With Saturday's forecast of a 25 to 30 knot NE breeze, the five crews who had elected to sail with their big kites were nervously excited about the rides ahead. Twelve boats turned up for the two-race format which were to be sailed in the Sound area. Graham and Michelle Payn were sailing their new second hand boat 8639, and two casual entries in Edward Cox and Chris Quirk were present for the days activities.

(BS = using big spinnaker)

Race 1.
Gate boat 8399 Bagshaw/Gorrell (BS) started proceedings in a 10 to 15 knot NE breeze that was trying so hard to freshen. The fleet was bunched approaching the weather mark the first time with Cox/Linton (BS) rounding first, closely followed by Quirk/Lange (BS), Edwards/Krueger (BS) then Porter/Robinson. At the wing mark Quirk/Lange had taken the lead followed by Porter/Robinson then Edwards/Krueger. On the bottom reach Quirk/Lange had been carried away low of the rhumb line and dropped their spinnaker early to reach up to the leeward mark. Porter/Robinson rounded second with the flying Edwards/Krueger in third spot. Quirk/Lange held their advantage over the next two legs of the course and finished 25 seconds ahead of Porter/Robinson with Brian Robinson (BS) sailing Grumpy Old Men a further 41 seconds back in third position.

Race 2.
By now the breeze had freshened to 15 - 20 knots and Edwards/Krueger were gate boat, and after starting, continued out to the right side whilst most of the fleet hit the left side aggressively. Three quarters of the way up the beat Quirk/Lange looked to have a handy lead when Edwards/Krueger came charging out of the right hand side applying plenty of pressure. With 100 metres to the weather mark, Quirk/Lange and Edwards/Krueger elected to sail to the left, whilst Porter/Robinson sailed the right hand lay line and just managed to tack under Quirk/Lange as they rounded the mark. Edwards/Krueger rounded half a boat length behind the two leaders in third. At the gybe mark Porter/Robinson had a boat length lead from Edwards/Krueger followed by Tompson/Thompson in third. Quirk/Lange had capsized on the spinnaker set after rounding the weather mark. At the leeward mark the first time Porter/Robinson had established a good lead from Tompson/Thompson in second position. Edwards/Krueger had come to grief on the gybe at the wing mark and at this stage of the race it was noticeable that the boats with big kites were having a few problems. With three legs of the course remaining Porter/Robinson maintained their lead and went onto a comfortable win, with the battles going on for second and fourth. The last beat saw Edwards/Krueger take over second position only 50 metres from the finish, and hold onto second spot, to finish 11 seconds ahead of Tompson/Thompson in third.

Big Spinnaker Report
It was an interesting day's racing, with five out of the eleven starters using big spinnakers. From my observation, it was quite evident that in the fresher conditions, to race the boat hard requires a bit more skill especially in sets and going around corners. It is great to get out there in 20 knots and go burning down the runs and reaches, but to get around the course fast one needs to improve the team work in the boat. Also one needs to have a lot of respect for a sail that will dump you in the water in a split second if it is not handled correctly.

Most of the comments from the users today were based on the opinion that "it was so much fun; how are we going to go back to those smaller shutes?" The only negative comment I heard was that "this kite I used today was just too full".
Today I used the standard size spinnaker and got around the course very comfortably. But in stating that, having used the bigger spinnaker in fresh conditions, today was quite boring. I was envious watching the boats with big kites screaming down the reaches and runs.
I don't think that having to develop better crew work and boat handling skills is a negative thing for the class, keeping in mind that the boat is not any physically harder to sail.

Dave Porter

Results

Race 1 Sprint Race

1st 8280 Quirk/Lange (BS) 0.00
2nd 8644 Porter/Robinson 0.25
3rd 8628 Robinson/Paul (BS) 0.41
4th 8398 Edwards/Krueger (BS) 1.19
5th 8578 Holden/Holden 3.54
6th 8186 Tompson/Thompson 4.24
7th 8399 Bagshaw/Gorrell (BS) 4.30
8th 8273 Sanderson/Mark 4.38
9th 8738 Cox/Linton (BS) 4.57 Casual Entry
10th 8603 Dunn/Herbert 6.32
11th 828 Quirk/Sargent 8.12
Casual Entry 8639 DNC

Handicap

1st 8280 Quirk/Lange (BS) 0.00
2nd 8644 Porter/Robinson 0.26
3rd 8628 Robinson/Paul (BS) 0.42

Race 2. Point Score.
1st 8644 Porter/Robinson 0.00
2nd 8398 Edwards/Krueger (BS) 3.21
3rd 8186 Tompson/Thompson 3.32
4th 8280 Quirk/Lange (BS) 4.32
5th 8399 Holden/Holden 6.05
6th 8399 Bagshaw/Gorrell (BS) 6.30
7th 8603 Dunn/Herbert 7.13
8th 8628 Robinson/Paul (BS) 7.18
9th 828 Quirk/Sargent 8.53 Casual Entry
10th 8273 Sanderson/Mark 11.42
8639 DNC
8738 DNC Casual Entry

Handicap

1st 8186 Tompson/Thompson 0.00
2nd 8578 Holden/Holden 0.50
3rd 8399 Bagshaw/Gorrell (BS) 4.51