Support the Papakura CoastGuard!!

Papakura coastguard are holding a "Massive Garage Sale" to raise funds.

Please donate any saleable items you have laying around to this very worthwhile cause.

Drop off's or collections by arrangement, call Jan Frost on 027-220 7779.

The garage sale, if you want to buy something, is on:

 Saturday 23rd November, 8am to 3pm.

Wellington Park, 1 Great South Road, Takanini.

Come on down, the guys could use your support!

Change of website - MYMBC

Manukau Yacht and Motorboat club have advised a change of address for their website.

www.sportsground.co.nz/mymbc

is the new one.

Try it out, it looks pretty good to me!

The link on the main blog page here will be updated shortly.

It's official!!

The annual Crew.Org.Nz rum race has been set for Friday December 20th.

Put it in your diary and book the day off if you have to!

Remember the start is quite late (5:45pm for the first boats last year) so aim to be at westhaven by around 4pm to allow plenty of time to rig and get to the start. If rigging takes you a while, then give yourself some extra time. Being late for the start is not a good thing, especially in a slow boat like ours!

Come on over and have a blast! Remember to bring a torch or two for the trip home, and for de-rigging.

A little update

Weymouth hosted the YNZ "Have a Go!" scheme earlier this week, reports are that some 35 kids from local schools got to try sailing, and several have shown an interest in taking up the sport.

The "AK Splash" water safety fun day run by teams such as Coastguard, Surf Life Saving, Westpac Rescue Helicopters, Auckland council, and Mai FM, among many others was a very good event, with children being given "passports" upon entering the grounds, with various stations giving stamps to fill them up. Once the books were full, kids could take them up to the event managers site and win a prize. 500 of those prizes were new RFD lifejackets, and if the kids already owned a good lifejacket, they could get one for a parent or sibling.
Thanks to all those who made this event a huge success, water safety is a major part of what all water-sports clubs should be about!

and finally...

The annual Crew.Org.Nz end of year Rum Race is in its final preparation stages. 

Top prizes this year include a $3500 SUP.

The Ogre has said that dates should be finalised early this coming week.

More info here as soon as it becomes available, or go to www.crew.org.nz and check it out for yourself.
Last year I think we had 87 boats, the goal this year is to top 100.
We were the only small boat (excluding Weta's) to be involved last year, and the huge adrenaline burst of trying to get to the finish line before the huge ORMA 60 Vodafone (we failed, maybe this year) was with me for weeks afterward. Mark foy starts and different length courses, coupled with the brilliant Racetrack handicap system meant the whole fleet finished within just a few minutes. Simply awesome.

Coming up this month on the Manukau.

Saturday 9th November :
Series A at MYMBC  3pm.
Club day at Clarks Beach, 1pm.

Sunday 10th:
Club day at Weymouth, 2pm.
Open day at French Bay, 2pm.

Saturday 16th:
Club day at Waiuku 9:30am.
Club day at Clarks beach, 1pm

Sunday 17th:
TY race 2 at Weymouth, 9am.
MYMBC series A at 10:30am.
Spring series at French Bay, 10am.
Champs series at Waiuku, 10am.

Saturday 23rd:
Club day at Weymouth, 1pm.
Memorial cup at MYMBC, 2pm.
points racing at Clarks Beach, 1pm

Sunday 24th:
Club day at Weymouth, 1:30pm.
Spring series at French Bay, 1pm.

Saturday 30th:
Club day at Clarks Beach, 1pm.
Working bee at Weymouth -please note some roads around Manurewa will be closed this morning for the Santa Parade.

Sunday, 1st December:
Club day at Waiuku, 9am.

And coming up early next month:

The second annual Manukau Meltdown regatta is being held at Weymouth Yacht Club on Saturday December 7th. More details coming very soon.

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.

Kiwi's doing it large Stateside

http://youtu.be/y3G_7hNPXQE

For a little glimpse of NZ's history as ETNZ take on OTUSA to try to regain the Auld Mug, sports oldest trophy.

A new beginning

The new season of sailing, training, and racing begins Saturday September 7th, 2013.

Two weekends in September have been allocated as training weekends for any beginners wishing to learn the basics, or any more advanced sailors wishing to brush up before the racing season.

Saturday October 5 sees the start of our racing season, with 5 sprint races planned to kick off the year.

