What was thought to be a “force 2 boil in the sun” day, turned out to be a fantastic day of racing for our first race of the season. Winds were 10 to 12 knots from the West with the course being a large triangle to Tai Koo Shing, big sausage and small triangle. We had a healthy 10 boats on the water considering a number of the regulars were not able to race with the ABC Regatta as a competing venue.

We all had a clean start. Martin’s was the cleanest preferring to start with the Etchells. Once on our way,we all beat up the middle of the harbor in the outgoing tide with most boats generally favoring one side of center. Howard and Louie were neck and neck at the top mark with Jun close behind. Then came the Remi driving the Pessimistmobile along with Clive in his triumphant return to the fragrant harbor. Great to have you back! Martin and Joe followed, and then came the Professors trailed by, Higuchi and company.

On the run down the most striking thing was the speed at which the spinnaker were set - much faster following Howard’s friday night training session. While Howard and Louie battled it out side by side, Jun snuck by the outside and turned the corner in the lead.

From this point on there were a number of close duels were fought with the leads in flux. Louie and Jack fought Howard and Dennis in a brother against brother match. The Professors exchanged places with Martin and Joe with the Pessimistmobile a constant threat. Brett and Prem was hot on the heels of the Pessimistmobile. Further back Ishi and Bill, Higuchi, and Suzanne and Karen all exchanged places through the race.

In the end, the smart side of the course was where Jun was racing, which is a word to the wise for this weekend’s Autumn Regatta. Louie and Jack beat Howard and Dennis (Jack’s bigger little brother). Slopes lee-bowed Martin right before the finish and looked back with an evil grin. But it was Martin who had the last laugh by tacking to the favored side committee boat prevailing in a photo finish. Then came the dilapidated Pessimistmobile adorned in new sails - new wine in old wine skins. Brett and Prem stormed across the line. Next came three boats all in a very close battle with Pathfinder coming out on top capitalizing on a last second wind shift. Then came the My Fair Ladies Higuchi and Wantanabe, with Suzanne and Karen immediately behind.

It was a great start to the new season. Everybody was very competitive with some fun duels along the way. This weekend is the Autumn Regatta (Outta Regatta as it is sometimes called). Let’s have a great weekend of racing.

Hello Race Fans,

Last Saturday was another great Sunshine Race, sailed once again, with no Sunshine. We had five boats on the water on what was forecast to be quite a miserable day. As it turns out, it was overcast, but no rain, with shifty winds gusting from zero to 15 knots. With the changing incoming tide, it made an interesting afternoon. We also shared the course with a Ruffian and an Etchell. So, we gave each other some share of misery during the afternoon. A simple windward leeward course was chosen by sailing three sausages from Dock Buoy to CWB with a club start and finish.

Not the best start of the season with boats strung from one end to the other and some as much as a minute late after the start (NFZ).  Staying in the wind and playing the shifts that held was the name of the game. In the end it was Martin coming in first using an Etchell to run interference for him on Squiffy. So, Howard and Twins Mom, JJ, were second. Sailing in the Pessimistmobile, the French Boys in Pink, Remi and Damien, came third narrowly beating No Fly Zone, Ciara and Joe, who were in a come-from-behind bid. Closing up the ranks was Ishi and Bill in 3735 having suffered a tough final beat.

The big news of the day was Martin’s newly purchased Tack Tic that went Tock instead of Tick. He bought it from the gentleman below in near perfect condition with an “as is” warranty. Martin, the crafty lawyer, did not read the fine print and spent the afternoon trying to revive the dead compass. Remarkably he won though, and that may have been the guarantee he was looking for.

Saturday turned out to be more than advertised in an action packed race sailed on a beautiful clear and sunny afternoon in the harbor. The winds were strong with gusts of 20 knots that moderated through the afternoon. In spite of these less than tame conditions, the final race brought a few of the more timid crew to the drivers seat making the racing more interesting.

Thirteen boats were on the line with seven official entries. Because of the nice winds, a long course of three sausages was chosen in an outgoing tide. There was a clean, competitive start with Ciara coming on strong looking like a seasoned professional if I don’t say so myself. First came the long beat to the top mark. All boats went to North Point except Ciara who learned a lesson I have had to re-learn over and over..stay with the fleet. It was a quick ride down in a long procession. And, at this point, it was clear to see that Bill was going to have his hands full as he trailed the Professor by several boats. The able professor had recruited hired gun, Howard, as his crew.
It was also on this leg where Lucy, who was deftly weaving her way aimlessly down the course, experienced a rather unusual event. While Carlyon was stumbling with the pole, a Pandora “suddenly appeared from nowhere”..basically out of thin air. These kinds of ghost ship sightings are not common. But in this case, as the boom clanged along the Pandora’s side, the boat proved to more than a phantom.

Once around Dock Buoy, it was another long series of tacks to get back to TaiKooShing. It was here where several of the new helms were astonished to hear how important the position of the head is when going up wind. The crews were constantly giving them instructions.. Head up.. Head down now.. Come down more, that’s it, now head up. In the post race discussions they concluded that these peculiar instructions did no good what so ever.

In the end it was Professor P, with his hired gun, crossing the line first. David Chow sailing unofficially came second, and in a gentlemanly way slowed his horses down to give David P the honor of his deserved gun for the race and the series. Next was Jun sailing unofficially as a helm who was then followed by American Wild Bill, sailing with his trusted crew, Ishi. He took the official second for the race and second overall. Lucy, still stunned by the Pandora apparition, was officially third for the race in her first-time helm this year. She was followed by several unofficial entries - Suzanne, Higuchi and Tom Sheppard. Tom, a former long time 15 sailor, was back out on the water after several wasted years sailing with the etchells. Marianna, the sweet Italian Coed, was officially fourth, sailing with Martin. Despite this handicap she finished third overall in the series. Ever gracious, a few ne’r-do-wells in the fleet tried to coax the truth out of her about Martin’s crewing capabilities. At every turn she had nothing but accolades. It all seemed a bit too rehearsed leading us to believe that she or her third place award were under threat. Charles, sailing with Remi, came officially and respectfully fifth despite being completely handicapped by the broken down old Pessimistmobile. Damien and Lil in “ye olde club boat” were unofficially next followed by Jack with Waicheun. He praised Jack by saying he so good that he’ll be helming from now on. Last, but not least, was Ciara, still perplexed by the head up and head down instructions.

This weekend is the Spring Regatta. The week following is the Ladies Helm, and rumors are that there will be a big turn out. This year, we understand, that there will be a best dressed helm competition. So Ladies go for it!

Incidentally Mexican last Saturday night was great complete with Mexican sombrero’s. Get ready for the Prize-giving and AGM June 6th.

I suppose it could be said that late is better than never so here it is your belated race report from Race 4 of the Challenge Series, Sometimes things are so painful that you hope, with time, its memory will be softened, but with Race 4 it still remains a painful memory.

