Apollo Bay Sailing Club
Tell Tales
28th January 2017
We have been blessed with some great sailing conditions the last few weeks and last Saturday afternoon did not disappoint with a sunny 15-20 knot W/SW wind.
The Club had a good turn out of sailors at the pre race briefing. The course, a triangle, windward return, two triangles and a beat to the finish or "Chop, Sausage, Chop, Chop" as they say. As the duty boat headed towards Wild Dog for the start, young Jamie on his Laser was heading back in. He had forgotten to put the bungs in, nice one Jamie.
The course was set to 180º south but by start time the wind was almost coming from the west. The duty boat team tried (with limited success) to move the top mark so the first leg would be more into the wind and then zoomed back to the line for the 2.00 pm start. By the time the keel boats started wracking up the wind had begun to freshen significantly. The start of a race is always an anxious time, especially on a blowy day. Large yachts vying for position, their big sails flapping loudly, it definitely gets your heart rate up!
Its Magic got the best start with Boheme and Quickmatch only seconds behind. As the dinghy start time approached (5 minutes after the keel boats) young Jamie appeared on the scene and with perfect timing sailed straight over the start line on the gun! He had gone back to the beach emptied out his boat, put the bungs in and sailed back out, just in time.
The dinghy start was all action with Morgan (Gypsea) and Ella and Geeks (Champagne Jam) both breaking the start and being recalled. Ella and Geeks then tipped their boat completely upside down. Young Jamie somehow got caught up in the mess and managed to sustain some damage to his Laser. He wisely chose to retire from the race; after all that. Col and Jane (Cest Si Bon) made it to the first mark but they were also forced to retire from the race due to a breakage.
Of the keel boats Argonaut was first to the top mark with Its Magic hot on her heels. Argo held onto her lead for most of the race, picking up some nice Westerly lifts in near the beach. Wild Rose also had a great race, relishing the heavy conditions. Heather Frost did a good job of driving Boheme, standing in for Angelika. Quickmatch retired from the race with a broken goose neck and Ten Plus One had a shocker (too much sail out, they were over powered much of the time). The old boys on Interlude sat up the back in the cockpit where its nice and dry as they made their way around the course without any problems (they do it easy those lads).
Peter and Anton (Miss Molly) dominated the Flying Fifteen fleet for the entire race and thrived in the heavy conditions, having a great day. Russell and Andrew (Wal) were also up at the lead early in the race. Bruce and Paul (April Dancer) and Tim and Chris (Affrodite) sailed well but carried a bit of water slowing them down. Geeks and Ella on the Fireball and Morgan on her Laser had a fun time planing around the course.
Thank you to Peter and Jonathon for assisting Lisa with the duty boat.
Results
Heat 5 - Summer Series
Heat 13 - Café 153 Club Championship
Handicap1st April Dancer 2nd Wild Rose 3rd Miss Molly |
Yard Stick1st Gypsea 2nd Miss Molly 3rd April Dancer |
Thanks to our sponsors
Apollo Bay & District Community Bank, Great Ocean Road Trading Post, Waterfront Motor Inn, Café 153, The Fishing Co op, Surf-n-Fish, J&C Marriner Earthworks
Life is short, come sailing with us.
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