The SoPYC Winter Series.
2021
Sunday the 23rd of August
Where are the Sailors?
Count them! Four Flying 15's, three 125's and nine windsurfers.
To look after them we had six on the start boat, two mark laying boats with two on board each boat. A rescue /safety boat with two on board and a snapper pottering around on a spare polly boat.
If you wanted to, you could count the sailors which would give you the 23 actual sailors on the H20 as the 15's and 125's are two person craft. This same team are capable of dealing with up to 100 boats at a time with the addition of another safety boat or two.
The afternoon started with a light wandering southerly that took a few minutes to settle down under an AP and the RO had the racing under way fairly rapidly. The breeze began to shift almost as soon as he pulled the trigger and the 15's and 125's both took off straight up to the top mark on a breeze that had gone awol. The windsurfers sail different angles, but as a discussion with one of the top boarders went... " Its a lottery" and it you were going to win, a bit of cunning was required.
In fact a bit of cunning was in evidence when John Hassen decided to follow the breeze and rolled past a duelling pair and gained a handy lead. Again the lead windsurfer Tim Gourlay found himself in a battle to the finish with Jay Wild nearly toppling him.
And so the afternoon progressed with a frisson of excitement when the women's teams came out on the water with kites up and sailed past for a photo op. What a pity we didn't have a few more knots on the water.
So the day progressed, albeit a little slowly and the decision was made to wrap it up with 3 races in the box. Enough for all. Many thanks to the start team and SoPYC for keeping me on the water during the series and to Scott the sailing administrator who has kept me in a boat when he can.
Enjoy the photos
Where are the Sailors?
Count them! Four Flying 15's, three 125's and nine windsurfers.
To look after them we had six on the start boat, two mark laying boats with two on board each boat. A rescue /safety boat with two on board and a snapper pottering around on a spare polly boat.
If you wanted to, you could count the sailors which would give you the 23 actual sailors on the H20 as the 15's and 125's are two person craft. This same team are capable of dealing with up to 100 boats at a time with the addition of another safety boat or two.
The afternoon started with a light wandering southerly that took a few minutes to settle down under an AP and the RO had the racing under way fairly rapidly. The breeze began to shift almost as soon as he pulled the trigger and the 15's and 125's both took off straight up to the top mark on a breeze that had gone awol. The windsurfers sail different angles, but as a discussion with one of the top boarders went... " Its a lottery" and it you were going to win, a bit of cunning was required.
In fact a bit of cunning was in evidence when John Hassen decided to follow the breeze and rolled past a duelling pair and gained a handy lead. Again the lead windsurfer Tim Gourlay found himself in a battle to the finish with Jay Wild nearly toppling him.
And so the afternoon progressed with a frisson of excitement when the women's teams came out on the water with kites up and sailed past for a photo op. What a pity we didn't have a few more knots on the water.
So the day progressed, albeit a little slowly and the decision was made to wrap it up with 3 races in the box. Enough for all. Many thanks to the start team and SoPYC for keeping me on the water during the series and to Scott the sailing administrator who has kept me in a boat when he can.
Enjoy the photos
Sunday the 8th of August
Jumped by the State Squad.
Its not very often that we see pretty much the whole of the state squad of Lasers brought onto the river for a bit of fun with our locals. The likes of Luke, Zoe, Zac, Stefan & Elise amongst others certainly made the local mob sit up and take notice. If I was really greedy I'd hope to see Olympian Matt Wearn in the fleet, but sadly he's still sitting in lockdown somewhere.
It was however an excellent day on the river with a west -nor wester that had about 10 to 15 knots. Good sailing for all and we had plenty of 29ers out as well as the Opti's and O'pen Skiffs. Fun for everyone and even the 29ers hung around for 2 races. Poor little darlings get tired after more than two. But that's fine, we all had a good time.
Noted out on the water, the women's teams were on the job with three of the Bakewell 8's out there, but as I was on the start boat, I couldn't chase them, but I'm happy to see them on the water.
Enjoy the images
Jumped by the State Squad.
Its not very often that we see pretty much the whole of the state squad of Lasers brought onto the river for a bit of fun with our locals. The likes of Luke, Zoe, Zac, Stefan & Elise amongst others certainly made the local mob sit up and take notice. If I was really greedy I'd hope to see Olympian Matt Wearn in the fleet, but sadly he's still sitting in lockdown somewhere.
It was however an excellent day on the river with a west -nor wester that had about 10 to 15 knots. Good sailing for all and we had plenty of 29ers out as well as the Opti's and O'pen Skiffs. Fun for everyone and even the 29ers hung around for 2 races. Poor little darlings get tired after more than two. But that's fine, we all had a good time.