Several of us arrived early having matched raced in the morning. Around 11am the heavens let loose and it poured down rain. Spurred on by a few bystanders Lucy was encouraged to have a Bloody Mary. With it still pouring teams began calling their partners to confer about the race. Howard noticed a certain spring in Lucy’s step after speaking with Carlyon. They were canceling, and it was time for another Bloody Mary. One by one the soaked teams showed up intrepidly looking at the sky. Jun who had no crew was hopeful to find one. But, by 1pm with the sky still pouring, Charles and Lucy had both had “made other plans”. Meanwhile Martin showed up with 10kg of sausages all ready for the evening sizzle wondering how he would eat all of them if there were no sizzle. Still the heavens poured rain. The RO delayed the start until 3, with the bar full of sailors embibbing. Finally around 2pm the rain stopped, and with no wind we rigged the boats and set out for HungHum.

A hopeful big triangle, small sausage, small triangle course was chosen. At 3pm there was a postponed start having no wind and an outgoing tide with many boats drifting across the line. One was even towed.. the eventual winner. Finally the seven FF15s got a start on a modest seven knot breeze. It was a single beat to the top mark with all the boats competitively close. Rounding the top most boats ventured to TaiTak. Ciara choose the middle and posted a big gain on the leaders, JJ and Prof P. Then someone switched off the wind. Faint ribbons of breeze skirted on the water providentially favoring some and cursing others. Wisely, a finish was set at Dock Buoy, the end of the wing leg. Yup, that’s right, the race was one big, lazy, triangle. JJ and Howard were the clear winners, followed by Prof P gaining on the lead spot for the Series. Then came Marianna portaging Martin and his sausages. Damien and a visting friend were an unofficial 4th followed by Suzanne and Di in and unofficial 5th as both are regular helms. Then came Ciara and Joe in an Offical 4th followed by Bill and Ishi, the other hot contender for the Series.

The big news, and some say surprise, was the sizzle. It was a smashing hit organized by Martin. The fat sausages tasted great. Everthing was cooked on Ishi’s official FF15 stove by Martin and Marianna. Great time with no rain.

This weekend is the last race in the series which is now completely up for grabs. Bill, the Professor, Marainna, and JJ all have shots at the top.

Last Saturday completed yet another race in the crew behaving badly by helming series…aka the Challenged Helm Cup. We wish we could have said it was a lovely afternoon, but only Bill Krolicki could make that gleeful comment, after his convincing win. For the rest of the eleven boats the day was quite miserable and possibly as bad as it gets. It was a cold, grey day that was rainy with strong, shifty winds. At first the rain was a mere mist, but once we were lured out the course with no honorable return, the rains picked up until it was a complete deluge as we returned to the dock.

Damien, new owner of the club boat, probably had the best idea thinking discretion was the better part of valour. Once up to the start line, he took a look around and promptly drove back to shelter. For the rest of us all we could see was the prospect of silver glistening on the mantle so we stuck it out. That put ten boats at the start. The tide was predicted to be outgoing for the start of the race then turning midway through the race. So we could enjoy the full effect of the miserable weather a long course was chosen - big triangle big sausage and little triangle.

With the fresh helms on the water driving the boats was a constant challenge. One second the wind was 15 knots and the next second thirty bouncing in from a different heading. The crews helming made a good clean start and the boats rocked with the shifty winds as they weathered to the top mark. Meanwhile the regular helms who were now crewing got to enjoy the buckets of cold water dousing them.  And, occasionally they were able to catch a mouth full of that refreshing harbour water. The biggest challenges probably came downwind. Hoisting the kite for the new helms was an experience as was dousing the kite for the irregular crews. At some point most crews and helms briefly swapped roles following a mishap. While no direct hits with other boats were recorded, a mark or two may have been bruised once or twice. 

In the end Bill and Ishi finished first with Jun and Ben behind them. Jun helmed so they were a DSQ as was Brett who came in next. He sailed a very tough weight assisted race. Brett maintains his hefty crew, Jason, like a Kobe beef, nutured on hops and grains. The professors came next leaving David with a second despite the antics of Slopes on the water. Lady Downes followed recording a DSQ with Di crewing. Carlyon was next also taking a DSQ. Lucy went out with the best of intentions but was shaken by the first gust of wind and relinquished the helm. Still shaken, they put the spinnaker in the water and went shrimping for a bit. Then came JJ and Howard who officially took the third spot. In an unusual twist Howard lost his voice during the race. With most husband and wife teams the men usually loose their hearing by the third year. Charles and Remy posted an official fourth in spite of the fact that Remy did not attend the mandatory drug testing that followed the race. Wai Cheun had nothing but praise for Jack who took the fifth spot as he helmed for the first time. And, finally Ian who also sailed a 15 for the first time suffered with joe and took the last spot.

This Saturday is another Challenge Series race with Bill and David neck and neck in the standings. Be sure to come and join in on the action. And, don’t forget the sausage sizzle afterwards. That’s always fun too.

Not a big turn out this Saturday being Ching Ming weekend. Of the four boats that competed in Friday’s HKNVR only Suzzane raced again on Saturday. In total, seven boats made it to the line. Conspicuously absent was Rupert, who had placed 3rd on Friday’s race, thereby honoring the fleet and raising the stakes on 3500. And, by ducking Saturday’s race he conveniently avoided a risky direct match up with the newer 3700, a 15 also for sale. Fortunately, he and Eileen were able to come to the American Restaurant for the fleet dinner in Wan Chai where they could lobby prospective buyers. And, thanks to the help of Eileen and Jack, a nice selection of dishes was enjoyed by the group.

Saturday proved to be a great day for racing with clear skys and moderate winds.  To the delight of David Chow a big course was posted - Hung Hom start, big triangle, big sausage, and big triangle in a big incoming tide that was slow to materialize. The 2:20 start was also the projected turn of the tide. A good clean start was seen with all the boats in formation filling the line. Out front early were the husband and wife Squiffy team of David and Wendie. All boats closely tacked back and forth up the middle until Slopes, dilerious from his early morning London flight, tacked over to North Point. Sensing that he was still receiving messages from above, the rest of the fleet followed. Another celestial message sent him back to the middle of the harbor. Now realizing that he was simply just dilerious, most boats hugged the shoreline. Low and behold, Slopes and David were far out front at the top mark beating a late arriving incoming tide. They were trailed by Ishi and Lucy, Mr Chow and Matt, David and Wendie, Joe and Brett, Suzzane with a first time 15ette, and Wai Chuen and Jack. And the procession started with Firecracker out front and David Chow and Matt comfortably second after overtaking 3700 (for sale - CHEAP - 2 boat owner in a saturated market - boat to be renamed as Ffire Sale) at the wing mark. Then came the Squiffers, For Fun and No Fly Zone, who traded positions throughout the race in a keen competition of their own. Wai Chung and Jack were not far behind as they casually discussed the life and events of Hong Kong socialites.

On the final leg, the professors coasted to an easy first place. The Puff and Stuff team were seen drinking Carlsbergs as the comfortably crossed the line second. Meanwhile, Princess Rowena graced NFZ a favorable turn as it split the next four boats. Three towards Tai Tak and NFZ to her windward side. NFZ slipped well ahead of For Fun and the husband and wife team in Squiffy and posted a photo finish with 3700 (boat for sale - price dropping by the minute). At press time it is still uncertain who crossed the line first with both boats claiming honors. The Supreme Results Director will have to be the arbitrator (Lucy, did you say granite or marble on those floors?). For Fun then Squiffy with Frantic Forties following closely behind rounding out the finish.

