We have all seen the brochure before – a downwind sleigh ride in the trade winds, shirts off, surfing waves, grins from ear to ear and ending up in a tropical paradise. Perfect! Auckland to Fiji race here we come! With the boat launched only weeks prior to the race we set about clocking as many miles up as possible to learn as much as we could about the boat and to give time for tuning. We did 200 miles in the weekend the boat was launched in some testing conditions, then Scott Beavis (project manager) set about the task of race preparing the boat including provisioning, spares and safety. He did a fantastic job and the boat hit the start line immaculately prepared. His Volvo Ocean Race experience really shone through here.
The team for the Fiji Race was Scott Disley, Paul Eldrid, Rodney Keenan, Scott Beavis, Simon Minoprio, Martin Hannon, and Hayden Goodrick. Being a small boat with a small team, there was always a cross pollination of roles to be filled on the boat. We all just did what was required to keep it rumbling. Scott Disley had the hardest task as dedicated navigator – such a big race in a little boat is a big task. All of us have been involved in many programs in the past with the latest being Limit. Through many of these programs we have all become very good friends over the last 10 years or so, and when the opportunity came up to sail together for the Fiji race everyone jumped at it.
The forecast was all doom and gloom initially. It really looked like a carbon copy from the Auckland to Noumea Race last year which we did on Limit. With this still fresh in our minds we were apprehensive about taking on such an intense low in a small boat. Especially as we had minimal break in time, which is why we proceeded with caution. The forecast was for winds up to 55 knots with 20+ seas, backing west after the low and blowing up to 45+. Again, even though we would be downwind, 45+ knots in huge seas in a little boat is dangerous. After 3 days the forecast had the breeze easing up, and eventually dying to nothing, before filling from the North and backing again to the west as two Highs approached Fiji. Still the question remained – could we survive the Low?
The morning of the race the forecast had eased a little to a 45 knot maximum. Our plan was to start the race and re-asses the low as we raced north. We figured we could monitor the system and make a better decision in this time, as forecasts were changing so dramatically. If it looked like it would sustain over 40 on the nose for over 24 hours we would pull into the Bay of Islands and consolidate from there. If it looked better, we would take it on. The key was risk management and always having an exit plan without jeopardising the safety of the team or the boat.
We ended up running out of Auckland in a gentle southerly. At about out exit strategy point just past the Bay of Islands the breeze had gone to the North and increased. The latest GRIB files showed a maximum of 35 – 40 knots. At this point the seas were choppy but not rough and the wind was 25 - 30. With not as much West as anticipated we were making pretty good VMG on Fiji, and the boat was relishing the conditions with 1 reef and a J4. We decided to press on.
As the conditions deteriorated and the seas got to 4– 6m we re-configured the boat to two reefs and the J4, then the Storm Jib when it got to 35 gusting 40. Still the boat behaved well and kept chugging along. With each position schedule we were buoyed by just how well we were hanging in there. The boat exceeded our expectations. Knowing we were going into a pretty intense low pressure system at the worst possible time we were concerned at being such a small, light boat. To our amazement the boat hung in with much larger rivals and extended on the 40 footers – all whilst sailing upwind in 30+. Davey Norris Boat builders did a fantastic job – this boat is solid and between Brett Bakewell White and Davie Norris, the boat is very well thought out and one of the driest offshore boats we have raced.
Report from Tim Castles at Delta Lloyd Regatta 2010 in his first event of the 2010 European Summer
Delta Lloyd Regatta was the fifth stop of the 2010 ISAF Sailing World Cup, and my first regatta of the European season. It is held from Medemblik, a small city on the Ijeelsmaar (inland sea sealed off from the North Sea by dykes) about 40km north of Amsterdam.
I arrived at Amsterdam Airport a week or so early to commence training and acclimitise to the colder weather. However the shipping containers which had travelled from Sydney with all my equipment inside had been delayed 7 days. This gave me some time to see the sights that the Netherlands offers including Amsterdam, the Hague and Alkmaar.
Finally our container was cleared an I managed to fit in three days of training at the regatta venue before the event started. The Finn fleet of 65 boats was sailed all together off one start, whilst others (eg: Lasers, 470s) were split into two groups to avoid overcrowding.
The Doctor prescribes; Great to see these guys supporting sailing, seeing the lacal sailing fraternity has supported them for so long!!!
