Sunday 25th October - Report
Jules Hall
What wild weather! Well done to all those that braved the conditions and made it to the club last Sunday.
Sailing School
The Sailing School opted for Pacers for most kids apart from the hardy foursome who took to PJs. A few swims by the latter. And some great speeds from the former! Everyone returned to shore safely, if a little chilly. Best of all was the overwhelming positivity of the kids and the parent support crews. A huge well done to everyone for getting stuck in despite the conditions. And a special mention to James Campbell in the Adventure Sailing session for some awesome PJ sailing out on the main harbour! We have lighter winds forecast for this weekend!
Club Championships - round 2
Sabot Fleet
( words courtesy of Adrian Paul)
With breeze ranging from fresh to scary we had 5 champions take to the water. Coco had a great ride but the southerly sent her back to the beach early. Hugo pushed on and got plenty of miles up - definitely one to watch. The race start itself was incredibly tight with Max, Zac and Charlie crossing the line together, staying engaged until the top mark. Boat speed was high for all of them as they managed the gusty southerly. No one in the fleet capsized (legends!). First place went to Max, well earned with consistently solid boat handling. Smiles all over the course, despite the rain and breeze. Bring on the state championships at Gosford this weekend!
Check out this video from the start boat
Fiying 11 & Cherub Fleet
(words courtesy of David O’Loughlin)
The Sailing exhibited today can be best described by the huge smiles when everyone made it back to the beach.
It was certainly a day of building resilience. Getting around the course in the challenging 20-25 knot breeze was a feat, one squall came through in the afternoon (lap 3) resulting in a white out and 28kn gusts. Thankfully that only lasted a few mins. It took out a large number on the 18fters – it was carnage out there.
Mostly our fleet stayed up, the cherubs had a major battle on their hands coping with the bullets and they ended up in the drink quite a few times.
In the Flying 11’s JackO and Hugo in Shotgun faced with a lost rudder on the second beat, managed to get it back on the pintels with some great team work – Hugo jumped over the front and held the boat in the fierce gusts. Their determination was rewarded by regaining the lead at the top of the 3rd beat (overcoming a massive 6 min deficit at the top of the second beat) to win the day. JJ in Bandit had his own breakages to deal with and got around the course well (without any boom vang) and finished in great spirits.
The F11’s both had new crews and they had a ball in the wind, the reaching was amazing at times.
In the Cherubs Well done to Chris Dixon who survived the conditions and finished the race to win. Gear breakages cost the other cherub dearly and they returned to shore. Retired, but not beaten.
A Big thank you to Jeremy Dixon who loaned his boat as the start boat and helped out on course with flags, wisdoms and stories of the good old days, Sabots, F11’s and Cherubs. Its great to see him back. And to Simon Bando and Ashleigh Minnett who bravely set the marks and supported the F11’s and Cherubs on their own. At times it was raining cats and dogs and blowing like a demon had been let out of the cage.