The Race That Never Was Wednesday Wonders Race 12 Winter Series 2017 (21 Jun 2017)

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1 The Race That Never Was Wednesday Wonders Race 12 Winter Series 2017 (21 Jun 2017) The race did have a start, lasted for 175 minutes but lacked a finish. Of the 34 starters 26 took matters into their own hands and retired as they neared or passed number 4. The remaining 8 trophy hunters were unable to finish a shortened course (at number 1) within the time limit. One yacht retired after noting there was still 1.8 nautical miles to go, the boat was travelling at 0.1 knots and had an expected finish time of around Thursday lunch. She retired. This was yet another race characterised by light and variable breezes which has become the norm this winter. As a result boat speeds have been slower, courses shorter and handicaps lower when compared to the previous summer series. For race 12 the BOM forecast Winds. West to south westerly about 10 knots tending southerly during the morning then becoming variable during the afternoon. By and large the forecast was accurate. Fawkner Beacon indicated an average of a little under 5 knots for the afternoon and a shift from west north west to south south east as the day progressed. WW Winter Series 2017 Race 12 Wind Speed & Direction wind speed (knots) Wind Speed Gusts Wind Direction time wind direction (degrees) The start of the race was delayed by 5 minutes but the 34 yacht fleet were underway by 1335 attempting the 7.9 nautical mile 7 leg course 18. It was a northerly start reaching to the first mark (number 3). The beat to the second mark (from 3 to 2) saw yachts tacking way to the left and right of the rhumb line. The fleet was brought together by the need to round number 2. Most, if not all, of the fleet were able to make their way to number 1 in good time and on to number 4 for the first time. WILLARIE (Graeme Kaufman) who was first to start was still in the lead when she rounded number 4 at 15:09:45. It would be another 41 minutes 48 seconds before the last yacht rounded number 4 by which time the breeze had begun to ease. The rate of retirements accelerated until only the Persistent Eight remained. They were eventually defeated by the clock.

2 WW Winter Series 2017 Race 12 Start of the Day y a c h t WICKED SALT WHISTLE NUTCRACKER II PRIMO UPBEAT BLUE TACK RAZZLE DAZZLE MELTEMI SYC BABYDOLL SECOND NATURE BON VIVANT ROLLER COASTER FOGGY DEW WATERMARK11 WILLARIE WHITE POINTER LEBROK SUMMER WIND BARNSTORMER SALTSHAKER VANTAGE PIPPA PIZAZZ BACARDI CASSANDRA MELBOURNE CONQUEST WHITE NOISE HOT CHIPPS DOLPHIN PLAY WIND SPEED BRANNEW STAMPEDE MAGIC ALIBI!me (seconds) Start of the Day was won by WICKED (Mike Welsh) with a time of 1 second. She led a group of seven yachts who all started within 10 seconds or less of their handicaps. At the other end of the scale 3 yachts started 60 or more seconds late for their handicaps. The median start time was 21 seconds. Thirty four yachts started the race 54 minutes 43 seconds apart. Thirty two yachts rounded number 4, 41 minutes 48 seconds apart. posi!on WW Winter Series 2017 Race 12 Posi!on at Start & Number 4 WILLARIE DOLPHIN PLAY SUMMER WIND PIPPA WHITE POINTER FOGGY DEW PIZAZZ SALTSHAKER BON VIVANT ROLLER COASTER SALT WHISTLE VANTAGE CASSANDRA MELBOURNE HOT CHIPPS RAZZLE DAZZLE SECOND NATURE MAGIC WATERMARK11 yacht MELTEMI SYC BABYDOLL PRIMO UPBEAT LEBROK BACARDI WHITE NOISE WIND SPEED ALIBI BLUE TACK CONQUEST BARNSTORMER BRANNEW STAMPEDE WICKED NUTCRACKER II start number 4 Linear (number 4)

3 WILLARIE was first to start and led the fleet around number 4. She was 2:26 mins in front at that stage and 38:12min in front of the last yacht. She retired after getting stuck in a hole after rounding Number 3 a a bit after 16:00. The aggregate leader CASSANDRA of MELBOURNE (Bob Reeves) was one of the Persistent Eight. She remains at the top of the aggregate on 22.5 points for at least another week. PERSISTENT EIGHT Boat Name Skipper STAMPEDE * Christopher Gendala ALIBI Dennis Hambleton BLUE TACK Andy Lynch MELTEMI SYC * Ian Howarth CASSANDRA MELBOURNE Bob Reeves SALTSHAKER Ken Gayler WIND SPEED Les Browne NUTCRACKER II Rob Davis / Andy Baker