The Impala’s sailed the same course which made life interesting as they caught up with the fleet. Each of us has a story to tell.. Wendie, in a 15 for the first time, found the roundings scarey, a sentiment shared by others. Port running NFZ had a close port starboard crossing with only centiliters or milimeters to spare. And, Ishi was sailing with reckless abandon hoping for a big insurance claim to salvage what little value remains on 3700. At one windward mark Ishi and Lucy, approaching on port, slipped in under a starboard Impala enjoying shouts of admiration. Boss Hog then donned a red flag for the remainder of the race up until they entered the harbor.

And so it was another great day of harbor racing followed by a nice American Chinese dinner in Wan Chai.

See you next Saturday for the final race of this series.

Well Saturday was another memorable day of racing. The forecast was for force 5 to 6 winds with off shore winds approaching 8. Earlier in the morning the match racing had to be cancelled for lack of wind. And, need less to say, the big winds never came. The winds were oscillating 90 degrees at the start, trying to find a home, which they finally did filling in from the Northeast.. meager at first but then building to a steady 12 knots. The course was #44 - a big triangle and big sausage and a small triangle.With the light winds at the start, it seemed skeptical that we would finish. But, we did.

It was a very close and competitive start with the double gun sounding someone over. We all looked a little guilty but everyone figured LUCK was on their side so we all carried on. For some this was true for others it was far from the truth. It seems the most LUCKY were Carlyon and Howard in Kerfluffle who after many LUCKY breaks found themselves in the lead at the top mark, and, then with LUCK on their side, they continued getting all the LUCKY breaks and coated to a win.

Martin found his LUCK to run hot and cold as you can see from his personal account of the race:

“After being nearly the last boat to cross the line and tacking way behind at least five boats after the start, I was amazed to find myself soon to be apparently leading or nearly so or so it seemed to me(WHAT LUCK), then half way up the first leg I was bemused and confused to find myself in a hole whilst boats whizzed past to left and to right so that I arrived at the top mark last (OUU UNLUCKY). Down wind I was amused to find myself whizzing past boats to left and to right and again bemused to find myself a clear second at Kowloon Bay(LUCKY BREAK AGAIN). At the bottom mark Slopes was pressing hard and shot away to the airport runway on the next beat whilst I, confused, inexplicably went back up the middle where the hole had been. I was therefore amused, ecstatic if truth be told, to find myself an even clearer second at the top mark of the sausage(LUCK). I lazed my way back to the bottom mark still comfortably in second place and then a wake-up call from Ogawa and a hotly pursuing pack had me fighting manfully to hold on to my gradually diminishing lead over him and them. Crossing the finish line in second place, frazzled and a nervous wreck, I was once again confused and bemused to get no horn(VERY UNLUCKY), profoundly indignant if truth be told.
 
After the race, I was frustrated in my intention to make my views known to the race officer in no uncertain terms. Before I could utter a word, he apologized for his mistake(WHAT LUCK!!). The association boat, using my old sails with the number 3604,  and not me, had been over the line at the start. In addition to not signing on, it didn’t finish, leaving me to be the boat 3604 recorded as over the line. Difficult to be to indignant in these circumstances so I hunted down Damien to make my views known in no uncertain terms. He, with Gallic charm and bemused innocence of all his misdemeanors, apologised so profusely that I felt even worse than when I had been full of indignation.” Martin..cira 2009.

Damien of course was very UNLUCKY with the start and so forth and then forgetting to sign on. Slopes on the other hand was bounding with LUCK when he and the Prof P survived a near death experience in a Port Starboard mishap with Bill and Ishi. Slopes’ LUCK carried forward to the end of the race when he actually got a horn when everyone on the course will swear he was OCS. WHAT LUCK!!.

The black cloud continued to follow Bill and Ishi and in a near miss glance at the top mark No Fly Zone’s whose spinnaker pole grabbed a hold of My Fair Lady’s sheet. With both boats going in the opposite direction, the pole, in Biblical fashion, was torn asunder. (BAD LUCK).

So the LUCKY boats were Carlyon and Howard, Martin and Prem, Ogawa and Ishi2, Jun and Saito, Sam and Owen, Suz and Di and Slopes and David. The most unLUCKY were Bill and Ishi, Louise and Ciara, Joe and WaiCheun, Brett and Jason and Damien and friend.

Well better LUCK next time.

Don’t forget the Downes have invitied the group for BBQ dinner after racing on Saturday. So, if you haven’t told us yet you have about five minutes to do so.

Pre Worlds

‘Mañana’ we always thought meant tomorrow – as in, “a day from now”. What we learned from one of the Spanish sailors was that it really means “not today”. Maybe tomorrow, maybe a week from now, but one thing for certain – not today! On 1 June five sailors from RHKYC went to compete in the biannual Flying 15 World Championship competition. Our host this year was the RCNP Pollenca Yacht Club near Palmas on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. The Club is located on a picturesque bay in the resort town of Puerto Pollenca.

The entourage to Spain included: Hong Kong FF15 rock star, Howard Williams, who deftly won the HK Class Championships and HK Worlds qualification competition, and brought to Mallorca many years of Worlds experience; our Coach, Colin Smith, who worked tirelessly to transform our performance into top form; the Aussie Renaissance Man, Brett Gullan, whose expertise runs from photographer and webmaster to master chef and mechanic Flying 15 World Championships to one who is skilled in the art of rhetoric; the Teacher, Andy Service, whose legendary sailing record speaks for itself; and myself, the Student, a Yankee who was determined to learn all I could from the very able cast surrounding me. And finally, last but not least, also representing Hong Kong was former RHKYC member, now retired and living comfortably with his wife Joyce in Mallorca, the venerable David Thewlis.

Just three days after our arrival in Mallorca following two chaotic days of preparation and tuning, the first day of the pre-Worlds competition was upon us. Both crews – the Rock Star and the Teacher, the Student and the Renaissance Man – had meticulously measured and adjusted their chartered boats back to factory specs. For Howard and Andy their Spanish boat was a compromise from their new boat in Hong Kong, but for Brett and me, with GBR 3577 we definitely had an upgrade over HKG 3011. Sunday morning had come, and we were off to our first official race. The day before, we had raced against each other tweaking every control and optimising the boats against each other. At one point Andy had climbed aboard our boat and scurried from one end to the other, making every possible adjustment so we could match boat speeds. But now, the day of reckoning had come.

We cautiously drove up to the starting line. The wall of 75 white sails at the start was quite intimidating! We are accustomed to maybe a dozen boats on the line in almost as much space. Andy’s descriptions of these fleet starts – “a train wreck in slow motion” – were truly words from a prophet. Yet in spite of this, at the end of the first day the Hong Kong team of Howard Williams and Andy Service had a phenomenal 10th place finish. We too had gotten our feet wet and were ready for more action. Over the next five days the pre-Worlds racing continued with HKG 3830 sailing well amongst fierce competition. With their first race capturing a 10th place finish, they had scored one of the best finishes since the Golden Age of Hong Kong 15s. At the end of the five days of racing the Williams/Service team were well positioned for the Worlds competition, finishing with a very respectable 29th. The Student and the Renaissance Man still had more to learn, finishing 65th among 75 boats, and knowing full well that twelve of those boats would be leaving to race in the Classic and Silver competition. Those boats would be replaced by newly arrived, well-honed boats. With these sobering thoughts in mind, the team retreated to several days of sightseeing, relaxation and some occasional boat tuning.

