Weymouth 2013 Opening Sprints

Today saw the formal start to the 2013-14 racing season at Weymouth Yacht Club, in Manurewa, greater Auckland.

Four short races were held, with a wide variety of boats, in quite light, testing conditions, which improved throughout the day.

The first race was a short affair, and the three Lasers opened up a sizable lead on the rest of the fleet, however it was Angela in the Starling, finishing fourth on the water, who took the handicap honours.
Aaron, sailing with two year old daughter Cailey as crew, was third Laser for most of the race, but found some luck on the final beat, passing Rob and Pete as they sat in a windless hole.

Seven year old Ashley, sailing in a plastic Optimist dinghy, sailed the entire course on her own, with no outside help. This was quite an achievement, having only ever sailed on her own once before. New member Neil also deserves mention here, as it was also the first time he had ever raced in a sailing boat.

With Aaron, Cailey, and Ashley out for race two, the fleet was closer together, and this time Angela showed that a good start really helps, as she lead the Lasers for most of the first leg. In time, of course, the Lasers were able to catch and pass the starling, however it was Gina, sailing her Topper, that got the eventual win.

Race three was a very close fought affair, as Rob and Pete match raced around the course leading the fleet, whilst Gina in the Topper, and Angela in the Starling, sailed their own races, and once the handicaps were applied, there were just a few seconds between the top four boats. The two ladies also finished only seconds apart on the water, right behind the Lasers.

In the final race of the day, Neil had finally figured out the unique starting system, and the entire fleet got clean, fast starts, and kept very close together.

After the racing there was a sausage sizzle, and a few other members turned up to chat.

Special thanks go out to our volunteers, Murray, Roger, and Simon. Without you, today would not have been the success it was.

Full results now up on the club website, in the results section.

coming soon to some water near you.....

This weekends sailing around the southern bit of Aucks...

Saturday seems to have nothing on anywhere, but Sunday has quite a bit...

In the morning...

Pakuranga SC at Farm Cove have day two of their dinghy winter series, starting at 8:30am.

Panmure Lagoon SC have Laser winter series at 11:15am.

And in the afternoon...

Manukau YMBC has the second day of the Trailer Yacht winter series, 1pm start, two races planned.

Waiuku YC have day 3 of their winter series, also at 1pm.

French bay YC have nothing planned, so lets hope they travel to one of the other clubs.

Weymouth YC also have nothing planned, but will be seen all over the place, with several members confirmed racing at Manukau in the afternoon, and several others considering Pakuranga in the morning.

Expect clear skies, about 13-15 degrees, and around 15 knots. possibly even a few very light showers late in the day, when some cloud rolls in.

What's happenin'

Saturday 28th:
Weymouth YC - training at 12:30pm.
French Bay YC - Training at 12 noon.
Waiuku YC - Cruising race at 1:00pm. Also beginner lessons.


Sunday 29th:
Weymouth YC - Racing at 1:15pm.
French Bay YC - Racing at 1:00pm.
Waiuku YC - Racing at 1:30pm. Also beginner lessons.

East coast....

Panmure Lagoon SC has racing at 11:30am on Sunday.

Pakuranga SC has racing at 11:00am

Trailer Yachts:

Manukau YMBC starts Series C  at 2:30pm Sunday.

Monday is the Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta, There is class racing at most clubs on the Waitemata, plus Waka Ama racing, plus One Metre class racing. I think this is still officially the biggest one-day regatta in the southern hemisphere, but cant be sure!

Google it to find out where your class is racing!

Auckland Trailer Yachts at Weymouth

Our inaugural Trailer Yacht summer series kicks off in just under three weeks.


Here are the confirmed dates:

Sunday February 12, Briefing at 11:30am, Start 12 noon. 

Sunday February 26, Briefing at 11:30am, Start 12 noon. 

Sunday March 11, Briefing at 11:30am, Start 12 noon. 

Sunday March 25, Briefing at 11am, Start 11:30am.

We have seven races scheduled, including one long harbour race, which will be chosen on whichever day has the best wind/ weather/ forecast.