4 There was a decrease (green) in the handicaps of 30 yachts and an increase (red) in the handicaps of 2 yachts for this race. The average handicap fell to a series low of 26 minutes. WW Winter Series 2017 Handicap Adjustments Boat Name Race Number ALIBI ANDANTE BABYDOLL BACARDI BARNSTORMER BLUE TACK BON VIVANT BRANNEW CASSANDRA MELBOURNE CODE VIOLATION CONQUEST DOLPHIN PLAY ESPRIT FOGGY DEW FUN AND GAMES GUN BOAT HOT CHIPPS LEBROK MAGIC MARIBEL MAVERICK MELTEMI SYC MIDNIGHT MAGIC MYUNA III NUTCRACKER II PHOENIX PIPPA PIZAZZ PRIMO RAZZLE DAZZLE ROLLER COASTER SALT WHISTLE SALTSHAKER SECOND NATURE STAMPEDE SUMMER WIND SURI THE SECRETARY UPBEAT VANTAGE VINDALOO WATERMARK WHITE NOISE WHITE POINTER WICKED WILLARIE WIND SPEED DECREASE INCREASE AVERAGE MEDIAN Marking time The BOM forecast was spot on predicting the wind to drop at

5 The Watch Tower News - Awards Start of Day: Wicked Overheard on Wicked someone said now wait a sec. Most entertaining: Stampede. "a few mutterings were heard about the use of Stampede's radio calling! There was a reason behind these numerous radio calls that not many sailors were aware of. Would you believe that if you play the radio messages backwards, they were a call to the Police Rescue Helicopter to come up behind Stampede and give the wind a boast? It worked Ok at the start, but due to the chopper being low in fuel they had to leave before the end of the race. Most persistent: Meltemi. Persistent meaning: continuing firmly or obstinately in an opinion or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition, or continuing to exist or occur over a prolonged period. Maybe there should have been an award to the yacht who was out there the longest? This would have been Salt Shaker 2:35:36, then the current series leader Cassandra Melbourne 2:32:27, and Meltemi 2:26:49. WW Winter Series 2017 Race 12 Endurance League YACHT START FINISH ENDURED SALTSHAKER 13:54:24 16:30:00 2:35:36 CASSANDRA MELBOURNE 13:57:33 16:30:00 2:32:27 MELTEMI SYC 14:03:11 16:30:00 2:26:49 WIND SPEED 14:12:48 16:30:00 2:17:12 ALIBI 14:13:14 16:30:00 2:16:46 BLUE TACK 14:14:07 16:30:00 2:15:53 STAMPEDE 14:16:00 16:30:00 2:14:00 NUTCRACKER II 14:31:03 16:30:00 1:58:57 Longest start 2:14 late awarded to Alibi. Dennis was also late for the presentation and was missing from the lounge so the prize went to Windspeed just 48 seconds late. First around Number 4 : Willarie was ahead by 2:26mins starting with a 1 min handicap. In a race with a shortened course she may have expected to be a race winner. Her skipper modestly said Well if the race had finished, I would have expected at least a 10th place. He did spend some time fishing and not finishing just after rounding No3.

6 What do you do with old sails? They are wanted and can be put to use by a small school community in Tasmania. It won t cost you anything. They will be collected from your home, and in return you will be given a present. If you have any old sails you wish to donate please contact Lyn Hellewell on or fundraising@peregrine.tas.edu.au. They will arrange collection or freight of sails from anywhere in Australia in return for which you will receive one of their most popular items in the range, the Sou Wester Utility Bag. Production Manager - Lyn Hellewell Afloat by Peregrine fundraising@peregrine.tas.edu.au The sails just need to be bundled or boxed for freight purposes Just advise Lyn - how many bundles/boxes in total - (approximate) size and weight of each bundle/box - street address for collection Then they can go ahead and book the freight company to pick your sails up at no charge. The school that will benefit is Peregrine Community School, a small independent primary school nestled in the quiet bush environment of Nicholls Rivulet in the south of the small island state of Tasmania. It is purposely a small school (70 students from Kinder to Grade 6) where children are nurtured to learn and grow in a natural, responsive and engaging environment. If you would like to see their unique range of bags visit their store at Salamanca Place on any Saturday or check on line Etsy store Click. Not only does the recycling of your sail raise significant funds for the school (they are always looking for donations of unused, discarded sails) it is reusing sails that otherwise would be bound for landfill. One of the Gang of 9 hanging out hopefully. Thanks to Bruce Parry and Graham Furness for the photos. Bruce will be away for some weeks and will be missed. If you take any photos in the next 4 or 5 weeks could you please send them to Mark Windward. Jacqueline Hope has just updated her blog from Yorkey s Knob (just north of Cairns)

7 I Roller Coaster was in front of some yachts during the race. She did gain a first in the race - the first to retire, followed by Dolphin Play and Bacardi. Red numbers do stand out. Owing to the poor management of their superannuation these yachts did not have the option of early retirement. Your Positive Contributions and particularly your Photos are welcome. send to Mark-Windward@live.com.au Mark Windward