Racing Sat 12 May

Over the past few weeks RW sought some assistance from Jenny Craig. After following a strict program of diet and exercise, RW has shed more than 300 kgs.......thanks Jenny!

Racing Sat will be an inshore pointscore race starting at 1300h. If a westerly we sail toward Tanilba so a good chance to see some of the Bay. Forecast is in our favour .....but bring a jacket! Looking forward to creeping up the leader board.

Winds .

Southwesterly 15 to 20 knots.

 

Weather

The chance of thunderstorms in the morning.

Race 1 - Winter Pointscore Sat 05 May solo

What a bleak and miserable start to the weekend. From on-board RW at Salamander I couldn't even see Soldiers Point as it was clouded in mist and rain.....perfect sailing weather.  Fully kitted up like I was about to cross the Tasman, we headed off into the rain and cold. The breeze was 15 knots from the souwest so we raced Course C2 (13M), west from Soldiers Point to Mallabulla, Middle Is, Mallabulla and finish.  Actually the only time I have been west of Soldiers Point is to haulout at Oyster Cove, I have never even bothered to shadow the fleet in that direction because its so damn shallow, averaging 2-4m for the most part. My depth sounder shallow alarm kept squawking its head off!

Without my gun crew on-board I wisely positioned RW for a conservative start at the back of the fleet on an ebbing tide under full main. We scooted along at around 5 knots under main alone in 15-20 SW and once clear of the start unfurled the genoa to a #3. Picked off a couple of backmarkers on the first windward leg and a another couple after rounding Mallabulla. No spinnaker today so we goosewinged the full genoa and we lost a couple of places to the spinnaker fliers. After rounding the Cardinal Mark west of Middle Is, RW rocketed along on a beautiful reach topping 8.4 knots and we reeled in the main pack quite quickly. This is where I tactically blundered and was passed by two boats . With my high boatspeed and with the tide around slack water, I figured I could use RWs momentum and weight to clip the edge of the dead water I could clearly see in the lee of Middle Island.......well, I missed by that much! I watched yachts behind alter course as they saw me slow, then they sailed on by. As soon as we cleared the island and back on the breeze we gained  ground.

RW was perfectly balanced as we headed back toward Mallabulla. The wind strengthened as the front moved through with the odd 25 knot gust. I managed to point high and lay the mark, once again passing the two yachts. Unfortunately not using a spinnaker meant giving up the places yet again and we finally scooted over the line for an 8th on H/Cap. I think I must have done about 40 laps of the deck and my old winch muscles had a great workout! Only had a couple of snags during tacks so will address those in the coming weeks. Great day even with the early rain and the sun did eventually pop its head out long enough for me to shed the Arctic gear and crack a beer on the downwind run

Next race is Sat 12 May, followed by an offshore sail to Newcastle on the 20 May.

Racing on the Bay

Sat 28 Apr saw a fleet of around 18 starters for the final and long 17M race of the PSYC Summer Pointscore Series. Only one point seperated the first three yachts on the ladder, so any one of these could take out the series win.
Nelson J (J24) was hot favourite and headed up the leader board. We ran neck and neck with Nelson J for a while and then broke away by quite a stretch, only to lose out as the much lighter boat sped past under spinnaker. I crewed a J24 on steroids back in the 80's called Fat Albert.....it was a J24 with wings so the crew weight could get even further out to windward and the owner even pulled the engine out to reduce weight! We had the log bottoming out and the boat humming at 16 knots off the Gold Coast one weekend...awesome fun!

RW had regular crew Daz onboard and newcomer Bear, an ex-Etchell sailor moving into a slightly more comfortable and drier yacht complete with cocktail cabinet.  RW loitered around the gaggle of start line with a little more intimidation than the previous weeks race.The extra hands certainly reduce the stress around the crowds. The breeze was flukey at 5-10knots making the going a little slow. Luckily the ebb tide was in our favour. We managed to get away mid line and had some good air. We soon accelerated through the fleet and at one stage held 4th on the way to the Wedding Cake mark. We lost some ground and a few places downwind under our dodgy Asymmetrical so we ditched it and returned to whites. By this time we had been passed by a couple of yachts so the crew had their work cut out extracting all the speed we could from our sleek 7500kg missile in very light air!

RW slowly clawed back a lot of ground to windward only to have the race shortened in a fading breeze. We ended the day with a very credible 7th across the line, 5th on handicap and an honourable mention at the presentations at the club after the race. Light air sailing is far more difficult than med air as you really do need to concentrate to get as much boat speed as possible, so a fantastic effort by Daz and Bear. Some good tips from my sailmaker John were also put to good use.

My crew will be taking a break from me and from grinding this weekend, so I will be out getting in some practice flying RW solo again. Now.....how do I hoist that main..........?

On Sun 20 May I will be taking RW offshore to Newcastle for the week for her IRC/ORCi weigh-in, stability test and hull/sail measure. This is needed to produce my IRC Certificate and ORCi Certificate so I have the same race handicap anywhere in the world.
Sailing home again on either 26/27 May 12.