The Worlds

Howard and Andy knew that if they were caught behind the wall of sails they would sit dead in the water, even in the strongest of winds. After several false starts and general recalls the black flag was finally raised and a clean start given. The Rock Star and the Teacher were off to a good start and they craftily worked their way up the fleet but at the bottom mark on the final leg drew a protest with a barging Irish boat. They flew the red flag as the Irish boat carried on. Undaunted, Howard and Andy sliced through the water, approaching the finish with legendary former class champion Charles Apthorp gaining a good view of the finish, with HKG 3830 clear ahead. The Hong Kong team had a 13th place finish made better to 12th when the Irish boat retired rather than suffer an embarrassing protest.

On the second day tactical starts were also critical. The team approached the start line on port inside a minute to the gun. They saw a gap in the line and quickly flipped onto starboard and slipped in to overlap an Australian boat to windward. The Australian boat was sailed by Nick and Janet Jerwood, the 2005 World Champions. Immediately, the boat’s crew, Mrs. Jerwood, expressed her annoyance (in a very lively fashion) at the Hong Kong boat’s intrusion into their protected waters. Not to be outdone, the mild mannered Andy Service politely returned conversation. Nick Jerwood’s response was to draw in his main sheet and briskly sail over Howard, proceeding to the line and one of his best starts of the series.

The days wore on with a measure of uniformity. Each day had its usual run of false starts settled only by raising the black flag. In one particular race, with the black flag raised, twelve boats were sent home. Fortunately none were from Hong Kong. Nevertheless, most of these boats protested and hearings ran well into the early morning, trying the patience of the jury. And almost every prerace discussion found sailors debating whether the right or left side of the course was better. Yet, somehow, a select few boats consistently had the right answer.

Every day crews were able to be part of, or witness, some great moments of racing. Earlier that grey day with the winds howling, we had stretched down the start line during pre-race maneuvers and saw a blue hulled Fifteen lying on its side. It had obviously been blown down by the fierce winds, or so we thought. As we approached the boat to offer assistance, we could see that it was one of the South African boats. But curiously both helm and crew were in the water, with the larger man holding on to the tip of the mast, while the helm was busily working on the masthead. After a few moments, they let go the mast and the Fifteen snapped upright, the two men boarding over its side. It was then apparent that they had intentionally dropped the boat in order to tie the mainsail to the masthead following a broken main halyard. Lesser men would have limped home – as Brett and I had done during our Class championships earlier this year in Clearwater Bay, when our main halyard had broken.

As we started day four of racing, strong winds again met us at the start. But as the race wore on the fierce winds gradually died down from the 25 knots that had kicked us around earlier. Slowly the winds dropped further – to what seemed to be a dead calm. As we crept to the wing mark on the second leg of the race, lying before us was a mass of boats clanging and banging into one another like bumper cars. We were drawn into that mass with a magnetic force far beyond our control. Then, far off to the right we spotted a lone boat with HKG on the sails. It was none other than David Thewlis, sneaking around outside the chaos. Slowly but surely he crept downwind of the group to emerge clear, triumphantly brandishing the Hong Kong colours.

In the end Howard and Andy tallied a good set of results with 12-26-35-40, leaving the competition with a 42nd overall. Quite a good set of results considering the field that raced. Brett and I on the other hand, had successfully completed our learning experience and managed to place 53rd in one race but had to settle for 68th spot, beating seven boats in the regatta.

Even we had our moments: during the second day’s racing we found ourselves sailing in a huge lift on port to the top mark. Brett deftly popped the kite and we headed for home. Lo and behold, there were only a handful of boats in front of us! I could just imagine The Coach enthroned on the chase boat, his white hair streaming wildly in the golden rays of light that flashed about him, his eyes like burning coals and skin of chrysolite, and his voice as peals of thunder sounding. “You shall be called blessed among the nations, you shall wear white robes and golden crowns…” Then a chorus of angels and trumpets filled the sky. No, wait. Those weren’t trumpets I heard – they were three guns from the Committee Boat. Reality check – race abandoned due to a profound wind shift. Our Day of Glory – mañana. Not today.

Firstly, the first thing is to say First Things First, and so it is, although they had to wait THE WHOLE of last season to get their first series win in the last series of the last season (if you are following me here), it is CONGRATULATIONS to the insatiable skills of the Charming David Chow & his follicly-challenged crewmesiter M, the sometime stand-in Secretary & all round good-bloke kind of thingy.

YES, they are the winners of Nedlloyd, our first series of the year & the first in the generally increased-races –per-series kind of thingy-racing. Second up (err, results wise, not important point kind of thingy-wise), was the Evergreen pairing of brain boxes Slopes/David who strategized their way to a well deserved second in this series. 3rd up (a bit like that rapping song, the name of which escapes me), was Howard/mostly-Harriet for a very well grinned-3rd place in this series. Please do remember that the 2nd race of this series was blown away (so to speak) by a total lack of wind & cancelled.

All in all, we will be the ones hoping that you and your sailing circle will be the ones to be the ones who will be the ones enjoying this kind of more-races-per series kind of racing-thingy. Therefore, you will be the ones to be the ones who will be the ones to be the ones passing any comments to the person who will be the person to be the person collecting the views, in order he can be the one to be the one to be the one representing the comments to the FF Committee (God’s Gracious Blessings to them all). In other words, Pls tell CSC if you don’t like this format.

And so it was, Oct 14th came around and we had a brand new series upon us. A very healthy 13 boats out on the water for this, and although yours truly wasn’t there, there would be no reason to suspect I cannot give a full and detailed account of the days wonderful proceedings.

Ffirebowl 1 was upon us and out on the water for course 3 with a Hung Hum start (me thinks lightish winds here!). Great to see Ogawa/Ishi #2 back on the water and wonderful of Ishi to lend his boat to Joe/M for the day. The grinners (sorry, THE GRINNERS) were back again and wonderful to see Sam/crew back on the water (preparing himself for the Class Champs & also accumulating world’s point possibly ?). Brett/Angela were back to build on some fine sailing of recent weeks and indeed, the hardy perennials of Slopes/David were there in full bloom. Higuchi/Sakamoto (not a pop band) were out on the water. David Chow took to the water with Katrina and great to see Wai Chuen/Jack back again to show more of their downwind sailing skills. Louise & someone (hopefully with the beautiful, charming, sexy Ciara…yes, she did invite me for a nice dinner) were out in the club boat and it was good to see Rupert & Eileen back on the water for the 2nd week running and good to see Joe back from the USA, sailing the Martinmobile along with Brett (err. A different Brett as not even our regular Brett could manage 2 boats).  Finally up to make the lucky 13 was the more lucky of the Pessimists who was lucky enough not to have Pessimist Clove for the day and instead had the charming & keen Melissa with him for their first full race together.

No drama this week at the start & seems all away cleanly in gentle/moderate conditions. Well away after a little of their rust from the previous week were Rupert/Eileen and seems Higuchi/Sakamoto got away well also.