Courses will be decided on the day, sailing area for most courses to be between the Wiri LPG terminal, and the Papakura motorway.

Entry is open to all trailer yachts and large dinghy's, however due to the harbour having shallow areas, we are aiming for smaller, slower yachts such as kestrels and similar. 

Come on down and join in, entry is free, and you might find it really enjoyable!

Non-alcoholic drinks and snacks are available after sailing.

Today's fun at Weymouth

A small but keen fleet assembled today to join in the new years racing.

We had sunbursts, a starling, a topper, and a visiting frostbite.

As all these boats are similar speeds, a simple triangle course was laid, with a gate start.

In the first race, Keith in the Frostbite had a great start and first beat, closely followed by the two Sunbursts. He held onto the lead for the first lap, with Aaron and Ashley in the first Sunburst slowly closing the gap. Around half way up the second beat, Aaron and Ashley's traveller tore out of the boat, and their race was done. Keith turned back briefly to offer assistance, only to allow Rob and Pete to snatch the lead. They held the lead for most of the race then, but lost it on the last beat, allowing Keith through for the win.

Aaron came back out in the topper for the second race, with the same course. This time Rob and Pete got the best start, followed by Keith. Aaron, and Codie (in a starling) were slightly off the line. Aaron was almost right next to Keith when Keith had a knot failure, and lost control of his mainsheet. On a favourable shift, Aaron got to the top mark first, just ahead of Rob and Pete. This race then became a procession, with no overtaking at all.

After the racing was finished, Aaron and Rob had a couple of short sprint races, each getting one victory.

The second half of the season if off to a great start, with a lot of interest from prospective new members, and both Pete and Keith have interested friends, so things are looking up! Come on down and join the fun - the program is on our website ( link at top of the page) or check in here on a friday and most of our events will be listed.

Weymouth Yacht Club Easter Regatta

Saturday April 7
Dinghy sprint race series
All sailing dinghies welcome to take part in four sprint races, in three divisions, with the top three in each division going into a mark-foy type grand final. $5 entry, or free with Sunday entry.

Sunday April 8
Manukau Regatta
Mixed fleet racing in junior, senior, and Trailer Yacht divisions, with eligible clubs competing for the Manukau Shield.
Open to members of any YNZ affiliated club. Entry $20 seniors, $10 juniors.

Food and drinks available.

Saturday participants will get a free soft drink and sausage.

Come along and join the fun.

Next weekends sailing

Saturday 10 Dec 2011
Waiuku YC racing 10am - Queen of the waves.
Weymouth YC training 9:45am


Sunday 11 Dec 2011
French Bay racing 10am
Manukau YMBC racing 11am - Memorial cup.
Waiuku YC Racing 10am
Weymouth YC racing 10am

Lets hope for good weather, for once the tide is in our favour!

Sunday FUN day!

Wow!

 Awesome sailing weather today for all the Manukau clubs, if you missed out, then that was a bit silly!

Hot, fine sunny weather, and wind between about 8 and 20 knots, which built slowly throughout the day. We also had beautifully flat water, although we stayed in the river, rather than venturing out into the open.

At Weymouth we had our first trailer yacht match up, between Rob in the Quicksilver, another Rob in the Beachcomber, and Aaron in the Cherry.

In the lighter winds earlier in the day, the Quicksilver had the best pace, as the beachcomber struggled to get any upwind speed. It didn't matter tho, because the first part of the day was spent taking lots of prospective members out for joyrides.

A little later, the Cherry arrived on the scene. In around ten knots of wind, all three boats seemed quite evenly matched once the beachcomber guys got it sorted a bit. The breeze started to build, and without the extra bodies, both Robs started to struggle in the breeze, and soon had smaller headsails up.

The Cherry, with its small rig, was just coming into its element, and upwind showed the way, even cracking a plane briefly, with just slightly eased sheets, while sailing upwind!! Around Shark Island, the lead was maybe 100metres. Coming back downwind was another story, as the quicksilver's big rig pushed her back into the action pretty fast, closing the gap down to around a boatlength. At the finish, the Cherry just managed to hang on for the win.