Solo Trans Tasman 2014

Game on, we're in!

I just checked the 2014 Solo Trans Tasman Yacht Race website and Rogue Wave has been accepted as one of the first Provisional Entries for the singlehanded race from New Plymouth (NZ) to Mooloolaba (QLD). The race is conducted every four years and has a limit on the number of competitors, so it pays to get in early. Although the race is still along way off, there are still quite a few outstanding things to be done and the race will provide me with that mid range goal I need to achieve my bucket list.

Preparing for the Hobart, arranging my IRC handicap rating and kitting out for CAT 1 safety gear is a costly and time consuming business, but once its done, maintenance of these two standards will be far less painful in terms of cost and time. All this hard work flows straight into the Trans Tasman Campaign so I can focus on the race rather than preparation of the boat. 

Sailing with the current

What a great day for the beach it was on Saturday.......but not so for racing yachts! Had a crew of six turn up for the unofficial Sternchaser race, unfortunately the only part missing was the wind. Damn forecasters got it completely wrong. There was also many expensive carbon big boys toys drifting around the Bay without wind at the end of Sail Port Stephens. They had a very frustrating week of variable light winds and plenty of rain. After an hour of drift in the tide with zero wind we spotted some breeze nearer Corlette, so we started the iron wind and retired from the drift race! With a hint of breeze we managed 6 knots with some tide and had a pleasant sail back to Soldiers Point in a dying breeze. It must of been relaxing as James had a little 'just resting my eyes' in the aft berth!

Next weeks race Sat 28 Apr is the final race in the Summer series followed by a presentation at the club. This race I hope to sail to our handicap.....fast! So if you're keen to race then hop onboard as a regular crew makes for a fast crew.

Racing Saturday

Rouge Wave will be out racing on beautiful Port Stephens this Sat 21 Apr.

Depart: 1145h Soldiers Point Marina

Return: 1700h (ish.....depends on the wind).

Saturday's race is what is called a Sternchaser. Instead of all yachts starting on one line, there is a progressive start based on handicap. The slower yachts start prior to 1300h followed by the faster yachts who then chase down the slower yachts...hence the name. The forecast is NE 10-20 knots which is perfect weather for the old girl to go hunting!

The Sail Port Stephens Regatta IRC Championships are also on this week and weekend so the Bay will be a mass of colour.

Daz and Dani will be back onboard for some more tacking, gybing and kite flying, so put the mower away and come out for a race.

Same deal, BYO snacks and drinks, water and fridge available onboard and bring a windproof or polar fleece jacket as it is starting to chill off with a breeze during the arvo.

Racing

Last week was our first official race after several weeks of training sails and shadowing the race fleet. With only the two on onboard, we chose a conservative start behind the rest of the fleet to avoid any carnage. We sailed Rogue Wave over the 17M course in 3h:55min passing half the fleet upwind, however losing some ground downwind. We were happy to score a credible 7th place from 13 starters with a handicap of 880.

Other competitors were in awe of Decky Daz as he tested the limits in a marathon four hour winch workout routine, whilst demonstrating lightning fast tacks and fancy foredeck footwork! Great job Daz!

So you want to help Daz and Dani out.....then text or email to secure your spot (3 more left).....operators are standing by for your call.

50-50 wind

Daz and Tess joined RW for the offshore sail down to Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club last weekend. With a favourable light wind, swift outgoing tide and gentleman's departure time, we made good time to the heads out of Port Stephens. All looked good for a spinnaker reach down the coast......then just as Daz had clipped on the last line, the wind veered SE! So it was back on the wind with the whites taking us south at a steady 5-6 knots. As the wind built to 12 with the odd 15 knot gusts we pushed along at 6-7 knots with a nice balanced helm.

It was Tess's first sail for a while and she handled herself like a seasoned professional. The breeze stayed reasonably constant enough for us to hold a long starboard tack until NE of Newcastle harbour. As we tacked onto port we caught a glimpse of some jumping fish in the distance....worth a look we thought. As we got closer a Mako shark leapt 6ft clear of the water spiralling as it flew through the air......then another and another. Awesome sight amidst the very calm seas. Not long after the wind died in the butt and we motor sailed into NCYC for a well earned bucketful of beers on board. A good feed at the club and more beers saw us hit the bunks very 'tired'.


Sunday we set off in a light land breeze only to be foiled by the Eco Activists. They were demonstrating by trying to hold up coal ships from berthing, using kayaks, boats, jetskis or whatever. Maritime advised us to keep clear as the cops may need to get heavy handed so we delayed our departure until two ships entered.....maybe Tess looked like an activist!

Anyway, by the time we cleared port the wind was light but still enough to launch the weapon. Under spinnaker we cruised along at SOG=App wind.....5.5 knots! Didn't last long and soon the wind was history and we motor sailed all the way home. Any day on the water is a great day so a 50% wind is ok by me! Thanks crew, great job!