Greetings all,

Yesterday was a great spectator day because of very strong gusty winds from the south and some of those gusts were very strong, broaching/nosedive strength  tsk tsk. 14 idio…oops brave sailors faced the elements while a large number of intellectuals analysed the strategies unfolding before there eyes….of course from their comfortable chairs on the sideline.

After several heats the wind dropped sufficiently for more pleasant sailing until the last heat when there was a final supreme effort from the heavens which dealt one last blast before subsiding into obscurity. Graeme Raxworthy was RO assisted by Allen Anderson and they set a 2 lap trapezoid course which was quite long to suit the wind strength, and the fleet was split into 2 mass starts, I must say it all worked out very well. One of the highlights of the day for me, was in the penultimate heat Al Ross triumphed, then invited us spectators to watch him do it again on the following heat. So there we were, all excited for a great battle where J 282, on a promise, would trounce all the other 13 boats. Off the first fleet started but alas, halfway up the first beat J 282 and J 222 entangled and J 282’s jib was left out of kilter, with a subsequent withdrawal, tsk tsk. There is an appropriate verse in the bible which reads “He who thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall”. Two of the top flight boats in the fleet were forced to withdraw early otherwise the results would be vastly different from what you see, J 74 and J 146 both had winch problems and had to join the spectators. We saw lots of nosedives, broaches, and round ups at marks, so we had a wonderful afternoon on the sidelines.

Congratulations Ron, Glen and Ralph for their masterful handling of the elements thus reaching the podium.