Perth - On Location Updates

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Hi All,

Arrived in Perth Yesterday with my crew Clare Cromarty to get ready for nationals and was greeted by a 39 degree day... Not that was a wake up in a hot way.

Got up about 5am after spending the night at the Taste of Tasmania and watching supermaxi's Investec Loyal and Wild Oats XI match race each other up the harbour. Flew out at 6:05 for Melbourne to get on at 8:30 flight West to Perth. We arrived Perth time at 9:30 and caught the shuttle into the City.

After entering into a surf shop with a laptop, backpack and a pack looking for thongs for Clare I was greeted with the security alarm which after approached by a staff member we found to be something in my Pack (the biggest of the three bags....) Managed to find a pair of thongs though so we got on our way.

Strolled down through the esplanade to Kings park with the aim of walking from the city to the club (4.3 kms) We made it to the Old brewery about half way where we met a lecturer from the uni who offered us a lift to the club, Score! The first thing we both thought was Sunscreen, Josh hooked us up with some to tide us through till we got out kit out of the container.

So a big thanks should go to Mikey and Amy for unpacking the container in an effort to retrieve his boat from the back, so thanks team. Got the gear out of the sweltering container and loaded it onto the boat which was outside in the sun. and get it down onto some grass under a weird looking tree with what I would describe as a funky looking berry on it... the tree is just at mast height and should provide some great shelter from the sun. Took the cover off the boat, that was now in the shade and realised all the wings and for that matter the whole boat were so hot that you couldn't touch them without it burning!

Managed to get the boat rigged up by late afternoon so we went for a float out and around the party boat that had been pumping out tunes to its progressively drunker audience, the music, so loud in fact that we could hear it clearly from the rigging area 200-300 metres away... classic.

Anyway after having a long chat with a bunch of the B14 people who are here already: Nudes, Webster's, Bancroft's, Cunningham, Carl Raynes (UK import), Mikey and Amy and seeing old b14 sailor Drew Malcom we decided it was time for a feed, Vietnamese it was. Yum!

Bedtime! Snoor...

Bring on Day 2.

[Al]

Not in any way jealous. oh no. Not at all.

Keep the reports coming!

[leaky]

Drew certainly is an old B14 sailor. Poor ol' fellah. Look after him now.

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Day 2-3

The last two days have been spent by people getting the remainder of the boats out of the container and getting them set up and getting out for a sail or two. Life is good on the Swan River with beautiful flat water and 12 to 15 knots of wind.

Its been great for the boats that have got out for a sail to test the conditions that await them and have a look at how the locals get it together on the race track. Both the I 14's and the Javelins have their nationals on concurrently with the B14's starting tomorrow.

The courses are situated so that on the second of the two races the fleet will race back from the second bay, down river from the yacht club, back to a permanent mark east of the YC before beating to windward to the finish. The downwind leg will total close to 3.5nm. This will bring the fleet into a bay with much more variable winds and slightly gusty conditions to make for an interesting finish.

Last night there was some great moments... The night started off with a journey to remember to the local fish and chip shop. this was followed by the feeding of the remainder of the overspend to the local resident ducks that seem to have taken the place of seagulls on the YC foreshore. Quite the entertainment the Ducklings decided they were game enough to eat directly out of your hand and proceeded to then run away with their catch with great pride and gobbled it up.

So the night got on and the band, a local group of I14 legends were rocking out a bunch of 70's tunes to entertain the crowd who were sporting 70's getups. Many drinks were shared between friends to celebrate the new year, starting on the lawns and progressing into the club, Wine, Beer, Vodka Red bulls, Jager Bombs, Bundy all round and ended the night with Sambuca shots. Sailors young and old made their way home from midnight on, some made it home by themselves and others might have needed a hand or 2 to find a place to rest their head.

Today the last of the crews are arriving to the PDSC and Measurement and Registration is on.

Keep Posted!

[bezzer_369]

Racing Day 1 – B14 National Championships – Perth Dinghy Sailing Club – 2/01/2011

The first day of racing in the B14 National Championships got underway in a strong freshening seabreeze. 15 boats faced the starter and after a short delay the race got underway in choppy conditions.
At the top mark Onemoreforthebone (OMFTB) Guy Bancroft and David Grace (Vic) closely followed by Siren Nick Darlow and Mike McDonald (Vic) then father son combination of Andre & Jake Webster sailing Octopussy (ACT). At the end of the first of three laps OMFTB was still in the lead from Octopussy and Wing It with James Patterson and Freya Vickery (VIC).
Meanwhile throughout the remainder of the fleet there were some casualties occurring with Bondi Tram sailed by Steve Mitchell and Briony VanGalen (TAS) got blown flat and retired while British brothers, Carl and Guy Raynes on their charter Toxic broke a tiller extension.
During the second lap there were little changes to the placing’s until the third lap when Strait4devils sailed by Adrian Beswick and Clare Cromarty (TAS) in 4th place blew out their boom vang and Siren snuck back through on the upwind.
OMFTB managed to hold out challengers Octopussy to take the win by a minute with Siren coming in third position and Strait4devils coming back one spot after their breakage to take fourth after a Wing it crossed on the wrong side of the finish boat, a trending mistake that seemed to claim numerous finishers before they corrected their mistake and went back around.

