Taxing wind on Saturday after calmer conditions for the previous Wednesday
Story by Tim Symons, photos by John Byrne and Alan Davis… Feature Photo, Jason Abbott and Sam Bishop spectacularly capsized their Capricorn F18
Lake Jindabyne Sailing Club ran heat two of the 2020/21 Twilight series on the warm evening of Wednesday 11th November. The light North Westerly breeze of around 5 to 8 knots before the start started to drop as the 6 pm start time approached. John Byrne assisted by Richard Churm in the start boat set a Starboard rounding course with a start line at the Club mark. Phil Daley manned the Rescue boat.
The seven catamarans set off from the start to the Bay mark in a tight bunch in the light breeze. The two F18s slipped to the front, rounded the Bay mark first and set off on a long reach to the far-off mountain mark. They struggled to carry their spinnakers on the shy reaching leg while being chased by the other cats. Meanwhile, the fourteen monohulls started 5 minutes after the cats. Their first triangle lap took them around the Bay, Peninsular and Quarry marks.
The two fleets joined up on the last leg of the first triangle lap from the Quarry mark to the Bay mark. This made for a busy windward work with a mixture of fast & slow boats and many port tack boats giving way to starboard tack boats. The breeze steadily dropped to about 0 to 2 knots. The boats slowly made their way around their second triangle lap while searching for the elusive breeze. Andrew Kennedy and Thor & Freya Slater retired their cats before the finish. Peter Baker, Jason Frost, Mal McLean and new members in their first race, Rod and Cheryl Miller all retired from the monohull race too.
After their 3 laps and about an hour and a half of light breeze, the cats were led to the finish by the two Capricorn F18s. Jason Abbott and Sam Bishop finished first, 27 seconds ahead of Adam Robinson and Mars. The two Nacras finished next with Alistair Cross and Gavin Fuller finally slipping away from Tim Symons and Hobie 17 sailor Alan Davis. The Handicap corrected times mixed up the cats’ results with Tim taking the win from Jason & Sam, Alan, Alistair & Gavin and Adam & Mars.
The monohulls sailed 3 laps of a smaller course in the light breeze and finished just in front of the cat fleet with Nic Kennedy and his Finn crossing the finish line first. He was followed by a gaggle of Lasers led by John Baird, Hamish Greenwood, Damien Goninan, Stephen French, Gote Vikstrom, Steve Osborne, 1 second in front of 470 sailors Terry Lee & Lucas Blackmore-Lee, Ian Ferguson and Kerry McGaw. John took the handicap corrected times win from Nic, Gote, Hamish, Steve O, Damien, Stephen F, Ian, Terry & Lucas and Kerry.
Saturday mornings
Green Fleet racing for the club’s juniors is back on again this season with a bunch of kids and instructors turning up on the morning of Saturday 14th November.
They all enjoyed a great session practising their sailing skills along with the club’s team of youth instructors. They enjoyed a sunny morning with a medium strength breeze to push the club’s Optimist dinghies along.
Saturday afternoon thrill seekers
Lake Jindabyne Sailing Club ran heat 3 of the 2020/21 Point-score series on the afternoon of Saturday 14th November. The sailors raced around a large course on the main lake expecting the forecast 10 knots of breeze while getting a North Westerly breeze of 15 knots and more. John Byrne and Peter Baker manned the start boat while Alan Davis manned the rescue boat.
The nine cats started first at the Club mark, zoomed off on a short windward leg to the Bay mark, then a long shy reach to the Mountain mark. The three F18 cats zoomed to the lead in the strong breeze with good use of their trapezes and spinnakers. The rest of the cats chased them around the course and battled amongst themselves.
The nine monohulls started five minutes after the cats and set off into the tough conditions on the main lake. All of the sailors worked hard on their boats in the windy and wavy conditions. Many had to recover from capsizes around the course. Jason Abbott and Sam Bishop spectacularly capsized their Capricorn F18 (Feature photo) and recovered quickly to chase the other F18 cats. Mal McLean and his Laser retired from the monohull race.
The big cats split off from the others on the long 5 lap course with Michael Fearnside & Ross Tattersall leading Adam Robinson & Mars, then Jason & Sam to the Finish line at the Peninsular mark over twelve minutes ahead of the other cats. Tim Symons finished fourth followed by Sam Bylett & Lucy Cross, Alistair & Alexi Cross, Barry Dennis, Marty Wittington and Thor & Freya Slater. Michael and Ross took the yardstick corrected times win from Tim, Adam & Mars, Jason & Sam, Barry, Thor & Freya, Alistair & Alexi and Marty.
After a three lap course, John Baird led the monohulls to the finish line, closely followed by Phil Daley and Harriet Greville, Stephen French, Kerry McGaw, Steve Osborne, Hamish Greenwood, Damian Goninan and Ian Ferguson. The yardstick corrected times gave Kerry the win from John, Steve O, Stephen F. Hamish, Phil & Harriet, Damian and Ian.
Lake Jindabyne Sailing Boat Shed Progress
The construction Lake Jindabyne Sailing Club’s new sheds is continuing on schedule with the erection of the frame for the smaller shed.
Im into it says Zack Bowerman owner operator Monaro Sheds zack@monarosheds.com ….. Materials supplied by Jindy Steel Worx info@jindysteelworx.com
The Lake Jindabyne Sailing Club is growing and welcomes membership inquiries. So come on down to the Lake Jundabyne Sailing Club and join in their activities and inquire about their learning sessions. Race days are Wednesday and Saturday… see you there.
