Greetings,
Yesterdays racing at L. Rua was a great spectators day, as long as one was suitably attired to stop hypothermia. There were several separate instances of boats paired off, very close, struggling for mastery……..it was like Americas Cup racing……..well, the older monohull Cups which I loved.
Once the vehicles had negotiated the pot holey road there was magnificent sailing conditions awaiting……4-10 knots and consistent in direction. The course was a sort of 2 triangle setup and all the boats were the ultimate of classes, Canterbury J’s, no arguments either all day.
There were 5 interesting points for me during racing; 1 The I flag rule was in place for starts, (you might know it better as “round the ends”) and not one sailor transgressed protocol.
2 Dayele was on fire all day, look at his great placings. 3 Bob Auton pulled off an immaculate port tack start and was never headed (heat 5), unfortunately the fleet closed down any future attempts. 4 Mike Inns fell in the freezing lake but was only soaked waist down. 5 We had a protest which went to arbitration, a rare occurrence and with no animosity between the protagonists. Well done Mike for instigating it even though he had just fallen in the lake, still stayed long enough for the hearing, then retired for warmer pastures.
Congratulations to the podium people Dayele, Bruce and Glen. Well done Jim as Race Officer, it was a smooth operation.
HOUSEKEEPING
We have 4 more sailing days scheduled this season, then our next seasons program steps into place on August 6 (depending on the AGM date) so nothing really changes. The new program will be sent to you once the AGM is finalised. You will receive the new program including Race officer duty dates and a RO phone list in case you need to swap duty days.
For these last 4 race days here are the people on duty. Remember the milk and biscuits***.
July 9 – RO Peter Bradley, assisted by Ron Campbell.
July 16 – RO Graeme Raxworthy, assisted by Dayele Hobson.
July 23 – RO Barry Bissell, assisted by frostbitten Mike Inns.
July 30 – RO Mike Inns assisted by Glen Church***
Cheers
Tom A