THE LAST ROLL of the DICE Wednesday Wonders Race 25 winter 2017 20/9/2017 A little too close finish - Sm32, Sm354 and, hidden is 214 who hit the mark The Forecast The forecast was for light winds, and that's what many WW s prepared for and based their sailing strategies upon. This may have included the handicapper. Pippa had up Number 1 and just one crew with the concern based on the forecast that the race might not finish due to lack of wind. Sometimes skippers have the dream of the perfect race. The dream differs depending when you start. If you start early you dream that the race will begin with a strong wind and after an hour drop down - by which time you will be a long way in front. The forecast seemed this dream could become a reality. What transpired was quite different. The Actual wind Time Direction strength Mph Gusts Knots Gusts 20/05:00pm N 43 48 23 26 20/04:30pm N 33 41 18 22 20/04:00pm N 33 39 18 21 20/03:30pm N 30 35 16 19 20/03:00pm N 28 32 15 17 20/02:30pm N 24 28 13 15 20/02:00pm N 20 24 11 13 20/01:30pm N 17 22 9 12 20/01:00pm N 22 26 12 14 20/12:30pm N 22 24 12 13 20/12:00pm N 22 26 12 14 The speed of one yacht was hampered by numerous dolphins that decided a yacht was a good thing to play around, right near number 7. It took the skipper a while to solve why there was a lack of speed and turbulence around his yacht.
The next surprise to this red yacht was to see a large yacht approaching the first mark at the same time. The dream was starting to turn into a nightmare. If the skipper had paid more attention to the handicaps he would have realized that the large yacht had only started 5 min behind, and after just 13 mins had taken the lead. The next leg was to No 5, a distance of 3.1nm. At 5knts it took about 45mins. Pippa was enjoying the company of Suri and kept close to her until she got in front rounding No 5. Suri then took off and went on to finish 5 th just 6 mins off 1 st. Pippa had another visitor on the way to No5 when Alliance appeared. Her sail shape was unusual for a down wind run (check out the photo). Overheard was a crewmember begging for a Spinnaker pole from Suri. Did they have one to spare? Suri could not help, however Alliance took off to finish second. WANTED Alliance is still short of a pole. If you have a spare pole about 15 feet or 4.5m long Ronnie or one of the other owners would like to hear from you. There were some celebrations at the Wailing Wall when skippers examined the handicaps. It was rumoured that some skippers immediately went off and purchased Tatts tickets to make use of their good luck. Others were not so joyful.
The Handicaps Yacht with NO CHANGE to handicap 0 mins SM104 SM45 Sm3600 Sm701 Sm354 Yachts with an additional time ADDED to their handicap I Min C20 Sm1546 SM6 Sm477 SM367 2 Mins SM178 Sm9988 Sm1101 SM3639 SM4 3 Mins Sm424 Sm99 SM927 SM316 Sm1298 4 Mins Sm 355 AUS 4457 5 mins Sm 1147 6 mins Aus 214 7 Mins SM6530 First Place: Sm41 HOT CHIPS, John Chipp Started 14 th on 24 mins (a reduction of 6 mins.) Had an 8 second start. By first time around had moved into 4 th position just 3 mins behind the leader (Alliance). She crossed the line 3:42 clear of second place. There may be a protest about this result. A photo has been submitted that appears Hot Chipps had some outside assistance. We know that Seagulls are attracted to chips but the Animal Welfare association is questioning this use of wild life. Yachts with a lower handicap:time SUBTRACTED from their handicap 1 min SM377 Sm616 Sm6161 Aus 31002 2 Mins SM600 Sm 303 3 mins SM16 SM32 6107 Sm6142 5 Mins Sm3434 6 mins Sm41 Sm911 9 mins SM 4646 Sm344 13 Mins Sm580
Second: Sm 4646 ALLIANCE Alex Hall Starting in 9 th place with a 9 min reduction in her handicap on 12 mins, she crossed the start line 17 seconds late. By the second mark No 5, she was in third place. The lack of a pole on the downwind legs may have cost her first place. She was in first place going past 4 the first time but on the second triangle she lost 6.5 mins finishing second. Sailing down seas and downwind but in need of a spinnaker pole. Alliance went well up wind. Second Nature was just 43 seconds off second place. Paul definitely earnt this photo. Third: Sm 6161 SECOND NATURE Paul Mentiplay Started 16 th on a handicap of 26 mins, one min earlier than last week s time, and was 14 seconds late. By first time around she had moved into 7 th place about 6 mins behind the leader, with a couple of minutes space behind her. The race to the finish line was a real tussle with Second Nature just losing second place by 41 seconds, and just 29 seconds to 4 th.
Mark included a photo of Second Nature in a previous race report, just because Paul had served time as a handicapper. He complained he had not earnt the privilege, so Mark thinks this race was to earn a photo. This third place moves Second Nature into the seventh spot in the top ten on 88.0 points, just 6 points off the current first place. With luck he could drop his 13 th score next race and move higher up. The last roll of the dice for Winter 2017 Start of the day NUTCRACKER on zero, zeros. She started 32nd off 65 mins and finished 29 th in the elapsed time of 1:34:39, the fastest time of the fleet. Next fastest was Wicked 1:40:00 who finished 7 th off a handicap of 48mins. Recorded times of slower yachts was 2:47:11, 2:36.02 & 2:32:03.
Summerwind Sm580 Started 6 th off 9 mins a reduction of 13 mins. Unfortunately she tried to creep a little more time and was over early by 7 seconds. The penalty dropped her from a 9 th finish to 18 th. This photo near the finish line is therefore a little deceiving. Bob Bobbing along quite nicely finishing 14 th in this race. This takes Cassandra to second position in the series with just 0.5 away from White Noise in First.
A handicappers delight to see finishes like this, just a short distance to the finish line. Taken near the No 4 mark At the other end of the line Magic finished 17 th and Pippa was 12 seconds behind.
Taken from Pippa looking back at Suri near Number 5 Book Now for Presentation Night Friday the 13 th October 2017 Other happenings Windward Buoy should be back for the next race, if not for the next season. Mark is looking forward to having a rest. Next race is the last race for the winter series, and also the last Century Class for Winter. Enter now for the Summer Series. Also enter for Century Class if you are eligible i.e. if the combined age of your skipper and your yacht adds up to 100 years or more. The last race in November will be the Grand Prix Car / Yacht Race. BLUE FLYER arrived at Port PAPEETE at 2017-09-13 06:56 Local Time (2017-09-13 16:56 UTC) WANTED - MAGAZINES for Monash Hospital A request form Margaret e.g. RACV, Women's Weekly & similar, car, golf & boating magazines, Reader's Digest. Packs of playing cards are also requested to make this a good deal for all. Please pass them onto Margaret after the race.
Why is this yacht famous? Recently on TV the skipper on this Endeavour 23 was featured hoisting a spinnaker. All these photos were taken at the same time. Rob Sill might know the answer, or someone his age. Thanks to Chris Furey (38 South Boat Sales) for some great photos and to the crew of Pippa. Send your comments, photos, and answers to the above question to MARK WINDWARD Wishing all sailors good sailing for the last race. It is such a tight finish for the top 10 positions. Let s hope for good sailing breezes to make it an exciting race