The second race got underway with a reduced fleet of 13 boats in a 20 plus knot breeze. Boats were well clear at the start being very conservative in what appeared to be quite hard conditions.
The seaway had chopped up significantly and was to take many casualties throughout the race. Just after the start the B14 fleet was greeted by some of the stragglers of the I14 race who had been dropping like flies at the bottom gate. Rounding the top again was OMFTB followed by Octopussy and in third, Hunt Leather sailed by Sophie Hunt and Andy Paine (NSW).
Shortly after the first rounding over went Hunt Leather letting through Strait4devils into third position. The next group rounding was Siren and B Sting sailed by Daniel Watson and Josie Roper (NSW) who capsiszed after rounding the top mark allowing Phantom, Sailed by Steve Miller and Lauren Keil (TAS) to gain a couple of spots. Back at the front of the fleet things were also getting interesting with Strait4devils sneaking through Octopussy after they capsized during their gybe.
By the top of the second and final lap, OMFTB had held their lead of about 2 minutes and were rocketing down the course, after a nosedive they too became capsize casualties and sent their boat skyward in what is known to the fleet as the “Rocket Ship” Manuvre whilst keeping their spinnaker set. This allowed Strait4devils an opportunity to pass to claim the win if they could avoid the same fate. Again playing it on the conservative side they decided to drop the kite and granny gybe the boat to sail to the finish, their conservative sailing that kept them upright managed to secure what was their first ever heat win in a national championship in 9 years. Octopussy also managed to sneak through OMFTB to claim second with OMFTB limping to third position with a blown out spinnaker.
Throughout the fleet there were again casualties from the race: Blown Seal sailed by Mark Lainson and Paul “Beardy” O’Connor cracked a wing and went in to assess the damage; Wing it broke their forestay whilst B Sting broke their top rudder gudgeon.

The overall standings after day 1 are OMFTB and Octopussy on 4 points each with OMFTB in 1st with a 1st and a 3rd with Octopussy having two 2nd finishes. Strait4devils is on 5 points in third with Phantom in 4th position with 14 points and Hunt Leather 5th on 15 points, NSW legends, Ritchie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan sailing in The Nude made the most of a windy day finishing overall in 6th position on 16 points.

Full Results:

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Racing Day 2 – B14 National Championships – Perth Dinghy Sailing Club – 3/01/2011
Sailors left the beach in a strong and gusty South East breeze and the start boat was up the far north west corner of the bay. The fleet had mostly managed to repair what wounds it could before preparing to tackle the races ahead. Before the racing got underway the fleet waited a while whilst the wind settled in place for the PRO and I14 legend Stewart “Jock” Ross to set the course. Whilst the wind settled it eased down to a moderate to strong and gusty South Easterly.

After the start gun for race three of the series the smart sailors including OMFTB hit the left early and annihilated the remainder of the fleet that didn’t follow suit. Octopussy took a short dig to the right to get a clear lane before coming back to join the front runners. Many of the fleet headed out substantially to the right and suffered by their lack of local knowledge.
Rounding the top mark first was OMFTB followed by Siren and Octopussy. Next was Blown Seal in 4th followed by Clean Skin and Hunt Leather in 5th and 6th and Strait4devils not far off their tails. On the downwind Strait4devils managed to get through Clean Skin, but hit the mark avoiding Hunt Leather on their unorthodox kite drop.
Back at the front of the fleet on their second and last lap not much had changed; OMFTB was strengthening their lead and covering their main rival Siren closely, Octopussy had also held on well to their 3rd position, fending off the approaching Hunt leather and Siren who had managed to pass Blown Seal. The Nude managed to play the shifts well up the second work and snuck through Strait4devils to get into 7th position.
Overall Race 3 the top six were: OMFTB 1st, Siren 2nd, Octopussy 3rd, Hunt Leather 4th, Siren 5th, Blown Seal 6th

Race 4 got underway in a strengthening but still gusty South East breeze. Keeping smart again, Siren and OMFTB were at the pin end of the line trying to make the most out of the left hand bias of the course. Just before the gun Strait4devils nearly got taken out at the boat end by a Killer Whale who will remain nameless, but those in Class will know who was responsible.
After the first work the top end of the fleet was again of a similar flavour with Siren rounding first from OMFTB and Hunt Leather in 3rd position, Blown Seal was next closely followed by Octopussy who managed to break a tiller extension (Something that about half of the fleet has managed in the last two days) and round in 4th and 5th. By the bottom mark Blown Seal and Octopussy had managed to disappear after capsizes and gear issues. Hunt leather had hit too far left and had to drop their kite early allowing Strait4devils to close the gap significantly who now rounded in 4th position.
The second of three laps saw Siren just hold into their lead from OMFTB and Hunt Leather from Strait4devils, but by the third and final lap things were about to change. With a great drop and a smashing rounding Strait4devils headed out on a winner and got knocked at the right time to tack and stay on a winner and passed Hunt Leather to get into 3rd position. OMFTB managed to also sneak past Siren on the last lap to get into the lead and held them out to take the win. Siren came through in 30 seconds later in 2nd with Strait4devils coming through 1 minute behind in 3rd. Rounding out the top 6 were: Hunt Leather 4th, The Nude 5th and B Sting 6th.

Overall standings have OMFTB in the lead on 6 points with the next closest boat, Strait4devils on 16 points in 2nd. Siren, Octopussy and Hunt Leather are all on 23 points apiece and are in 3rd, 4th and 5th. The Nude is on 28 points in 6th and Phantom on 28 points in 7th. With a drop things will start to get interesting, but those who are keen to see what that looks like they can check out the results @

[Al]

sounds good fun! I've been spending an extra day in Scotland, as 100mph+ winds have rather brought everything to a halt

[bezzer_369]

Check out the news page for the latest article and photos.

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Check out Day 4 update

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