Weymouth YC Opening Day

Awesome weather greeted the small but keen fleet of sailors on Sunday 7th october, for the season opener of 2012-13.

There was around 10-15 knots of wind, blowing straight up the channel past the clubhouse.

Although only three boats started, all of the sailors were new members, some of which had just taken part in our beginners course.

As it happened, if the club had had more sunbursts available, there would have been more boats on the water, as two of the boats were over-subscribed (sailing 3-up), and two other members stayed ashore.

A simple windward-leeward course was set, with a start/finish part-way up the beat. The first race was two laps.

For simplicity we opted to use the reef pole as one end of the start line. This proved to be very entertaining for the spectators, as each boat took its turn performing a not-so-graceful pirouette as they hit the reef. I might add that it was a little frustrating for the competitors.

The white sunburst, sailing 3-up, being helmed by Paul, spent more time on the reef than the others, running onto it immediately after crossing the start line. This proved to be a good thing, as it gave the others a chance to get their noses in front.

The red sunburst, sailing 2-up and being helmed by Rob L, hit the front, and held on to their lead for most of the race, only being pipped by Paul quite near the finish. The blue sunburst, sailing 3-up with Ajith on the tiller, were always close by, just not quite hitting the front.

So at the end of race 1, the finishing order was white, red, blue.

In the second race of the day, paul sailed a flawless race, leading from the start, to win by a large margin. as the other two approached the line, it was anyone's guess, as they switched places often. In this race the blue boat was being steered by Pete. Thirty seconds out from the line it looked like the blue boat was going to be in front, but it was not to be, as Rob just managed to squeeze past.

Once the handicaps were applied,  Paul and Rob had a win each, while Ajith and Pete had managed to secure two thirds.

Full results on the Weymouth Y.C. website.

Next club day Sunday 14th, at 9:30am.

Labour weekend sailing... or lack there-of!

None of the Manukau clubs have anything scheduled for this weekend, or Monday.

Early morning/late evening tides have probably put a stop to that.

One thing that could be done, subject to enthusiasm, and decent weather, is an Out and Back cruise, departing from your favourite launching place early Sunday Morning, and going out with the tide.

With a little communication and planning (eg swapping mobile phone numbers or similar), all the boats could meet up somewhere, either for a BBQ on the beach, or just raft up for a picnic, floating down the channel.

Trailer yachts would be best, as obviously the rafting-up idea wouldn't work with Lasers, but anything with a halyard could do it!

Once the tide starts to flow back in, we could all head back to where we came from.

High tide is around 7:30 am, so it's an early start from Weymouth or Mangere, but without work or school on Monday, it doesn't matter if we get back a bit late, just as long as it's daylight.

Next weekend (29/30 October, 2011) seems to be a busy one, with sailing planned at most clubs for both days.

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.

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?

Upcoming sailing events 21-8-2011.

This weekends Manukau sailing events are:

Laser racing at PLSC, Ireland Road Panmure - Handicap series number 2.
11:30 Start.

Mixed fleet racing at PSC, Farm Cove Pakuranga - Winter series 11 and 12.
10:00 Start, followed by prizegiving.

Both events are on Sunday, and dont forget to arrive with plenty of time to rig, and mention the Manukau Sailing Blog when you are talking to people there!

The windfinder forecast says around 5-15 knots SW, fine, clear skies, and 12 degrees, so probably not the best weather for those shorty wetsuits!

Manukau Winter Series

Today's Manukau Yacht Club trailer yacht winter series racing was held in very light drifting conditions.

Two races were planned. In the light conditions, the Hartley 16s were showing the way to the Noelex 22s.

Sadly, both Rob in the Quicksilver and myself in the Cherry were unable to attend due to personal circumstances.

Weather for the weekend

Despite the storms raging over the whole country at present, the weekend looks good.

Race time Sunday is forecast to be:

Light winds 5-7 knots from the South
Clear skies and a high of 14  degrees.

Shame the racing isn't on Saturday tho, with 20kt winds, some light cloud and 13 degrees.

The rubbish weather returns on Monday, with rain all next week.

Forecasting by Windfinder.com for Auckland Airport.