Safety Bay, WA, AU

Went to the slalom race but wind was only 15-20 knots right up until the 2:30 start so decided to give it a miss. Jake, and other pinnas were rigging 7m and above sails. I only had the 72 litre board (91 and 97 need repairing) so went for a bite to eat nearby. By about 3pm the wind had increased to 20-25 so i rigged up at the pond for a couple of semipowered runs. At 3:30 the wind had increased to 25-29 knots and i was getting pretty powered up. tide was good over the beaver run too. In hindsight i would have been comfortably powerered in the later heats but it would have been grovelling down the course in the early heats.

5m overdrive, 72 Jp slalom, 23 vector weedy then 23 Lunny/CL ws.

Melville Beach, WA, AU

Frace 120; OD 7.0; 37 WS

hardly worth the effort today, 

Carlisle St, Safety Bay, WA, AU

Fun day of racing at the Safety Bay Slalom.

It was pretty light when I arrived around 12:45, and it didn't look like it was gonna boot in, so I rigged the 8.4.  By the time we got started after 2pm it was 18-22K and building, so I grabbed the M112 + 38 Vector weedy.  It got stronger again, probably 20-25K by the time I started my first heat, so I was massively over-powered.  Couldn't make the gybe at mark 2, I was too powered up to bear away, and bounced off the back.  I made it round the course and actually placed well enough to be graded in the second fleet, but decided I needed to change down, so I missed my second heat.

Resumed racing in Heat 3 with the 90 Gladiator + 7.0 + 27 Tribal weedy, which was spot on in the now 25K conditions.  Aced the start and made it to the first mark in first place, almost made it through my gybe, but as I flipped the rig the harness line hooked back in and I got pulled off the board 

It was all over after that so I was still in Fleet 3 for round 4.  I got another great start, but Tom Radis blasted over the top of me from upwind to beat me to the first mark.  Tommy dropped his gybe, I made all of mine and got a bullet, which saw me promoted to the Second Fleet for the fifth and final round.

I grabbed the M112 for the last round, cos the 90 was a bit sluggish coming out of the gybes the previous heat. Got a great start, and made it to the first mark in second place.  Made my gybe and gunned it for the second mark.  I went wide on the second gybe mark and a couple of sailors snuck inside me.  I got one place back overtaking a sailor on the third reach, literally bounced through my gybe and set out for the final gybe mark in fourth place.  Kiwi Terry dropped his last gybe and I snuck into third place, which I was happy with as the second fleet was a lot more competitive than Fleet 3.

Overall a great day of racing in really challenging conditions.  

Good to see Jake having a crack, he sailed really well, and fellow Pinnaroos Daniel and Hooksey getting amongst it. 

Bring on Cervantes!! 

2 categories

Cottesloe, WA, AU

Dutchies quick sail the other day