Noted out on the water, the women's teams were on the job with three of the Bakewell 8's out there, but as I was on the start boat, I couldn't chase them, but I'm happy to see them on the water.
Enjoy the images
Sunday July the 25th
Dirty Old River.
It’s a sign of the weather with record inducing rainfall up river and the amount of dirt flowing down both the Canning and Swan rivers. Have a look at the photos and the murky brown colour of the water. The river needed this and dare I say it’s about time it had a good flush out. The rain and run off will ensure that the stagnant pools of water that sit below the flowing current will be given a good move along, but I wouldn’t be eating the mussels and other shell fish for a while.
Seven sailboarders hit the water along with two 125’s and a varying number of F15’s. Not a big day by any means, but those who went out to sail did so with gusto and I’m pleased to say that the sailboarders and the 125’s stayed out for the day, with a hardcore of the fifteens battling it out.
Notable amongst the 15 sailors were the usual suspects, the Dunbar boys on Nicks old boat and they were pushing Greg Tonnison good and hard. Not far behind, but beset with difficulties was John Hassen and Neil White was doing fine with Andrew Colquhoun taking Brad out to sail. (checking out new sails Andrew? )
Elsewhere around the river, it was alive with kite boarders and foilers with the Women’s match racing team going out for some training under the watchful eyes of their coaches. Only one team had a kite up and sure as eggs they had a slight foul up, but to their credit they handled it well and got the kite down with very little fuss.
I’m looking forward to watching more of these teams in sailing mode and as summer approaches they will have the chance to show their stuff.
Keep supporting the sailors I say.
Hopefully we will get some more sailing in a week or so's time.
For those who are looking, the Bakewell's training session is below the immediate pictures.
Dirty Old River.
It’s a sign of the weather with record inducing rainfall up river and the amount of dirt flowing down both the Canning and Swan rivers. Have a look at the photos and the murky brown colour of the water. The river needed this and dare I say it’s about time it had a good flush out. The rain and run off will ensure that the stagnant pools of water that sit below the flowing current will be given a good move along, but I wouldn’t be eating the mussels and other shell fish for a while.
Seven sailboarders hit the water along with two 125’s and a varying number of F15’s. Not a big day by any means, but those who went out to sail did so with gusto and I’m pleased to say that the sailboarders and the 125’s stayed out for the day, with a hardcore of the fifteens battling it out.
Notable amongst the 15 sailors were the usual suspects, the Dunbar boys on Nicks old boat and they were pushing Greg Tonnison good and hard. Not far behind, but beset with difficulties was John Hassen and Neil White was doing fine with Andrew Colquhoun taking Brad out to sail. (checking out new sails Andrew? )
Elsewhere around the river, it was alive with kite boarders and foilers with the Women’s match racing team going out for some training under the watchful eyes of their coaches. Only one team had a kite up and sure as eggs they had a slight foul up, but to their credit they handled it well and got the kite down with very little fuss.
I’m looking forward to watching more of these teams in sailing mode and as summer approaches they will have the chance to show their stuff.
Keep supporting the sailors I say.
Hopefully we will get some more sailing in a week or so's time.
For those who are looking, the Bakewell's training session is below the immediate pictures.
The Women's team in training.
Sunday June the 13th
Not a good day.
Once again I was out on the start boat with a bag full of quiches (easy to cook) and with John Rooke as the RO for the day. The problem was; no breeze.
The RO decided that an AP would be good idea around 1pm as a) there was no breeze and b) none of the boats were at the start line. So we served up lunch and it was an interesting selection of goodies. All that and a coffee to wash everything down with.
Our basic question was would the breeze ever come in and the 10 or so winged sail boards had flopped down on the water and the 7 or so Flying 15's were lazily circling us like very bored cruising sharks. Two 125's were out for fun, but even they were happier talking than racing and they spent their time in each others company for the rest of the day. Didn't see a Pelican on the water today, so I guess that they are the forgotten fleet for a while.
And the clock ticked on. 1.30 rolled past and people were looking up and down the coast on their phones to see if there was a breeze of substance. Nothing... but way off in the distance down river you could see a slight patch under a cloud... maybe .... but an investigating F15 wasn't making much of it and down the bottom of Melville water where we were the odds were against it making its way down to us.
Two pm and the breezes were still under 5 knots in the gusts and the Sailboards need at least 5 knots to be workable. A decision was made and the go home was raised. Sailing cancelled. Some boats stayed out there and were eventually rewarded by a breeze of sorts, but that was around 3.30 in the afternoon and the rest of the sailors made their way back to pack everything away.
The remnants of the start crew were sitting in the bar when I left them and the flags, minus their dress rig were beginning to muster for the usual Sunday session.
A few photos were taken. Enjoy everyone looking very bored.
Not a good day.
