Sailing Today - 8-7-2012.

This morning saw the winter series at Pakuranga SC continuing, in light, testing conditions.

In the light winds, it was the starling "Quicksilver" that got around the course quickest, living up to it's name.

Here's a few pic's of the mornings action, showing a beautiful day on the Waitemata harbour.

Click the image to see it bigger, they're in low-res, but I am happy to provide higher resolution copies on request.

Beautiful day out there!

Todays overall winner!

Gypsy

First Scout Cutter today

Close racing for second and third!

Right to the wire, 278 just crossed the line ahead of 131.

In the afternoon, sailing on the Manukau harbour, was the third day of the Manukau Yacht and Motorboat Club winter series for trailer yachts.

In the light conditions, Hartley 16's took the line honours, just edging out the top Noelex's in both races.

Conditions were really shifty, and resulted in several attempts at laying the start line, before they could get a start away.

Pic's of trailer yacht action...

The Noelex fleet approach the bottom mark.

Three of the Hartley fleet beating upwind.

And also happening at MYMBC, the youth training is going really well. Here's a few more pics.

After sailing, I took a trip out to Weymouth, to check out the work on the new slipway and jetty.

Work has only started, and it looks a bit like a building site, but here's a peek...

And thats it from me today.

Except to say that not a single Weymouth boat went racing today, we should be ashamed of ourselves!

More winter sailing... July 7 & 8, 2012.

Saturday 7th seems to have absolutely nothing on, anywhere. However, there's something on almost everywhere on Sunday.

Sunday 8th...


On the Waitemata...


Pakuranga SC dinghy winter series continues at 0830.

PLSC Winter series for Lasers continues at 0930.

Taikata SC has frostbite racing at 0930.

And on the Manukau...

French Bay YC has winter sailing #2 at 1030.

Manukau YMBC Trailer Yacht winter series continues at 1300.

Waiuku YC has winter series #4 at 1300.

So there it is -

Remember, each club has it's own "niche", with PLSC being a Laser stronghold, MYMBC being a trailer yacht club, WYC and FBYC cater to all dinghy classes, with PSC mainly catering for junior sailing, Starlings, Sunbursts and Scout Cutters being the main classes.

Plan your weekend carefully, and you could really cram a lot into one day!
If my spare parts arrive in time, I hope to be sailing at two venues again, it really makes getting up worthwhile!

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!

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.

Winter sailing around South Auckland.

Tomorrow, Sunday June 10, sees a lot of activity on both harbours.

Here's a quick rundown....

Pakuranga Sailing Club (Farm Cove) start their famous dinghy winter series at 10am.

Panmure Lagoon Sailing Club (Ireland road) have day 2 of their hugely successful Laser winter series at 11am.

Manukau YMBC (Mangere Bridge) start their Trailer Yacht winter series at 2:30 in the afternoon.

French Bay YC start their Winter series at 12noon.

Slightly outside the area, Taikata Sailing Club in Te Atatu have racing at 10:45am.

Those keen enough and organised enough could race on the Waitemata in the morning, and the Manukau in the afternoon. Which is what I hope to do.

Final races for Weymouth TY's

The last two races for the Weymouth Yacht Club summer Trailer Yacht series didn't happen last Sunday, as the wind was over 30 knots, and quite gusty.

Instead, members busied themselves throughout the day ensuring that everything is organised ready for the Easter weekend Manukau Regatta.

We also got a chance to inspect the newest addition to our TY fleet, as Rob L brought his Hartley along, hoping for a good day.

The club now switches it's focus back to dinghy sailing, and following the Regatta, we will be having (previously unscheduled) racing for small boats whenever we can, right up until the start of the MYMBC Winter Series in June, or until we all decide it's getting too cold.

Manukau Yacht and Motor Boat Club website

Congrats go out to MYMBC who have finally got their new website up and running.

It looks good, but has a way to go before its complete at this stage.

Check the link above to see it.

Don't forget, if you have a competitive Hartley TS16 or Noelex 22, that's the place to be.

If you have a less-competitive small trailer yacht, Weymouth might suit you more.

Either way, come the winter months and we'll all be at the Manukau anyway!

Upcoming Sailing 10/11-9-2011

Waiuku Yacht Club winter series continues at 9:30 am on Sunday.

French Market at 7 am at French Bay Yacht Club also on Sunday.

No scheduled racing at PLSC, MYMBC or Weymouth.

Clarks beach website and calendar not available.
Pakuranga website and calendar not available.

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?

Manukau Winter Series 28-8-2011

This Sunday see's the final races of the MYMBC trailer yacht winter series near Mangere Bridge.
Start time is 0930, so no lie-in this weekend.

Last chance for us to line the Cherry up against the Hartleys and the Quicksilver. Newly tuned, we hope for enough wind to get a decent showing. At that time of the morning it's unlikely, but we can hope.

Awesome sailing today.

Today saw the last 2 races of the Pakuranga Sailing Club winter series.

The weather was fantastic, with about 10 knots of wind straight down the channel, flat water, and moderate temperatures. Long wetsuits were ideal.

The race management was very good, with a well conducted briefing, good simple courses, and great prizes awarded at the end, for both place-getters, and a few by lucky dip.

There was a good fleet of sunbursts ( If I'd realised that earlier, I would have brought one of those over instead of my Laser ) and a good fleet of Scout Cutters, with a handful of other boats thrown in for good measure.

I think it ranks as the best bit of club sailing I've been involved with for some time.

Action on the water was fiercely contested, with some great battles in both fleets. I also spotted a few boats touching bottom in the shallow water near the clubhouse, trying to gain a tiny advantage.

It was great to see another club trying to build our sport, through grass roots level, and helping to increase participation.

Thank you PSC, respect is definitely yours.

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!

Sunday's forecast

I haven't done much this week, and with the pending battle coming up on Sunday I thought I should put the forecast into perspective. Just in case any international readers want to know what's happening.

The average wind speed is 18-20 knots (Force 5).
The wind gusts are 26-28 knots (Force 7).

Wind direction - Southwest, which is the prevailing wind in this area. It usually feels stronger than it really is.
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The Cherry (my boat) is 4.75 m long, 2.15 m wide, sleeps four adults, and weighs 220kg fully rigged. It has no internal ballast. The working sail area is 11.4m2.

The Quicksilver (Rob's boat) is 5m long, 2.24 m wide, also sleeps four, and weighs 408kg, with 108kg of ballast. The working sail area is 17.7m2.

Neither of us will be carrying spinnakers.

With the rig size being offset by the weight difference, its easy to see why these boats are quite closely matched in theory. IF we manage to get decent starts, then there could be quite a battle!!

I know rob spent a few hours recently tuning up ready for a windy weekend, to be faced with drifters up 'til now. I spent about an hour doing the same thing today.

Of course, tuning on the driveway is fine, but until we get on the water, I have no real idea how well it's  worked. We're pretty much ignoring the Noelex's and Hartley's, although if we happen to be close, then who knows!

Check in here Sunday Arvo to see how it all goes down.

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!!

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.

Manukau Trailer Yacht Winter Series

Day 4 of the MYMBC trailer yacht winter series is to be held this Sunday.

Start Time 1015, All welcome.

Located at the end of Kiwi Esplanade, near Mangere Bridge.

$10 entry fee, dont forget to allow time to rig!

Fingers crossed there'll be about 12 boats, mostly 16 feet long, with a couple of Noelex 22s also battling it out!

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

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.

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.