Renowned Western Australian brewer Little Creatures today joined the exciting journey towards the Perth
2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships, signing on as a Bronze Level Sponsor and Official Beer of Perth
2011.
The popular Little Creatures beer and cider range is currently available in every Australian state and
is shipped internationally to the United Kingdom, Singapore, New Zealand and Denmark.
Perth 2011 Director of Commercial Operations Darren Beazley is excited about the tremendous
opportunities ahead, in the lead up to and during the World Championships.
“Little Creatures produces Western Australia’s favourite beer at one of Fremantle’s favourite destinations,
which makes them a natural fit as the Official Beer of the Sailing World Championships,” Mr Beazley said.
Mr Beazley explained that by partnering with a major international sporting Event of the calibre of Perth
2011, the Little Creatures brand would greatly increase its national and international brand awareness and
have the opportunity to promote its exciting product range.
The Singapore Laser Trophy is currently on and three Western Australian laser sailors made the journey to compete in the Laser Standard. They are: Mark Whittington, Ki Raphael Sulkowski and Matt Wearn.
After Day One Ki is currently in 2nd, Mark in 3rd and Matt in 4th after recording an OCS in Race 3.
The Royal Hong Kong Yacht club will host the Asian Sports Boat Championships from November 15th-19th, 2010 in Hong Kong. The last championships was held in 2007 was huge fun and highly competitive with many World European and Asian champions in attendance, not forgetting some Volvo Ocean race skippers. The level of competition was intense in perfect 20 knots of breeze and the exciting social program was of epic proportions!
Boating Hardware Invitational Regatta
5 -6 June 2010
Saturday and Sunday of June 5 – 6 2010 is the Boating Hardware Invitational Regatta, hosted by Fremantle Sailing Club in the waters just off Bather’s Beach, Fremantle.
Last year, the regatta focussed on the bigger boats but has been expanded this year to include the high-performing yachts in Division 2. This is promising to be a great success, with over 25 yachts involved in short course racing. Windward-leeward short leg courses should give a shock to any of the more ... aged offshore sailors, more accustomed to long leg races such as the Westender.
The courses should give a chance for more nimble yachts with good crew work to prevail against the ‘waterline length’ which so often garners the trophies on the west coast.
Sadly, the darling of the Perth offshore scene, The Next Factor, will not be racing this weekend, having decided that they have already won everything, and intending to retire on a high note. Recent losses on the crew front may also have contributed to this decision!
The regatta promises to offer great sailing, and Fremantle Sailing Club Offshore Section is very grateful to Boating Hardware for their continued support of sailing on the west coast.
Today we completed the round robin stage of the event finishing with a score line of 4 wins and 2 losses.
Gothenburg put on a fantastic day with 12-18 knot winds and some nice spells of sunshine. Our best two races today were against Mattias Rahm, Stena Bulk Sailing Team a past winner of Match Cup Sweden and Phil Robertson, Waka Racing from New Zealand. In the race against Rahm we managed to start to windward of the Swedish team and sail them all the way to the port lay-line. From here we kept a close cover and managed to hold on to take the win.
In our race against Robertson we started to leeward forcing the kiwi's to the right, we picked up more wind on the left side of the track. From here we controlled the race and extended for the win.
Tomorrow morning we will find out our opponent for the semi-final stage.
" We did a nice job in our starts and around the race track today. Our boat handling is getting better and the communication is also growing between the team. Unfortunately we made some unforced errors in our losses today but that was a good learning experience for later in the event" Per Frykholm, Sweden, Mainsheet/ Tactics.
www.blackswanracing.com.au
Black Swan Racing would like to thank our following supporters.
No wind on the final day of Match Race Germany results in MRT with 4th place. Lack of wind seems to have plagued the WMRT this year and unfortunately for MRT the wind has meant that they were unable to vie for the title.
The semi final race against Adam Minoprio of New Zealand, where MRT were down 2-1 ended up being cut short and Minoprio went through to the final, leaving MRT in the petite final against round robin winner Matheui Richard of France.
"Its frustrating not being able to race for the title, we felt as though we were sailing well but we can't control the wind. We are on the pace and we are really looking forward to Korea next week" said Torvar Mirsky.
The team now has a one week break before the Korea Match Cup begins next week, in South Korea.