Once again I was out on the start boat with a bag full of quiches (easy to cook) and with John Rooke as the RO for the day. The problem was; no breeze.
The RO decided that an AP would be good idea around 1pm as a) there was no breeze and b) none of the boats were at the start line. So we served up lunch and it was an interesting selection of goodies. All that and a coffee to wash everything down with.
Our basic question was would the breeze ever come in and the 10 or so winged sail boards had flopped down on the water and the 7 or so Flying 15's were lazily circling us like very bored cruising sharks. Two 125's were out for fun, but even they were happier talking than racing and they spent their time in each others company for the rest of the day. Didn't see a Pelican on the water today, so I guess that they are the forgotten fleet for a while.
And the clock ticked on. 1.30 rolled past and people were looking up and down the coast on their phones to see if there was a breeze of substance. Nothing... but way off in the distance down river you could see a slight patch under a cloud... maybe .... but an investigating F15 wasn't making much of it and down the bottom of Melville water where we were the odds were against it making its way down to us.
Two pm and the breezes were still under 5 knots in the gusts and the Sailboards need at least 5 knots to be workable. A decision was made and the go home was raised. Sailing cancelled. Some boats stayed out there and were eventually rewarded by a breeze of sorts, but that was around 3.30 in the afternoon and the rest of the sailors made their way back to pack everything away.
The remnants of the start crew were sitting in the bar when I left them and the flags, minus their dress rig were beginning to muster for the usual Sunday session.
A few photos were taken. Enjoy everyone looking very bored.
Sunday May the 23rd
It was an interesting day to start a series on.
The threat of a miserable day was looming over the course as the boats prepared to leave the shore. The Start crew were kind enough to find me a spot on the start boat as there were no boats spare ( what a change from last year) and its a change to work from a fixed position for once. Just wish I'd known and I would have brought a change of lens.
However RO Les Swinton had the course in hand and with good mark layers it was very quickly set and the only problem was the late arrival of boats from various clubs as they ran down the breeze towards us or conversely were towed out to the course. A short AP was given by the RO to assist them to find their places on the course. But don't expect it in the future.
Race one began on a Northerly and was sent away on a promise and a course two for a long shift on the water. Unfortunately the wind began to die and the RO managed to salvage a finish with the use of a spare mark laying team and a quick dash up to the top mark to finish the rest of the fleet.
Race two began with a light breeze out of the north that began to rotate as the last of starters flowed off the line almost heading straight up to the top mark. Five minutes later and the race was correctly abandoned with a restart commencing once the course was re laid to the 100 degree shift. A course one on offer and it was finished well within time, but the breeze was already into the mid teens and certainly offering a bit more in the gusts.
Race three and a few retirements with some announcing broken gear and others ... well too cold and too wet. A pity but it was noticeable that the gun sailors were still there and that the Standard rig Lasers had grown by a couple of old fella's. Course one and those who survived, fled for home while the breeze kept on pumping in.
A note of laughter to Rik ( the Radial sailor out of SoPYC). Mate. The next time you ask me to 'Whistle up a wind'. Don't be surprised when you get what you asked for. :-)
Enjoy the photos.
It was an interesting day to start a series on.
The threat of a miserable day was looming over the course as the boats prepared to leave the shore. The Start crew were kind enough to find me a spot on the start boat as there were no boats spare ( what a change from last year) and its a change to work from a fixed position for once. Just wish I'd known and I would have brought a change of lens.
However RO Les Swinton had the course in hand and with good mark layers it was very quickly set and the only problem was the late arrival of boats from various clubs as they ran down the breeze towards us or conversely were towed out to the course. A short AP was given by the RO to assist them to find their places on the course. But don't expect it in the future.
Race one began on a Northerly and was sent away on a promise and a course two for a long shift on the water. Unfortunately the wind began to die and the RO managed to salvage a finish with the use of a spare mark laying team and a quick dash up to the top mark to finish the rest of the fleet.
Race two began with a light breeze out of the north that began to rotate as the last of starters flowed off the line almost heading straight up to the top mark. Five minutes later and the race was correctly abandoned with a restart commencing once the course was re laid to the 100 degree shift. A course one on offer and it was finished well within time, but the breeze was already into the mid teens and certainly offering a bit more in the gusts.
Race three and a few retirements with some announcing broken gear and others ... well too cold and too wet. A pity but it was noticeable that the gun sailors were still there and that the Standard rig Lasers had grown by a couple of old fella's. Course one and those who survived, fled for home while the breeze kept on pumping in.
A note of laughter to Rik ( the Radial sailor out of SoPYC). Mate. The next time you ask me to 'Whistle up a wind'. Don't be surprised when you get what you asked for. :-)
Enjoy the photos.