Well, the reports get a bit thin here suffice to say it was a very satisfactory day and faultlessly sailed by Rupert/Eileen to take the bullet. The grinners (sorry, GRINNERS) settled for 2nd and then apparently pretty close for 3rd & 4th with Joe/M coming home in 3rd with Brett/Angela narrowly coming home behind in 4th. Further down the podium-chasing there was a keen battle between Chukee-P/Melissa and Joe/Brett with Joe/Brett muscling it out for the better placing.

Well done to all & seems another fine day on the water in our hareboury-thingy.

I am reminded of how successful last years references were to the incredibly helpful (sorry, INCREDIBLY HELPFUL) Government advisories that we are treated to on the radio and I would therefore like to remind everyone to remember 3,2,1.. No, this is not a reference to our finishing positions. It is of course a reference to the advice from our Government on how we should be eating our meals. Each meal should be consisting of 3 parts rice, 2 parts vegetable and one part meat. And there you have it, healthy eating equals healthy living. Thanks Uncle Tsang… now, if you could just help us so that we could see through the smog so that we could actually see further than 50 meters thru this muck we breath every day, then I’d VOTE for you for sure (if that would help a bit).

See you on the water!

From China National Day to Taiwan National Day… when and/or should they be the same day?

Saturday, Sep 30th Nederllloyder 4.

And so it is, a puffy old day but certainly enough wind to encourage Howard-Grinner to post course 5 rather gleefully… And I must say, I did wonder why at the time.

And so it was, 8 teamsters out for this one and even a little Oktoberfest early, with Andy Service (HK Olympic & Asian games coach to some) pitching up looking ready for a little thigh slapping…. But I digress. The eager half-grinner (Howard) had/has teamed up with Andy in a bid to make a dream team-pairing ready for the FF Worlds. Presumably Andy will do the conditions teaching & Howard the grinning tutorials.  Slopes/David were there early, boat fine-tuning ready for the day, Wai Chuen/Jack were back to prove that their weather skills were not a one-off. Louis/Neal were back again as were Ishi & the charming Olivia. David/M were back and Ciara teamed up with Crispin (no, he’s not a Blackpool pony) and who was that making up the eager 8…. Yes, the Pessimists were back, moaning about the puffy weather & making their usual alternative plans in case the wind died.

It was a club start & a funny old kind of windy thing of around 12-15kts occasionally. Bang went the gun & off we all went, with Howard/Andy heard yodeling off the line for an excellent start (would you have anticipated anything else?), and also away very well were Louis/Neal.

It was all pretty close up to Hung Hum and I think it was Louis/Neal leading.

Some chose right & some chose left and some even changed their minds. Come the top mark, I think it was Howard/Andy and David/M leading in from the right & who should pop up from the left but none other than our charming & elegant pairing of Ishi/Olivia to surprise a few on the mark.

Down wind it was once again a chance to see if the Doyle jobbies were indeed better… for me, I have no clue, but once again the down wind skills of Slopes/David were plain to see with them gaining well.

The leading 4 managed to pull away a little, with it being pretty close for the thigh-slappers and David/M and then a contest for Slopes/David and David/M. The Pessimists were sure they were gaining on the leading group and I’m not sure what happened for Louis/Neal who seemed to drop back a little as the day wore on.

And there it was, at the gun it was a clear victory for the Slappers with David/M in 2nd and Slopes/David a very happy 3rd just ahead of Ishi/Olivia. The Pessimists took a flyer on the last beat & almost came a cropper with the fast gaining Wai Chuen/Jack feeling sure they’d get them on the line, but despite gloomy predictions whilst in their wind hole, the Pessimists came home marginally ahead.

A fine day was had by all… but it’s just not the same without the full quotient of teeth.

Sat Oct 7th, Neverlads 5.

As if psychically understanding the teeth issue, we were delighted to see the grinning Chariot of Howard/Harriet back again. A wonderful assortment of 11 boats out for this one. In addition to the Grinners, we had David/M back, determined to get themselves back amongst the bullet-receivers, a welcome return for Rupert/Eileen (we can only guess as to whom they had to prepare the boat for them after such a long absence??!!), Louis/Neal were back, looking to repeat their good 1st leg from the previous week but sustain for the whole race, Higuchi/Sakaguchi, Ishi/Olivia, Slopes/David, Louise/Ciara for a glamour pairing and another glamour pairing of Suzanne/Ailsa (yes, the same Ailsa who was our glamorous sailing manager previously, now out to do some real work instead of lolloping around in an Etchell). Brett/Angela were back with us again and making up the 11 were once again the moaning Pessimists complete with hangovers & Pessimist Clove even having been re-purpled to the amusement of Pessimist Chukee.

A funny old day with little breezy stuff at the club & showing a sort of NNW wind.

Course 3 was chosen together with a Hung Hum start, which showed there was not much belief in the wind.

We duly sailed/paddled out to the course & were astonished to find plenty of the windy stuff when we where out on the course. The wind was a steady NE of around 10-12 kts, with a few puffs on top.

Lots of jockeying for the start with pretty much all the boats blasting in from the committee boat end and rather unfortunate from Brett who had arrived early & slowed down with Slopes/David bearing down on him & yelling “Up yer Trousers ladee” or suchlike. Bang went the gun & Bang went the 2nd gun, with Slopes/David and Brett/Angela needing to go back again.

Howard/Harriet were away well as were the hung over Pessimists. Rupert/Eileen lead the way off to the right with the Grinner-Chariot also heading that way, to be joined by David/M, the Pessimists & Slopes/David. Ishi/Olivia once again chose the centre or centre left to see if they could repeat their sneak-in of last week.
It was all pretty close with boats crossing ahead & behind on each tack-meet, according to the lifts & knocks they were receiving.

At the top mark it was the grinner-chariot-yodellessers round first, followed by rusty Rupert/Eileen, followed by a bewildered Pessimistmobile. In close was then Slopes/David and Ishi/Olivia + David/M.

Down we went with the Chariot pulling away a little and then a couple of lucky puffs saw the pessimists get past Rupee/Eileen, who then promptly got it back again when the pessimists lacked concentration on the reach.

Brett/Angela, Louis/Neal and Higuchi/Sakaguchi were also sailing close & swapping positions as we went round the course, in what was an excellent day’s sail in really terrific conditions.

A bit of a kite mix up sent Ishi/Olivia back to the club early and Suzanna/Ailsa said they dropped off thru not pointing enough (some advice needed from Warwick methinks).

And so it was, a fine victory for the grinning chariot as Howard continues his rich vein of form. 2nd went to Rupert/Eileen in an excellent return after something of a lay-off. The pessimists managed to hang on to 3rd with David/M in close behind and then Slopes/David in 5th.

Another excellent day of sailing!

See you on the water!

Thanks to all for the warmth & Lurve (some nice greetings from you upon resumption of our weekly stuff)

And so it is, as I sit here on my deck, cocktail in hand, lounging back in my fine hand-crafted whicker lawn chair, I look out lazily from my verandah over a glorious vista of clear skies and clean air, breathing in the scent of flowers all around, the distant sounds from my living room of an exclusive jazz collection, my thoughts drifting to that wondrous, inevitable conclusion. ..WHO THE HELL AM I TRYING TO KID !!!! I’M ON THE BOAT TO CHINA, SQUEZZING THIS OUT BETWEEN YET MORE CONFERENCE CALLS WHERE THE ONLY WINNER IS EITHER THE MOST AGGRESSIVE PERSON ON THE CALL, THE PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER OR POSSIBLY THE LAWYERS!!!

