Greetings all,
Saturday was a mixture of everything, from light patches to uncontrolled nosedives, of course what else would one expect with a fresh nor wester? One of the most spectacular broaches was when J 150 was flattened about 300mm in front of J 303 and whilst 150 wallowed her rounded hull side to 303, 303 sailed right over the top of 150’s hull with virtually no loss of speed or damage, just a rising motion as her keel rose over the top. One does not know whether it was Ralph’s skill or good luck, but since Ralph climbed onto the podium we will credit it as skill. Another amazing sight was Nick Richardson’s sun hat. He was adorned with one of those English explorers pith helmets which were popular in the 1800’s to early 1900’s, I was surprised you can still purchase them. Green with envy I was.
This event was Murray Pearce’s first stint as RO and backed up by Al Ross they did a great job under difficult wind direction conditions to set a good course for the day. It was gates to windward and gates to leeward so the direction could be reversed, which did happen, plus Murray had a nice selection of biscuits.
Again, no fouling of our good behaviour stakes, well done sailors. It was a MF start and the course was 2 laps and not being near the front at the finishes I had no idea of who was attaining glory until the results were revealed, so congratulations to Roy, Ron C, Ralph for being exalted to the podium. Two other sailors should be mentioned favourably in dispatches. Selwyn Taylor and Anzan Zhang, both new to the sport, had some really good placings and are rising up the ladder steadily.