing organised for next weekend at our club, Rob is planning to run a casual race, followed by a barbeque.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Weymouth sailing today

Hot weather and hot action were the key topics for todays sailing at Weymouth.

Sunbursts, a Topper and a Beachcomber made up the fleet.

Proving the "handicappers of old" correct, the Topper managed to keep close to the quicker Sunburst, and well ahead of the slower one.

At the end of the long beat, the Sunburst was easily out in front of the Beachcomber, with the Topper a way back in third. On the downwind run home, the Topper rapidly made up ground, closing the gap on the other two boats before the finish, but not quite enough to get past.

Here's a couple of pics from afterward - sorry, my camera stays on dry land!
Love that sky!
The makings of a good racing fleet happening here! 
Members from other clubs with Sunbursts, Starlings or boats of similar speed - if your club has nothing on, check our website, and feel free to join us for a day.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Hot action on the water

Today saw a mixture of training and racing at Weymouth YC.

Initially Shannon was getting some one on one coaching in an Oppi, while the other sailors cruised around enjoying the weather.

Once the training was over, a few short races were held, over some windward leeward courses.

The blue Seascout Sunburst, after further tuning, proved to be the secret weapon, winning all its races with relative ease. It appeared to be faster than the Starlings, and the Beachcomber, in the 10-15 knot wind range, in all directions, even downwind without a spinnaker.

Unfortunately we did not have any other sunbursts for comparison today, but everyone involved thought it was going very well.

We have no sailing scheduled for Labour Weekend, however if the weather is good some of us will probably get out on at least one day.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Sunburst fun

Todays training session with the Weymouth Scouts was abandoned, which gave Murray and me a chance to tune the clubs red Sunburst, and the Scouts freshly refurbished blue one.

After a brief tuning session ashore, a course was set, and off we went.

The blue boat lead the way after the initial beat, although this was more due to the red boat being out of phase with the light and patchy wind. A mile of downwind running and the gap had not changed measurably.

Turning back upwind, it was immediately obvious that the blue boat had rather bad lee helm, requiring significant heel to balance things up.

The red boat showed much better height in the light conditions, although the speed seemed very similar.

After a short while, the red boat had got her nose in front, and the boats separated, one to each side of the channel, both trying to avoid the tide. The red boat then hooked into some better breeze, and pulled out a huge lead, while the blue boat sat becalmed.

At the final mark, before turning for home, the gap was around 5 minutes, and it stayed about the same all the way back downwind to the finish.

Back ashore, a little more rake was added to the mast of the blue boat, then we went back out for another go.

This time the boat felt much better, although the height was still lacking. A short beat put the red boat well ahead again.

The top batten in the blue boat was far too stiff, basically a straight line. I will be sanding it down tonight, and if I can find a tuning guide, will set it to the correct tension. This should help the leech of the sail to hook up a lot better, giving additional height and power.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be a racing day, so we shall see how it performs then. There's also meant to be a bit more wind.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Todays sailing at Weymouth

Awesome sunny but calm weather and flat water gave a fantastic start to our sailing season.

Sailing a basic windward-leeward course, Gina in the Topper lead Murray in the Sunburst and Rob in the Laser at the end of the first near-drifting downwind leg. On the beat back to the finish, the Laser streaked past, opening up a sizable lead. Gina then hit the reef out in front of the clubhouse, allowing Murray to gain the advantage, which he held to the finish.

Simon ran the rescue boat, which was a very restful experience in the conditions.

Everyone really enjoyed themselves, and we are all looking forward to next weekend.

Come  on down and join in the fun any weekend through the Summer, lessons and training take place on Saturdays - our boats or yours. Casual mixed fleet racing or cruising happens every Sunday. The website and this blog are frequently updated, keeping you informed of what's on.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Todays sailing cancelled

Todays sailing at Weymouth has been cancelled due to the weather.

With the wind blowing between 20 and 35 knots, this seems the best course of action, especially considering that it is the season opener, and why risk breaking stuff on the first day.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

The season starts here, whats on next weekend.

Upcoming events, Weekend of 1 & 2 October 2011.

Saturday:

Weymouth Yacht Club training day. Start time 12 noon.
FBYC working bee at 10am.

Sunday:

Weymouth Yacht Club opening day. Start time 2pm. All welcome.
PLSC handicap series continues, 11am start.

Things to note....

New and prospective members always welcome at all Weymouth Yacht Club events. We offer coaching for all levels from beginners right up to advanced race training. Free boat hire for members too!

Come on down and meet the team.

Click the link at the top of the page, go to www.sportsground.co.nz/weymouthyacht, or just turn up on the day. Even though we use the whole building, on most days we tend to be downstairs, so check down the hill if you cant  find us. or call me, Aaron, on 021 260 9822.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Wattle Farm RC boats.

Today I was invited by Rob to  race against him in some one-metre RC yachts.

The lake at Wattle Farm is perfect for this stuff, when finance permits I'll probably buy a boat to use there.

Conditions were trying for the little boats, and getting the setup right before sailing was crucial, allowing the boats to feather upwind. In the conditions, balance seemed to be the biggest factor in determining how well the boats went.

I had huge trouble working out distances to marks, laylines etc, but it's still some great fun, and beats watching DVDs hands down. Its also suprisingly good exercise in that breeze, running along the bank to the best vantage points for mark roundings and the like - those little things go quite fast when its windy!

Lots of lessons learned by me, wonder if I can apply them to big boats?

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Learn to Sail - Sailing School

LEARN TO SAIL WITH US NOW.

Weymouth Yacht Club sailing school runs through September.

Age 10 and above, adult learners welcome.

Boats supplied, or bring your own.

$20 introductory offer gets you 2 full weekends of sailing, including relevant theory, handouts, and knowledgeable, qualified instructors, plus a short introduction day where you can find out where to get the kit you need to be comfortable and safe out there.

Enrol now or get more information by emailing me on:

            -watersports@instruction.com-

or replying to this post. Spaces strictly limited, on a first in, first served basis.

Weymouth Yacht Club members get unlimited use of club boats, subject to availability. Click the link at the top of the page to go to the club website and find out more!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Midwinter sailing

Two photo's of the lack of adrenaline required for last weekends MYMBC winter series.

Race one start, just enough wind to move.

Cody and Ashley messing about in an Oppy.

Beautiful weather, around 14 degrees and bright sunshine. The guys fishing from the wharf had a little luck - one  seriously big Kahawai, which was destined for dinner, and a sprat, which one of their kids threw back by accident!

The next race day is scheduled for August 14, starting at 1015. Lets hope for similar sun and temps, but a bit more wind.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

PLSC Laser racing tomorrow.

Racing starts 1330, allow around an hour for rigging and briefing.

The windfinder forecast is showing WNW winds of 18, gusting 27 knots for the period between 12 and 3pm.

Fine weather and 14 degrees c.

Monday, June 20, 2011

YNZ listing update

I have sent the club information form off to YNZ for Weymouth Yacht Club.
Hopefully the directory information will be updated soon.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Sail Training at Weymouth - Manukau Sailing- Sailing Lessons.

I intend to run beginners race training over the winter months, most likely on Saturday afternoons.

The course will be based around the proven RYA Start Racing syllabus, with topics including starting, upwind, downwind, marks, rules, and finishing.

I will also cover the 5 essentials, which are the things that separate experts from the rest.

email watersports@instruction.com to register your interest now!