The opening regatta, which has been the source of some disappointment in the past turned in a fine weekends sailing for our 12 fine fleeters.

It was back to the water for the Grinners (yes, that’s Grinning Howard & Even bigger-grinning Harriet), Ogawa/Ishi #2, David/Linda (where is that fat guy that David used to sail with?), Louise/Ray (sporting a mega-hangover we hear on the grapevine), Suzanne/Beth back as the Penelope Pitstop equivalents in our whacky racers, Higuchi/Watanabe, Wai Chuen/Jack now as a regular pairing, Slopes/David, Sam/Angela as the dream team, Carlyon/Paul, Joe/Remi and the more elegant half of the Pessimists Charles, sailing with newbee Melissa due to the poor communication skills of the pessimist/come-CSC.

Seems the Saturday was a nice day, although still with the light westerlies, which of course means the real season has not yet kicked in.  Spinnakers up & off they went, with the big question being as to whether the new Doyle sails introduced over the summer will prove competitive and/or good value for money.

At the first mark it seems Slopes/David, Howard/Harriet…. Err sorry, I meant the GRINNERS and Higuchi/Watanabe managed to pull away a little from the fleet a little.

To the 2nd mark, which was now a beat & good racing between Joe/Remi, Louise/Ray, Sam/Angela, Ogawa/Ishi #2, Wai Chuen/Jack and David/Linda.

Not so sure what happened then but seems Ray’s hangover kicked in, Sam took a flyer and David/Linda decided to take in the scenery.

And so it was, the first race of the regatta shows scores on the doors of Slopes/David, Howard/Harriet and Higuchi/Watanabe as the 1,2,3.

Sunday 17th Races 2&3

Seems we had a nice steady 10kts from the north, which was surely the sign for the familiar sight of David Chow heading towards the old airport… (I wasn’t there so will have to speculate a little here).  All the collective opinions give this one to the grinners by quite some margin and I can only say that I’m glad I was not floating around near them at lunchtime watching them grin from ear to ear & stuffing sandwiches in at the same time. Slopes/David picked up a well-deserved 2nd with David/Linda in 3rd, just pipping Hichuchi/Watanabe.

As is normal in our fun filled harbour (unlike our semifilled fun park of Disneyland which failed to make its figures, but that’s another story), the wind started to drop off in the afternoon.

Race 3 was a bit of a drifter at times, with apparently some tide kicking in.

Off they all went, with Slopes/David and Sam/Angela getting well ahead. The story becomes quite varied from here on in, but it certainly seems to be the case that Slopes/David and Sam/Angela ended up over sailing the mark. Then, as they tried to come back to the mark, so all the chasing fleet decided to arrive at the same time. It is alleged that various opinions were exchanged and a few toys left the prams. Ho Hum is I believe the correct terminology.

From this Melee, the Grinners grinned away from the fleet, only to park for a bit of sunbathing. This enabled the Wiley David/Linda to sail the other side of the shading boat/tree and I’ll bet that took the grins away!!!

And so it was, for race 3 it was a tactically well sailed race for David/Linda and a Grin-less 2nd for Howard/Harriet with Sam/Angela coming good for a 3rd place. I’ll have to leave it for the jungle drums to say what happened for Slopes/David.

All in all, we can say a very fine weekend was had by all, with the GRINNERS taking the trophy for this one and congratulations to them from some fine Grinning (err, sorry, I meant sailing). David/Linda took a fine 2nd for the weekend with Slopes/David a very relieved 3rd for the weekend.

Sat 23rd Nedlloyd 3.

A healthy 10 boats out for this one allowing for a welcome return for Louis/Neil along with Carlyon/Paul, Wai Chuen/Jack, Howard/Harriet, Ogawa/Ishi #2, Suzanne/Beth, Slopes/David, Joe/Brett in the Martinmobile, David/M (back from the slimming farm?) and I think Brett with his daughter possibly??

Expert racer Jun, the new owner of 3415 did not take to the water as he spent the afternoon making those fine tunings that will no doubt make him a big force to be reckoned with this season.

A very healthy 15kts from the NE shows our racing season is now up & running folks. Course 5 with a club start was chosen.

Bang went the gun…. And then, crumbs, there went the 2nd gun. David/M and Ogawa/Ishi #2 went back round the pin end but the flag stayed up (spooky as seems the result sheet does not show anyone as being OCS). Some heavier waves & seemingly lifts on the North Point side which would seem strange given the reported wind conditions but heck, I wasn’t there so I’ll just go with the reports I’ve got. Great to see Louis/Neal leading the way at Hung Hum, followed by Slopes/David and then Wai Chuen/Jack.

Some stayed in the centre to accept the pounding from the heavier waves but better winds and some went for the shoreline with less wind but better sailing water. By the top mark, Howard/Harriet were right there as were Slopes/David and the shore-hugging David/M.

On the down winds it all sounds pretty hairy with some boats LURVIN it & some taking a bit of a dunking. Seems David/M were leadin/lurvin and then decided to share their lurve with the wing mark itself meaning they needed to do a turn which then allowed the GRINNERS thru, albeit still with close racing between these 2 boats leading the way. All reports suggest it was a great day for Wai Chuen/Jack in handling the conditions well & managing to pass boats on their way.

And so it was, the scores on the doors show us it was an “inches ahead” victory for David/M just ahead of Howard/Harriet and then Slopes/David just holding off Wai Chuen/Jack to take 3rd.

A splendid but exhausting day was seemingly had by all!

Bring it on this weekend since I shall be back on the water… YIPEEEE !

See you on the water!

I JUST CALLED TO SAY, I LOVE YOU!!!

And so it was, the summer bids us farewell and the wonderfully autumnal radiance fills our hearts and the joyous return to our FFun FFilled FFrolics FFollowing the FFancies of FFlying FFifteenism!

And wot did u do 4 t’ summer???... Was it TLC for your speedster…. Was it spending mega dalooleys on a newun’, or perhaps like Russell Coutts in preparation for the winning of the America’s cup, you spent time on the water making yourself & your team the perfect racing machine. Or was it loafing around with your folks!!

And so we report of our Summer Teamsters and their wonderful happenings.

Plenty of racing again this summer and it is once again a large THANKYOU to our ever handsome & young El Presidente Ishi for organizing and leading on the series.

Loadza different boats took part over the summer and there were some (of course we would like more) opportunities for eager new persons to take to the water in Flying Fifteens. We will update very soon in regards to who did wot and who wun wot.

We have had many new people make contact with us & join a little over the summer & I am reliably informed that our tardy Class Sec, the ever conference-call-clad Clovey Bong Bun promises that he will update the circulation list accordingly (as usual, copious reminders to his tardiness will be required by those gracious enough to introduce wonderful new people to us).

And wot abut t’ SAILIN then I hear you eloquently ask.

Well, for Sat Sep 2nd, we had a very healthy 12 boats out for the season opener.