The first of our races for Trailer Yachts is planned for October 19, starting at 0930.

---------------------------------

The red Sunburst has been given a new trailer, thanks to Murray's handiwork.

The Beachcomber design "Petal" has had an extensive makeover, with new paintjob and some other modifications.

The Cherry design "Cherryo" has also had a few mod's over the winter, with a new deck layout aimed at improving the upwind performance in winds under 15 knots. Whether or not she is ready for the start of the new season is still very debatable.

Panmure Lagoon Sailing Club turn it on for 50th year.

PLSC held the 36th annual RSA Laser regatta, in the club's 50th year, on Sunday, 3-3-13.

The day dawned overcast with some gentle rain, but still almost 50 lasers, comprised of 30+ Standards, and several smaller Radial and 4.7 rig boats.

The wind did not want to play ball early on, and in the very light, shifty and patchy breeze, several boats got caught out on the wrong side of the start line in the first race.

This caused a lot of congestion, with short start sequences meaning that by the time the last standards got to the start line, the following mixed fleet were starting.

Panmure Basin is not a very large expanse of water, and with fifty boats, it was very hard for anyone to get a decent break on the fleet. Downwind, the blanketing effect of the following boats meant that the leeward mark was often very congested.

The competition was hot throughout the fleet, and no one boat dominated the days racing. In the four races, only one of the top ten boats finished in the same position twice.

The breeze gradually built and settled during the day, and the final race was held in a nice 15 knot consistent breeze, which saw a few of the tail-enders capsize.

Race three had the days only protest, as the course was shortened at the windward mark, and several boats crossed the finish line in the wrong direction. This did not effect the end result much, as the boats affected were all able to discard this result.

In the last race, there was absolute chaos at the top mark first-time around, as one boat failed to quite lay the mark, and ended up stalled right on the layline, just feet from the mark. Twenty-odd lasers charging in nose-to-tail on the starboard layline then had to take evasive action, meaning that those brave enough to try a port-tack approach (including me) had to avoid the whole fleet, and with that boat stalled, we just had to spin around and look for another gap.

Personally, I finally found a gap in 28th place, having originally been in the top five before the mark.

As the breeze was quite strong by this stage I managed to pass a few boats downwind, by pushing hard at the time when they were backing off to avoid a capsize. A good rounding at the bottom mark and a short hitch to the left put me into a slightly lifted shift, and I managed to work the boat up into around 15th place by the top mark for the last time. I managed to get past another few boats downwind, and then sailed over the top of one more boat right before the finish line in 11th place.

Why can't I find that pace everyday????

2013 Manukau Regatta

Today was the annual Manukau shield challenge, hosted this year by French Bay Yacht Club.

66 boats faced the starters flags, with visitors from Maraetai, Manukau, Panmure Lagoon, and Weymouth clubs, as well as twelve-foot skiffs from Auckland Sailing Club. Two races were sailed, each lasting just over an hour.

Maraetai also provided some extra safety cover, in the form of three RIB's.

The weather gods turned on yet another perfect day, with temperatures in the mid to high twenties, and wind ranging between 5 and 15 knots. The water was fairly flat, although once the tide started running out, the chop started to build.

The on-water action was really hot, with everyone having a good tussle with the boats around them.

I was busy with the Laser fleet, where we had 12 boats. Most were sailing with standard rigs, although a few opted for the radial rig.

The wind shifted part-way through the starting sequence of the first race, making the start line a bit biased to the left, although looking up the course showed what seemed to be a right hand shift. This resulted in most of the fleet starting on the left end, while me and a few others went out on the right.

There didn't seem to be a lot in it, as at the top mark I rounded as the first of the right-siders, in fifth place but right behind the leaders.

Don won this race quite easily in the end, setting the standard for the rest of the fleet.

Race two saw a much more orderly start, and Chantal picked it right, taking first around the top mark, with me in second. We then took off down the reach, heading in the wrong direction! This dropped us down the order a tiny bit, although both still in contention.

The final results showed PLSC sailors taking the top three places, with Don winning both races.

Looking forward...

The shield challenge seems to have lost its glory and prestige, with very few eligible clubs sending teams to compete in recent years. Ineligible clubs have been sending large numbers of boats, with Taikata sendng several boats to Weymouth last year, and PLSC sending good numbers today.

One must wonder, therefore, whether the shield should be re-defined, and such clubs allowed entry.