Winter Series 2006

Series Rap Up

This season was our best result yet, last year we finished 22nd out of 28 with one win in a non pointscore race, this year we had two wins and finished 9th out of 20 boats and in the second win beat the top 4 boats. We learnt a lot and although in my opion the series was marred a complete lack of wind, which makes our result even more astounding as we easily finished in the top 3 when we had breeze. A big thankyou from Barb and myself for a wonderful season.

Race 10

Light winds again, but we did finish, overall a good race except for a minor spinnaker foul up, we did manage to avoid following Syonar in Oblisk bay where they parked for 30 minutes, resulting in a win for the series placing's between us.

Race 9 26th June

What a good race, everyone did their part, jobs got done without discussion and the results demonstrate this, other than your skipper with a bad call on the first mark we did well in flukey conditions. The new spinnaker sheets worked well and the sailing of more acute angles downwind produced results. THE BIG news we are now in outright 8th place, compared to last season when we were 21st out of 26th it is a remarkable achievement. The one second loss to Time Out did not effect the position.

Race 8 18th June

Bad start, then no wind, basically we got killed on the downwind legs, looking at the performance the spinnaker needs lighter sheets and tack line to stop it collapsing. The other tactic for these races is to sail closer to the wind as boats like Vanguard do in light breezes, we may cover more ground and have more jibes but the overall result will be faster downwind performance. Brindabilla actually sail no lower that 110 degrees apparent. The new sheets will bi fitted this Saturday.

RACE 6 4th June

Difficult day, good strong breeze, a few new faces and gear problems, however we did overcome and finished a creditable 10th which was immediately dropped placing us in equal 9th with one point to 8th. The mighty Syonara managed to sneak ahead by one point with a first place. We still have Syonara, Disko Trooper and Attitude within our grasp and a good result in race 8 could change things dramatically.

Race 5 28th May

Promising start with wind then nothing, with an 8th place out of 17 starters and 7 points. The quote from the CYC web site says it all "Of the 155 which started, 25 yachts withdrew from racing leaving the die-hards to fight it out for valuable points towards the overall series point-score", yep I think that makes us die-hards. We are now in equal 7th place, 10 points ahead of our traditional rival Syonara, we have overtaken Disco Trooper and have closed within 2 points of Attitude. The only down side is Windflyt is closing fast within 1 point after a second and third placing.

I think the kite went up and down 6 times during the race with no problems, including a fast finishing leg under a lot of pressure.

Tactically I'm getting better, we made a brave move that paid off hansomley on the second leg that jumped us up 3 places for the finish, well done everyone and lets pray for wind.

Race 4 21st May

WIND = none for the second week in a row, having said that other than a tactical error getting stuck in the middle of the harbor against the tide we did pickup 4 places when we finally got the wind, 8th place out of 17 starters did not hurt us too much. We are now within 3 points of sixth place and we have beaten two of those boats in the last two races.

Race 3 14th May

Another good race, yes we were 10th in a field of 17 but in the light conditions we generally on last years form would have been last, one race last year they took in the buoys before we finished. The new main looked great and once we got wind easily overtook a few yachts including, Syonara and Windflyt. The final spinnaker set was perfection in action, one mistake and we had three yachts ready to run over the top of us, even the drop went well. We can do better in the light airs I think I did make a couple of tactical errors which cost us a few places, however we are now in 8th place on the point score, pretty damm good.

Race 2 7th May

Headline on CYC site " Wild Westerly plays havoc with winter series fleet" we not only survived but won. Three things made it possible:

• Crew effort and commitment in difficult conditions
• Less mistakes than the other boats
• Good tactical decisions

Crew makes a boat go fast, I think everyone found a few muscles after the race they forgot about, but a win takes the pain away, my thanks to everyone. On the tactical side after speaking to a few other skippers who were chasing us, they pointed at two decisions they wish they had made, the early port tack before the first mark at Fort Denison and the tack before Sow & Pigs into Obelisk Bay on the way to Manly.

Race 1 30th April

Can be summed up in two words "Mainsail jammed" before start, no ones fault and the sail was scheduled to be replaced at the end of the season. New one on order.

Ladies Day April 23

First race, how good is it to be back on the water. Yes we made a few tactical errors and due to the lack of practice the spinnaker had its moments but all in all, I felt other than the ground lost with the tactical issue we did not lose more ground on speed. It appears the changes during the off season have worked. The core crew has now been resolved and the crew shirts are on order, I think the idea of having the same or similar responsibilities each week will not only improve the performance but will make it enjoyable for all concerned. Congratulations to the skipper and I am confidant we can get you on or near the podium for the ladies day race at the end of the season.