Our wonderful El Presidente Ishi was out with his lovely daughter although I did not see what colour her hair is this time. Malcolm Pearson, a one time FF’er champ was back in town & Rupee (he used to be on the committee, did you know!?) very generously lent him his beloved 3500. We had Warwick sailing with the ever-smiling Suzanna. Brett & Ciara were out together and Carlyon teamed up with newbee Paul. Higuchi san sailed with Paul but I’m sorry I’m not quite sure who Paul is. Wai Chuen teamed up with Jack so great to see Jack now sailing regularly. David Chow rolled back the years to sail with his one-time crew & general all-round generous-spirited kind of guy in Mike Wong (where was M we wonder?). Louis was back on the water after spending an arm & a leg on TLC this summer (but that’s another story). Joe seems to have sailed Martin’s speedster 3604 with another Brett whilst Ogawa San and Ishi #2 teamed up together as our only regular pairing of the day, save for the every present Slopes/David probably looking younger than ever!

And so it was, a blisteringly hot day, not much tide and the last of the summer breeze (sort of) from the west. A funny old course was chosen for the day with seemingly 2 sausages. This meant a downwind start, which of course can lead to the occasional exchange of views as they say. Fortunately there were no reports of yelling, bumping etc and it seems David Chow’s summer lay-off has done nothing to stop his keen starting instinct and he got away well for an excellent start, followed closely by Ishi/Shoko and Malcolm. Reports suggest Ishi went out a little too wide & landed in something of a hole, leaving David/Mike, Malcolm & the fast paced Warwick to fight out the first leg…. And closing fast was slopes/David.

Seems David/Mike were round first with Slopes/David in an excellent 2nd and then Malcolm in 3rd. so it was round the top mark and then on for a beat. Apparently the fleet closed up at this point and all boats were pretty close together, still with the westerly. Then, as luck favours the fortunate, David/Mike picked up an incoming southerly and managed to pull away from the chasing pack.

So, by the finish, it was David/Mike taking the bullet, with Slopes/David in 2nd and Warwick/Suzanna in 3rd. Malcolm put in an excellent 4th. There may or may not be any truth in the rumor that Wai Chuen sailed Triangles to everyone else’s sausages.

Sat 9th & Nedlloyd 2 was a complete disaster, obviously directly attributable to the return of the pessimists. The whole summer long the wind, tide, rain cooperate and then as soon as the jib is hoisted on the Pessimistmobile, Whollop, down comes the rain and away goes the wind. So, it is a big SORRY FOLKS as the sailing for the day was washed out.

This coming weekend is the opening regatta and our ever charming, ever capable, ever beautiful Marisa will try to sort something out for you if you are without a boat or crew.

See you on the water!

Welcome one and all, gathered here in ASIA’S WORLD CITY, or simply ASIA’S WC for short!

Firstly, it’s congratulations to all those that took part in the China Coast Regatta. Please do give us a few words on how it was instead of making our regular sailing in the harbour.

Next up, for the sake of clarity & correctness, I’d like to be clear about the parallel between our newsletter and the New York Times. Yes, yes, yes, we too print corrections on those incredibly rare occasions that we get something wrong.

We erroneously stated that Slopes/David sailed the Slopemobile, when in fact it was the far more handsome pairing of David/Rupert junior out for a spot of Father/Son bonding thingy. Well done to both & sorry for the mis- report.

October 28th, Ffirebowl 2

8 finely fettled flying fifteensters frolicking in the frothy harbour for this one.

A glorious day although slightly fickle winds ate the club did suggest (for some, but not others) that a Hung Hum start might have been better.

Joe/Brett were back in the MartinMobile, no doubt mixing a little lawn chair sailing with some grizzly competition. Brett/Angela were out to continue their fine vein of form, as were Jun/Nakanishi in Jun’s lovingly TLC’d 3415. David Chow was M’less and so sailed with Mike (I think) once again. Rupert/Eileen were back to continue building on their consistency as were Ishi/Olivia. Ogawa/Ishi #2 were out with us again and making up the octagonal kind of thingy were Pessimist Clove with the handsome and charming French man Remi who still has to learn the finer art of pessimsimpas.

Course 3 was chosen with a club start and good NNE of around 8, but reverse puffing to zero occasionally.

This meant almost a dead cert fore a port handed start but for sure many wanted to crash the line on starboard & shoot onto port at the very last moment being sure to be below the start line at the gun. This meant coming from way above the line on a starboard reach, yelling your head off and running the risk of trashing your sand everyone else’s boat. It was interesting seeing 2 or 3 boats test this theory in the 5-minute wind up, but in the end it was all rather sedate with the inevitable sight of Rupert/Eileen making a good start along with David/Mike. Most headed off to the right to see if they could get out of the tide or perhaps see if they could get a nice position to tack onto port ready for Hung Hum. David/Mike tried the fluky inner line on the typhoon shelter side, which has worked so well sometimes in the past for Maverick Sam but has also been the graveyard of hopes for others (and I should know!!). The Pessimists were also with David/Mike on the right but bailed in the belief it would be “a graveyard of broken dreams” (that’s from a song you know).

Some excellent racing took place with all boats being pretty close to one another and excellent front-end racing for David/Mike and Jun/Nakanishi who shared the top mark first, followed soon after by Rupert/Eileen and Ishi/Olivia.

Nice wind all over the course although dying occasionally and a bit shifty left Rupert/Eileen in the wrong place and left Ishi/Olivia with a bit of a kite problem. Nice sailing again from Brett/Angela as our most improving team.

The lead changed between Jun and David and then in the end some excellent sailing from Jun/Nakanishi gave them their very first bullet and shows what a force to be reckoned with our Japanese Maestro Jun is going to be this season. Rupert/Eileen were up 3rd and a very fine 4th for Brett/Angela easily holding off the pessimists.

Afterwards, El Presidente Ishi hosted a very fine Sausage Sizzle, ably helped by Mrs. Jun and even Jun junior as the sausage tester. Some of us headed off to the poolside for the Halloween Poolside party…. But then sneaked back to see if Joe/Brett really were going to stay for the very last drop of beer from the very last can….And YUP, they wuz there !!

And so it was, On On On to Ffirebowl 3 on Nov 4th, also the night of the Grand Ball.

10 teams out for this one and not an evening dress or dinner jacket in sight!!

In view of the club closing early for the ball preparations, course 3 was chosen and a Hung Hum start.

All reports advise what a pity this was since it was a glorious day and some excellent, consistent wind for sailing.

Some funny old pairings made up the day and some not such funny old teams also made it. Ogawa/Ishi # 2 were back as were Ishi/Olivia. David Chow teamed up with Higuchi for an outing and this week’s dream team. Brett/Angela were back to build yet more momentum and Joe/Brett were back for more R&R. Great to see Sam/crew back again and hope (for everyone’s sake) this will now be a regular occurrence. Howard was back from the UK and sailed again with JJ. Jun/Nakanishi were back and great to see the elegant pairing of Slopes/David now back in their rhythm. We had a visit from Wade, who is apparently a fine sailor from the USA and he teamed up with Trish to take out the club boat.

Bang went the gun and all away safely without incident apparently. Some went left, some right and David/Mike went mostly up the middle thus enabling them to get to the top mark first (well judged for the tide David!).

Seems David/Mike lead for the whole race but places 2 thru 6 were very keenly contested with positions changing often.  Slopes/David sailed very well to the top mark but then seemingly over stood a bit & blocked the oncoming Sam/Crew resulting in a 720 and lots of lost opportunities for them.

