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RESULTS FOR THE FIRST DAY 12 March
The Sailing conditions were light, shifty and choppy conditions. It took some time for the breeze to settle enough to establish a fair start line. Once that happened the first race was started in 10-14 knots of breeze from the SE, which was enough for all the boats to be powered up and sailing with Number 1 headsails. The first race was two windward leeward legs with the top marks set reasonably close to shore, which provided some challenging conditions for the local and international competitors. After a clean start by all, the fleet was lead by the New Zealand team who lead for the rest of the race. Second was Canada and third USA. During lunch time all the crews swapped boats. The second start was delayed due to sail damage to a headsail and all boats used smaller headsails for the second race. This 2nd race consisted of a triangle and windward leeward course. The race got under way in 12-15 knots SW with the Australian and Russian crews starting well and leading the fleet off the start line. After starting 5th New Zealand crew, recovered to 2nd at the top mark behind the Australians. They moved into first place on the way to the wing mark. The breeze freshened to 20 knots during this race and the New Zealand crew were challenged strongly at the next top mark by the Russians, who made some impressive gains on this leg. However, on the flat run back the New Zealand crew extended again to win the race. The American crew on the final run came from 5th place at the top mark to steal 2nd place, just in front of the Canadians. Tomorrow’s race is an 18 miler around Motiti Island and back. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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RESULTS FOR DAY TWO 13 March
Day two started in front of the Yacht Club with a light breeze, USA had a nice clean start sailing OtwayIII. The out going tide helped the fleet out through the entrance to the harbour. USA lead the fleet to A buoy (the first turning mark) followed by Canada. A head sail change was called and the whole fleet changed to #2 headsail. The breeze had filled into a 15 SE that left the fleet with a lay through to Motiti Is 12 miles away. Canada lead around the first point by 40 seconds from USA followed New Zealand, then Russia, Japan very close together and Australia had some problem and were well behind. The boats then reached around Cave Island and put on their spinnakers for a flying down wind sail home. Canada was first up with their Spinnaker 10 boat lengths ahead of USA. The boats screamed down the building waves and wind at speeds over 14 knots. For the last hour the two leading boats were overlapped and exchanging the lead by half a boat length. The New Zealand team was closing in but needed more runway. Owing to the conditions the committee boat was a little slow getting to judge the finish. The result has been judged a dead heat between USA and Canada as both boats claimed the win and the bows were within a metre of each other. RESULTS FOR DAY THREE 14 March
Day Three 14 March, started with a forecast of 25 to 35 knots of Easterly. The five boats arrived on the start line on time. Everyone dressed for the expected conditions and started to strip off layers of clothes as the sun came out. The Russian team hit the front of the race from the start line. They found a lift out on the left side of the fleet and narrowly trailed the NZ team at the first mark. The Skipper Yuri said “they were close to crossing in front of the NZ team but decided to let the locals go first or maybe the NZ team was just scared of being behind us, even Fred was quiet!” The spinnakers were set as the fleet headed down wind. The Japanese team were having a great race having won the start and had a blinding first beat. As the fleet slowly made their way around the course the wind got lighter and the front boats stretched away. Results were NZL, Russia, Japan, Canada (overlapped again by the USA team), USA and Australia. Race 5 had the fleet starting in an easterly of 10 knots with a half metre chop. The NZL team hit the buoy end of the start line, while the USA and Russian team had a luffing match at the boat end. Russian lead for the first three legs as they had another close race with the NZ team. “We were having a great days sailing” said Yuri, “as we are starting to learn the boats and the shifting winds”. “The breeze was soft and shifty” said the trimmer for the NZ team Bruce Goodchap, “ and this made it hard for us to pass the Russian Team”. The USA had another match race with the Canadian’s but came out on top of this match! Results were NZL, Russia, USA, Canada, Japan and then Australia. RESULTS FOR DAY FOUR 16 March Day Four, and the six bots headed out into fine sunny day, but not a lot of wind. The 7 knots of head wind generated by the boats motoring out to the start was the most felt by the boats all day. The start eventually got away in a 2 to 4 knot Easterly,. The NZ and Canadian teams were the first to the start line some 30 seconds after the start. The Russian team decided to hit hard right looking for the elusive lift to the windward mark. Unfortunately by the time the first boats got to the windward mark the wind had moved to a NE breeze. The NZ team were the first to get their kite on.; Peter Phipps (NZ Forward hand) said “after getting an ok start we headed out to the left side and came through on a great lift”. Very light and shifty conditions that were very challenging. The boats were very close and any mistakes were punished. The Japanese had a great race and we had a close finish with them immediately behind us in third place. The race was shortened as the wind died and the new wind was around to the NW. The second race finally started at around 3. The Canadians hit the start at pace and lead the fleet around the first mark. “We should have setup for a gybe at the first mark, but the NZ team gybed inside of us and we had to chase them down the first run” said Sandy McMillan the Canadian skipper. The USA team was over at the start and had to return and they trailed the fleet. The USA team had a great race from behind and eventually caught the Canadians by the third beat and after a close battle down wind (in 4 knots of NW) the USA team got a second. The Australians, Japanese, and Russian spent this race, exchanging positions around all of the legs of the course. The Australian had a second fourth place for the day.
FINAL DAY RESULTS. DAY FIVE 17 March The final day of the Pac Rim regatta had a delayed start as the teams waited for the wind to come in. The teams headed out for a pleasant final race in 3 to 4 knots of NE breeze. Australia had a great start at the leeward end with NZ just to windward. The Russians also chased hard around this 2 lap race. The Japanese hit the first mark in front of the fleet, but a tactical decision down wind let Australia through. They were not headed for the rest of the race. A great way for the beleaguered Team to finish off. The final results are;
A huge party erupted at the TYPBC club house as the boats returned to the Marina and had their final tidy up. All the teams showed their appreciation to the boat owners and the organising Team. The prize giving was finished off with the traditional Pac Rim “skits”, from and Australian poem, Japanese recital, to the Kiwis interpretation of sailing to windward.
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