NZL22/NZL104’s Road trip has just about to come to its conclusion…
Sunday 25th and this will be the last day, of my last regatta, of my four week road trip ;(
It has been an enjoyable 19 days on the road so far, and I have enjoyed living out of my Van.
Yesterday was unexpected good result for me…. This is the 1st DF65 regatta I have attended and I had no bench mark on how I would go against other top NZ DF65 sailors at a regional event.
Race one started a little late, light northerly, offshore and my start did not go well for me (and one other sailor). I ended up with a port starter straddled right across my boat between the backstay and mast. Thankfully their boat eventually slid off backwards and we were not too far behind the fleet. My back stay was now released off 99%, Super pointing and I could sheet out to keep the boat from totally rounding up in the light gusts. I was super lucky there was a huge lefty which I hooked and was back in the mix by the 1st top mark. The race course all day was start middle of the course, top/spreader, bottom gate, Top/Spreader, bottom gate then up to the finish at the top. This made for 2.5 beats which gave plenty of time to try and recover in each race from a average start. The course officials had been struggling all morning as the wind shifts at this point of the were crazy big.
After race one we had a class rules protest. This is the first every NZ DF65 Nationals, so I think this was a necessary thing to do and glad some brave sailors did. As our class heads into self regulation in the future, some ground rules will need to be agreed upon by the Manufacturer, suppliers and all DF65 boat owners. This protest has shown we need to get together with the Manufacture, suppliers, NZ sailors and world groups and decide how to manage our class rules as a group going forward. Currently I here people say “this is how Australia managed it at there Nationals”. My personal thinking, is how the DF65’s come out of the box, and how the box manual explains how to put them together should be the only way they are currently put together, no exceptions. Therefore a new person constructing a boat out of the box has exactly has the same boat I have here at these Nationals. The new person would then know they are competing on an even planing field and the only difference is the skill of the skipper. If we are going to run exceptions, or allowable alterations, we should ask the suppliers to provide this information with all new box's sold. The manufacture, suppliers and other sailors may agree or disagree with my opinion and I think that is what we all need to formally discussed as a group and agree on at a later date. (The protest was unsuccessfully as our sailing instructions had altered class rule C1 to allow this patch for this nz national event)
In the mean time the race officials had been chasing the wind and had a new course set up in the other shore line, for the westerly that was starting to stabilize. Race two underway and it was all on for the rest of the day. 18 boats on the start line and they all wanted the prime spot. For the first few races the line was bias to the Pin and a port start was the ideal but very hard to pull off. It is a game of millimeters and I had one of those days where the luck fell me way for all of my starts. After a few races the start line was trued up and then the wind shifts for the rest of the day determined which end was best to try and start at.
Racing was very, very tight, and the start normally determined who got to the top mark first. From there a downwind with a either a puff on the outside or inside, so again a boat could gain or lose 30 meters on this leg. Left or Right gate rounding? Then another shifty windward beat. Fantastic tactically racing all afternoon. Most enjoyable, thanks everyone :)
Many thanks to the RO, John Mc and his big team of helpers that made this all happen today,
And Big shout out to the Kapiti Club, well done team :)
A big turnout at a Mexican restaurant for tea before sneaking back to the motor camp for some shut eye.
Ps It is 3am as I write this report, why so early ?
Because there is something wrong with the wildlife here at El Rancho.
3am and all the birds are up singing and honking and having a good old time.
What is wrong with them ????
26th Finial Roadie Report - Trip home...
Sunday night and I intended to stay in Hunterville. I passed through at 6pm, feeling good and still a couple of hours of light. Finally i parked up in Rotorua. 6am Monday morning, first light and I hit the redwoods forest on my mountain bike and to see some tracks i have not ridden for Four years... Home by 11am without reverse or 1st gear left in the van. Turned on the hot water and the washing machine was still going at 6pm on load number ???? I think the van has one more load of washing to go, so by Tuesday lunchtime the van should be cleaned out and we can starting looking forward to a Clutch repair and the Westhaven IOM woodie and 5 hour regattas. Happy sailing everyone... Keep sending in your sailing reports. thanks TRSC web master...
