Friday
The third round of the VSC’s WaveGP was grey but thrilling, with TWENTY-ONE athletes forming 19 teams to take on a blustery nor’easter. With the heats divided into relative handicaps, it was truly anyone’s game. A different course design meant the briefing was met with a couple of puzzled faces, but once we got moving, it worked exceptionally well.
In case you missed it – scoring for the WaveGP is points according to position in the heat. 1st = 10pts, 2nd = 9pts, 3rd = 8pts and so on. The scores are tallied at the end for totals, and the most points wins!
The leaderboard shifted slightly, with Andrew McKenzie taking out 1st with a perfect 30/30. MB took 2nd on countback over Paul, and Bridget got 4th on countback over Matthew. Standout scores are also Marc taking his first heat win, Dobbo & Joss with 2 9s, and River & Joel avoiding capsize while they were beating about the course.
In the WaveGP overall results, Andrew McKenzie is sitting in front, 4pts above Matthew McKenzie, followed by Paddy, then MB. Bridget, Spinellis, & Scott finish out the top 7, proving that showing up is the secret!
Sunday
Sunday’s breeze forecast got the crew moving at a reasonable pace, with a 10:30 briefing for an 11 am start. The NE filled in first, and the race got underway. Unfortunately, for the entire fleet (bar Bridget, who went out on port), the westerly came in and clashed with the NE, so the fleet was stuck in circles trying to get to the top mark! As the race continued, it quickly became very clear that the only way to keep moving was to glue your eyes to your telltales, and accept that every leg would be a reach or an upwind.
With that saga concluded, the AP was up for lunch and to allow Fionnbarr & Paddy on the start boat to reset the course for the westerly. Nicole’s salads received much acclaim from the tired sailors, who were gearing up to take on the steadily growing westerly.
The fleet consisted of Marc & Liana on the lone 16, then Joel, River, & Evan on the Dragoon, and Rennie & Mel on the Wave. Jezza, Macca, Steve, Bridget, Adrian, & Dobbo were on 14s, and Bryn dusted off Sur Ganji to rejoin the regulars. The second session, after lunch, hosted three races, with dwindling numbers of sailors as the gusts picked them off one by one.
Bryn’s three 2nds were an excellent result after so long off the water, Dobbo still managed to post a 4th after going upside down and backwards a few times, and Macca had a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th – just to keep it interesting.
We’ll see you next week!
