Hi All Scotty Price, our PRO, now has as little hair as me after trying to set a decent course for our fleet of 9 SB20s on Thursday night. It was a good turnout considering the wind and rain throughout the day but in retrospect we should have all stayed at home. Every time Scott tried to lay the start line the breeze would come in from the opposite direction and in the end he just had to start the countdown and hope for the best. Race 1 saw all the boats stacked up at the favoured boat end but as the starting gun went the breeze suddenly swung 20 degrees to the left causing mayhem on the line. The wind kept flicking about but the boats that worked left picked up good pressure and as the breeze built it moved further left and they were able to reach in to the mark. David Graney lead the charge to the top mark followed by Steve Catchpool and close behind Colleen Darcey. Dave got around cleanly but Steve hoisted his kite with a wine glass and had to gybe to get it out. He then gybed back into a shift and wrapped the kite around his forestay. Two more gybes and a drop later hed overlayed the bottom mark and had to beat back to round second last. The race turned into a stop/start affair with the wind dropping out in one part of the course and coming in from a totally different angle somewhere else. David pulled further ahead and went on to win the race, Karabos was able to get through to second and Colleen third. Race 2. After a few course changes and an abondment with 5 seconds to go we finely got under way. This time the line was favoured at the pin end but with 2 knots of current and not much wind a couple of boats were swept into the mark. The breeze was shifting sharply swinging up to 30 degrees every 2 or 3 minutes. Karabos lead with David close behind, the rest of the fleet trying to find a bit of favourable pressure. By the time we arrived at the top mark the fleet was well spread out. Karabos lead around closely followed by David and Kizzy Skinner. Karabos continued to pull away from the rest of the fleet only to find a big hole 50 metres from the finish, and that is where we sat. Kizzy found some great pressure on the right side and was able to get around David and move up into second within a boat length or two of Karabos. Both boats were side by side coming into the finish but with the strong current Kizzy just missed laying the boat and Karabos slipped through to take the win with Kizzy second and David third. Well done to Scott Price and his team for their patience in setting the courses on such a difficult night and thank you to the RYCT for putting on a magnificent buffet for all to enjoy. No twillight racing for the SB20s this week but the nationals start in Sandringham on Friday, keep an eye on the Facebook page for photos, video and race reports. Cheers Nick
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 08:03:01 +0000