The Captains Log |
Cruises, projects, maintenance.... what would I rather be doing???.
Wind, Rain, Motorcycles | October Update | Lessons from BOI | Busy May | Catherine Cove |
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Wind, Rain and Motorcycles
Darn it we didn’t get to race on Saturday. The Spring Regatta again got nailed by the weather coming through pretty much as it was forecast to do. Good call Race Committee.
It wasn’t all bad though as I got through one third of the John Britten book who of course for you non kiwi’s is another New Zealander who became famous for designing the composite Britten V1000, a magnificent machine, one of which is on display at Te Papa Tongarewa, The Museum of New Zealand. The spot where this work of art is on display sells fabulous coffee and cake, some of you who know me well will recognise that these are two subjects very close to my heart. A visit to marvel at this machine is a must do if visiting Wellington.
Getting back to the bike, the majority of this machine is constructed from Carbon Fibre, again a subject very close to my heart. Apparently Britten’s machine was a nightmare to follow out of a corner as it had a nasty habit of pelting anyone following with small chunks of rubber due to the huge amount of power and it’s ability to light up the rear tyre. Sound Good? Sure does.
To bring this blog back to yachting in some form, John Britten was also a sailor having learned in P class as a child and there was also a yachting connection to the bike which was Britten’s request for design review from the company Hi Modulus who to summarise said that his design had ‘some issues’. If you want more detail I recommend you get the book, it is a great read.
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| Graeme 06 October 2008 | top |
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News Update October 2007
We have blooded some new crew over the winter and it's been great for us long timers seeing these 'newbies' developing their skills on Flying Circus.
Janine and Graeme are training for the Wellington to Lyttleton 2 handed race in early November. The challenge has been to get the boat set up for 2 handed sailing and then knock some of the rust off given that Graeme doesn’t spend much time on the bow these days and Janine hasn’t spent much time on the helm.
We have started racing in Twilight racing on Wednesday nights and we did our first Rum Race 2 handed which went pretty well once the breeze came in.
The offshore series starts on the 27th of October with the Brothers Island Race. This blast across Cook Strait and back is great fun and is always challenging. It is a great warm up for the longer races early in the New Year.
The Lyttleton Regatta follows the 2 handed race and we have a full crew charging down to take part in this first time event. This will be a great warm up for the Line 7 Regatta in February.
We will be updating the crew page soon with photographs of some of our new crew legends.
Cheers for now, Graeme.
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| Graeme 15/10/07 | top |
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Lessons from Bay of Islands Race Week
Reprinted from Graeme's lessons learned on Fineline around the Bay of Islands, Feb 2006
Lesson 1
Lighten the boat. Everything non essential to make boat go faster gets taken off. Safety equipment stays on. Crew travel light. Changes of clothes stay on shore.
Lesson 2
Hike hard all the time. Flat in a Y11 = Fast. Stay on the rail think about who does what. Lightest person goes off the rail, everyone else goes hard to compensate.
Lesson 3
Bigger is not always faster. Masthead Gennaker, High 17’s before tearing tack out, Smaller Gennaker High 17’s and sustainable.
Lesson 4
Boat goes fastest when everyone is concentrating and giving 100%. This means no hangovers. If you aren’t able to give 100% you shouldn’t be on the boat as you are letting others down.
Lesson 5
Dress for the race. If it looks like it’s going to be cold dress for it before the race not halfway through.
Lesson 6
Speed is King and everyone benefits when they can see it. (Project for Flying Circus is mast readouts)
Lesson 8
Too Tight = slow. If in doubt ease it out, particularly mainsheet.
Lesson 9
Back up before races. Weed on foils is slow.
Lesson 10
Success is a great motivator. |
| Graeme 21/02/06 | top |
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Busy May |
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RPNYC Prize giving is scheduled for the 20th of May. Hopefully a good turnout for what we are sure will be a great night.
A busy month planned for maintenance on Flying Circus with a haul out for sanding down and anti foul and hull clean plus some overdue r & m for the stanchions, rudder bearings and prop shaft.
The haul out is at Chaffers travel lift scheduled for the weekend of the 27th & 28th of May. Hoping for a big crew turnout to make this nasty job a bit easier.
Hoping to get a couple of sails in after that to get some practise in for the start of the winter series on the 11th of June.
Graeme 08 May 2006
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Catherine Cove |
This weekend we will be concentrating on getting the boat up to scratch for the Catherine Cove Offshore Race to be held on the 3rd and 4th of March. This race starts at 1755hrs on Friday night and depending on wind conditions leads us out of the harbour and around the South Coast of the North Island heading north to either Mana Island or Kapiti Island off Paraparaumu then South across Cook Strait and into Catherine Cove to finish.
The social activity gets underway after the race depending on time and then it’s a non race trip back across Cook Strait, around the South Coast of the North Island and back into Wellington Harbour.
Graeme 22 February 2006 Update: We didn't go, the weather was terrible, with 10 metre swells predicted in the Strait.
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