Outrageously Variable Winds

After being spoilt with constant nor-easters the last few weeks, sailors were greeted with an undecided forecast on Sunday. A total of 14 boats were on the water including Rohan and his family from Bathurst and Simon and Roe from Canberra. As boats left the beach, many were seen paddling to find breeze, only to find a lot of breeze as a gusty westerly set in. The course was adjusted for the new breeze and 2 hot dog races were held in a smoke haze. Gilby took out race one and Egbert claimed race two. During lunch, a solid southerly dropped the temperatures and brought some rain. Race 3 was won by Simon before Andrew took out race 4.

Another Great Day on the Bay

And yet another great day on the bay was had by one and all. Egbert started the day with terrifying Taipan speed to take the first two races. Mick was reliving his youth on an 18 (And loving it), scaring Quinny off in the process (he was a no show). Andrew's teabag and capsize in race 2 was the stand out for the day. With the increasing north easter after lunch, the Anderson's and John kept the duty crew nervous for races 3 and 4. Plenty of spray and catamaran speed topped off another great day of sailing.

Gilby

Terrific Conditions to Welcome New Sailors

The NSW Boating Industry's Association's annual try sailing day was held on Sunday with an estimated 80 people attending the Vincentia Sailing Club to give sailing a try. Conditions were ideal with a light nor-easter before lunch which gave the opportunity for beginners to get out on the water. After lunch the breeze strengthened giving the thrill seekers some face paced and enjoyable joy ride opportunities. Visitors to the club were treated to a variety of sailing craft to take rides on, with Hobie 16's, Taipan 4.9, Hobie Getaway, Wave & Bravo, Hobie Adventure Sailing Kayaks and a few Hobie Stand-Up paddle boards for good measure. We hope our visitors enjoyed the experience.

Jervis Bay, Cat Sailing & VSC At Their Best

An abundance of smiles, happy faces, kids having fun on the beach, great food and exhilarating sailing is what it was all about on Sunday. Surely the surprisingly good weather conditions contributed to those smiles on everyone's faces, sailors and beach gatherers, young and adults alike. Even Andrew came close to having a glimpse of a smile on his face, although not until after the sailing was over. Quinny and Rachael taking the gap at the start of race 2 and stealing Andrew's clean air may have had something to do with that. Helen and Dobbo were unquestioningly the duo on the water who had the most fun, even though they weren't the couple to beat. You can only do so much chatting Dobbo before it starts having an impact on your sailing!

Overall, the sailors were treated to excellent conditions with an all day long 10-15 knots Easterly. Of course some extra puffs and shifts, resulting in a few capsizes also (Rachael & James, Di). After lunch most of the sailors seemed more keen on spotting a whale in the middle of the race course rather than getting ready for race #3. Just as well Siebren, the race duty assistant for the day, had brought his fishing gear along on the start boat, stopping him from nagging his dad to get the races underway!

Race 3 was exhilarating and very fast paced, with Quinny and Rachael completing the two triangles and taking line honours in no more than 12 mins 34 secs, and with Mick & Patrick, Andrew & Georgii, Glen & Will not far behind. See the results, both Spring Handicap and overall Yardstick for more details. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say, from where I was standing the Hobie fleet looked like a glorious and rather thrilling spectacle, being a Taipan sailor that should say something. Lastly thank you Chemene and assisting ladies for serving a yummy lunch to us all.

Egbert

Hobie 16's Rule In The Seasons First Nor-easter

The first nor-easter of the season began light but strengthened to about 15 knots by the afternoon. 4 races were held with 8 sixteen's on the water and all had a blast particularly on the reach leg, thanks Dobbo. After teaming up for the last couple of weeks, John and Howard skippered their own boats and enjoyed a close battle on the water. Di and Julia showed great speed on the water taking line honours in race 4.

Andrew and Will claimed bragging rights over Mick and Patrick as the breeze strengthened and Peter visiting from Pittwater got the fleet thinking about the upcoming NSW state titles. So that leaves one question, where were the 18's and taipans?

Club Championship Starts

After a wash out of the first championship weekend, the club championship got underway in a sou-easterly breeze. Race 1 finished the way it started with Quinny first followed by Mick. Dobbo had a good race coming third. In race 2, James got a good start while Quinny dragged his arse in the cold water but after the first lap made the right decision to tack towards the beach and came through with the line honours just in front of Mick.

After taking another dip in the water on the way back to lunch, Quinny took another dip in the 3rd. The winter weight proving too much for his trapeze wire. James almost had the best start of the season but arrived early by 25 thousandths of a second. Race 4 was a quick single lapper with only 3 minutes across the entire fleet.

Blair

Pleasant Westerly

The halfway weekend of the spring series was 4 races in varying conditions. Races 1 and 2 were held in a 10-15kt westerly. Dobbo welcomed a new crew Julia to the sixteen in race 1 and the start boat crew nearly abandoned ship after James buried the bows on the finish line. In race 2 James got a great start and John, teaming up with Howard, decided to impersonate a teabag.

After lunch races 3 and 4 required a paddle out to the start line but then a light sou-westerly gave good racing while the V8 fans missed out. Egbert was happy with the start line all to himself for race 3 while the sixteen's were playing bumper boats. Rachael had taken the tiller for races 3 and 4 and took out line honours in the sixteen fleet in race 4. How often does James do this?

MB