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Post by Peter Fell on Aug 31, 2009 15:36:33 GMT 10
relayed from Rob Lovett;
Peter Craig and I spent 4 days in New York with Lyndall Patterson and Kerry Waraker. Lyndall made sure we saw everything we could. It was hot probably as hot as your records at home.
The clubhouse in Glen Haven is on an incredibly beautiful Bay. The sail out takes about three quarters of an hour. Our first practice day the wind was reasonably breezy and coming off the land equated to our Westerlies anything from 5 to 20m knots. The water isn’t as cold as we thought but I still didn’t want to get wet. Yesterday, our second day was much tamer still a bit flukey, coming off the land, but really beautiful sailing. Peter and I sailed in the morning, came in had lunch and then went out for another hour and a half or so.
Last weekend they had Hurricane Bill who wiped out a few days of the open and deluged the play. This week it’s Tropical Depression Danny. Tipped to bring winds of 55kph gusting to 80. We were told to turn our boats upside down over night with their dollys on top. It forced the cancellation of the opening ceremony and we’re not sure if we’ll sail tomorrow but we’re preparing for a very cold wet 25knots. Danny is supposed to dump 3” of rain on us. If it’s raining andf windy it will be bloody freezing. The rest of the week is tipped to be light. I’ll let you know more as it unfolds.
Cheers form Rob and Peter.
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Post by Peter Fell on Sept 2, 2009 13:14:07 GMT 10
From Rob Lovett;
The setting is magnificent but the launching and retrieval is dodgy to say the least.Tropical depression Danny left everything soaked. It tore out the main Marquis which tore out the power lines which meant no lighting or water (pump activated) Cold dark showers. The boats are allocated possies on the side of the hill, a reasonably big hill. Thankfully they've allocated spaces based on age (and charter boats) and Peter' No6 and I'm No60. Funnily enough I'm closer to the water. TD Danny left the hill a mushy slushy swamp track. Launching itelf is over medium sized rocks which means pulling and heaving the Seitech trollies (really light but the boats keep coming off) over the rocks and up the MSST (mushy slushy swamp track).
Day One.
First off. The water's cold. In my first race I hit the top mark with 6 behind me. Fantastic! The grand masters are sailing the outer loop and halfway through the run I was sitting with the Kiwi lady who finished 18th. I couldn't work out why I was so unstable. I was grinning like a chesire cat and within seconds was looking like a drowned one. Brrr...the water's not as bad as we thought it would be but when you're in it you really want to get out quick. Warming up is pretty much instant when you get back up. I guess your body heats up your clothing and away you go.
Our first race was delayed by about two hours because of no wind. When uit came in it was a pretty consistent 10-12 knots possibly fgetting down to 8 and as high as 15 but mostly 10-12 and remained that way for both races. My second race well we won't talk about that.
Peter's pretty much on target for where he wants to be with a good first race of 22. On our way back in the wind died out and I apddled surfboard like for about 300 or 400 metres. A faint breath got me to shore to absolute chaos. The MSST did not wear well with two or three hundred sailors tampling all over it. It was a real struggle and I ended up on my bum in the mud with my boat hanging half off the trolley exhausted. The chaos, no wind and the late finish m,eant they had to delay our bus till 8:30 getting us home about 9:15 shower, change and then out to find something to eat.
We faired better than one of the Canadians who slipped on the mud busted his knee and ended up in hospital. I believed they ioperated on his knee yesterday.
Day Two.
Yesterday it took us over an hour to get to the startline and many didn't make it beforev the scheduled start so the two hour delay was helpful. The big rigs had to travel twice as far.
So today we set off a little earlier and arrived an hour early. The wind was varying light but it was there, sometimes.We spent quite a few hours under postponement. They'd set a course and trty to start a race and then have to postpone. The apprentices got away round their top mark and then were recalled and it all styarted again. Oh, I haven't mentioned the weed. It's everywhere. Greg Adams clears his centreboard 6 or 7 times each work. Today I cleared mine more often than yesterday but it's more difficult for me to heel it to see the board. The wind's too light and the boat will just fall in on me. I just clear it every chance I get and ineviteably a big clump of weed shoots out the back. We finally got under way and I was pleased with a better placing. My position's a bit diodgy because I'm only two points clear of last and strangely he isn't the easiest person to beat. He was miles ahead in today's race but I had a really good downwind passing several boast and then getting pipped by two of them up the final work. Starting woes continued with the GGMs only getting away around the tinme we finished our first race (they're last) At a quarter six I asked Ken Hurling would they start a race after six and he said he doubted it. We lined up and they dropped the blue peter and ... postponement Go home! Thank God, I was getting cold. Almost six and the GGMs were just finishing their first race after being on the water from 11:30. Peter got a 28 and agin was ahppy with his position. I think he's aiming to get in the mid 20s. Although the breeze died again we managed to limp home and because there was a big gap in the fleets arriving, it was nowhere near as chaotic. We weren't as exhausted either
Somwe of the Aussies are going well. Vanessa Dudley is placed well in the Masters with Lyndall Paterson getting a bullet yesterday to show her she's serious. The Brazilian is giving Greg Adams a run and Richard Bott is looking good. Grant Willmott got a bullet yesterday. Peter Seidenberg of the USA is making it tough for Kerry Waraker with an RAF (retired after finishing) - he didn't go round the clearing mark at the top buoy and two bullets.
Gotta go someone else wants the 'puter
Cheers
Rob
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