The second race, which turned into a cruise, started out looking promising, especially for us, as we bore away onto a reach and instantly the boat started to plane. Sadly this only lasted a few seconds, before we settled back to displacement speed, where again the bigger rig on the Quicksilver allowed rob to pull ahead.

This proved what we'd always thought, that the quicksilver would be faster in the light stuff, and the cherry would gain the advantage in a breeze.  It also probably proves that the handicaps for the two classes are quite accurate, as they put the Quicksilver as marginally faster.

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.

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.

Easter weekend.

We will be holding an invitational sprint race series on Saturday April 7, before the Manukau Regatta on April 8.

The regatta will probably follow the normal format of 2 or 3 old school olympic triangle races.

The Sprint series will be run on a new innovative idea that hasn't been tried before, but will certainly work up a sweat if there's wind. And thats just the race officer!!

If I have my way, Sprint entry will be included free with Regatta entry, or $5 just for the one event.

This weekend's sailing

Panmure Lagoon sailing club have race 1 of their handicap series. Start time scheduled for 1230.
South Auckland's best winter Laser racing.

Pakuranga Sailing Club continue their winter series for all dinghy classes at Farm Cove.
Start time is 1130. Expect big fleets.

Weymouth members will probably be present at both events, as will other members from around the Manukau.

The Windfinder forecast says it will be fine, warm (16 degrees!) and have fresh 15-25 knot winds. Sounds like sailing heaven!!

Light winds on the Manukau Harbour

Todays MYMBC winter series was hotly contested between 3 Hartleys and 3 Noelexes. In the light winds of the day, the fleet was quite small.

Two races were held, with the lead changing several times in each race.

Downwind starts didn't appear to favour either class, as the poled-out Hartleys gave the kited Noelexes something to chase. A little more breeze appeared between races, but in true fashion, dropped away right before the second start.

Instructors course

There are still spaces available for the sailing instructor's course on August 14/15.
Cost is $135 all up.
Venue is Clarks Beach.

I'm going! because my RYA cert is out of date and I keep forgetting to send it back to england!

Upcoming racing at PLSC

PLSC has their second River Race on Sunday July 24.

Race Start 1pm, arrive at 12 to allow time for rigging and briefing.

Hire boats may be available, subject to demand.

Panmure Lagoon, Ireland Road, next to the play area,and not far from Sylvia Park shopping centre.

Manukau winter series

The next race of the MYMBC trailer yacht winter series is July 17, starting at 1100.

Anyone with a small trailer yacht is welcome to attend, entry fee is $10.

The fleet is mostly Hartley 16s and Noelex 22s, with a quicksilver and a cherry also in the mix.

Full bar, and food available after the racing.

Hot Trailer Yacht action at Manukau

Race 2 of the MYMBC trailer yacht winter series happened today in near perfect winter sailing conditions. Winds varied between 10 and 20 knots through the day, and the water was beautifully flat.

The top placings were very hotly contested between the leading Hartley 16s and Noelex 22s.

The Quicksilver 16 and Cherry 16 were both slightly off the pace in the conditions.
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As the Cherry sailor, I felt that we were a close match for the Quicksilver in the windier parts, however start line confusion in the second race prevented us from having a really good battle. Both boats were also late for the first start.

A little more wind would have suited us better, although less wind would have favoured the quicksilver.

I intend to add a significant amount of mast rake before the next race,  in an effort to remove any traces of lee helm, which, although very minimal, still affects our handling and performance in the gusts.

Sailing at MYMBC this Sunday.

Race 2 of the Manukau Yacht and MotorBoat Club's winter series is scheduled for Sunday July 3rd.

Start Time is 1100, so make sure you leave plenty of time to rig.

The forecast according to Windfinder is fine, some light cloud, and easterly 10 knots gusting toward 20.

With a high of 14 degrees, wrap up warm, and the sailing should be great!

Clubhouse on Kiwi Esplanade, half a k past the outboard boating club buildings.

YNZ listing update now complete

The Yachting New Zealand listing for Weymouth Yacht Club is now fully up  to date. Simon if you read this please send me your new email address so we can add it accordingly.

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.