And so it was, a fine victory for David/Mike and Howard/JJ showed
that a couple of weeks away is no obstacle with a fine 2nd, coming

home just ahead of Jun/Nakanishi and then Brett/Angela sailing excellently to come home in 4th.

Afterwards, El Presidente Ishi and Joe hosted a dinner at a nearby restaurant for the visiting Wade and some others, whilst a few headed to the ball.

The ball was great fun and a few FFFlyers were there such as M, the Pessimists and the elegantly sexy Ciara. Pls do contact M or CSC if you’d like to see really how ridiculous they looked and how badly they behaved.

See you on the water!

Yes, yes, yes, we have notes this week.
Please do read the website for the FF Worlds qualification NOR which was posted some time ago and gives the details of qualification for the HK places.
There is also an amendment to the Class Champs NOR as suggested by Super-Ronnie, so many thanks for this Ronnie. It helps us avoid a wipe out for the series if there is insufficient wind and does allow for a winner if at least a decent number of races are sailed.
Also attached is the detail & entry form for the RTIR so do get your entry in early.

FORGET ABOUT UNLUCKY 13TH, THIS WAS LUCKY 13TH FOR ALL THOSE THAT TOOK TO THE WATER IN YET ANOTHER FANTASTIC DAY AT THE PARK (ERRR, ON THE WATER!!)

And so it was, hardy teams all eager & upping the dress code stakes a notch or three, some seriously competitive concentration (on how to get free drinks from slopes, not on the sailing!!) and the usual mix of youth and (ill gotten) experience.

Our fun filled LURVIN day was the last of this excellently conceived/attended end-of-season series (is this where we witness the new breed of helming world champions???), which boasted & hosted 11 boats for the day.

Geoff was back, wetsuit clad in our 32 DEEGREES CENTIGRADE & teamed up with the charming Tricia once again… for one of those “Are they really dancing to the same song” kind of questions as Geoff zipped himself up & Tricia in her board shorts & swim top. Speaking of glamour, Beth & Suzanne were back as were Eileen/Rupert. Back in the fold, looking unflappable as always were the ribs-rested Carlyon & Damian with Damian to helm in possibly their last series outing in Carlyon’s luvseter..Sorry, LURVSTER 3054. Marko/David were back & Harriet (the Grinner to her legions of fans) teamed up with new-crew Hubby Skip. Brett/Angela were back with Brett to helm for this one. David/Slopes were back angling for all ways to get points on their board. Ryo/Ishi were back to lead the charge on behalf of the re-emerging Japanese economy, closely contested by the excellent teamwork pairing of Katori/Higuchi. Making up our Oceans 11 were Pessimist Clove & the wordfully charming & English-chatty Ms Sachiyo (the Pessimist was doing all he could NOT to be the one to enhance her vocabulary in English vernacular!!).

The wind didn’t seem to be too much at the club & the board showed that we could have been in for some pretty heavy tide as the day wore on. 5-7 was recorded at the club but we barely felt 3. 12+ was recorded at Hung Hom and our classic Easterly which seemed hard to believe. Much talk about avoiding the up/down of previous weeks + not giving us a difficult grind on the way home & thus our diplomatic (!!??) fleet captain M chose course 3 with the designated club start. Was Typhoon ChanChu going to have a big effect upon our day???

Out we all went… & I must say, a little bit of cajoling of boats was needed as we had left it a bit let to get on the water this week.

Up & down we trolled the line & it seemed that due to the on-off nature of the wind & the building outgoing tide meant that the key issue was not to be in a hole at the start & not to be over the line. As with the holee days, probably we wanted to be nearer the pin end, which also would help with the tide lifting us up.

And so it was, bang went the gun & no second gun this time meant we were all away well. Beth/Suzanne were well away this week as were David/Slopes. It was great that the wind kicked in just as we started and stayed with us throughout the afternoon. All boats away well and some excellent close-quarters racing saw most boats reach Hung Hom at the same time.

The calm skills of Eileen/Rupert kept them up at the front, along with David/Slopes & Marko/David.

I think that was it at the top mark with not much to choose between the right-hand choosers and the left-hand choosers.

The broad reach down to the wing mark was great with some 15kts of blow and big puffs coming on top, with the lead boats getting a bit of a hole, meaning that just as we came to the wing mark, there was David/Slopes, Eileen/Rupert, Marko/David, Harriet/Skip, Brett/Angela and Clove/Sachiyo all coming to the mark together. The reach was fantastic with boats blasting along with super power but not so much that it made it dangerous.

Up we went for the next beat with some pretty nifty mark rounding from Eileen/Rupert & Marko/David. A bit of head-to-wind by the Grinners enabled Clove/Sachiyo to sail under and round them off the mark. As we headed up with Eileen/Rupert leading and then (I think) David/Slopes with Marko/David and the grinners in close behind, we noticed that Eileen/Rupert were leaving it awfully late to get their tack in for gate buoy. They left it later still as Skip tried to shout out to them in the distance. Ho hum, we all tacked & headed to the mark with Eileen & Rupert sailing off into the distance.

On the next run down there was some great sailing again downwind, with Marko/David now contesting the lead with David/Slopes. Then Brett/Angela, Harriet/Skip & Clove/Sachiyo in close behind.

Round we went & not sure what happened then for David/Slopes but they slipped out of the equation. Clove/Sachiyo seemed to get the jump on Brett/Angela & Harriet/Skip.

Up we went for another great beat, then round gate mark with the wind shift meaning no kites downwind but a fantastic foot down to the wing mark with everyone holding on for all they were worth.

The Pessimists closed on Marko/David with Brett/Angela and Harriet/Skip battling it out for 3rd/4th.

Up we went for the final beat with Marko/David sailing flawlessly. The pessimists had a poor kite drop, which left them with a line around the bow & slowing them down for the beat. Harriet/Skip closed but it was not to be with an excellent bullet for Marko/David and a very happy second from the Pessimist-Clove/Sachiyo (although they recorded themselves as retired due to the series rules) with Harriet/Skip in 3rd and Brett/Angela getting a very well deserved 4th. Katori/Higuchi were right behind them.

It’s a VERY SPECIAL MENTION OF THANKS TO BETH AND SUZANNE for their heroics in picking up Geoff when he fell into our sweet smelling/tasting harbour after his toe straps gave way (there’s a lot to be said for wrapping the jib sheet round your hand if you are the crew you know Geoff). This just goes to show that, no matter how well you sail, you should either wear an incredibly bright coloured life jacked or at the very least, incredibly brightly coloured sailing gear just in case you end up in the drink ahead of an approaching freighter.

David/Slopes revealed the reason for their lack of speed & Slopes was seen showing something to all & sundry that was either his broken gooseneck or a dubious accessory from Fetish Fashion!!!

Back on the hard standing there was much talk of what another fantastic day it had been, together with commiserations for Eileen/Rupert for their misfortune (+ misreading of the course # believing we were sailing course 5).

Almost all had a great day but its funny how sometimes people become magnets for all when their day falls apart and let’s hope that Rupert was all cheered up when he got home and a welcoming hug + mug of cocoa from Eileen.

We were joined pre-race by Jack and Mike, potential new members to the fleet who are keen to get on the water. Marisa is adding them to our lists so do contact Marisa if you need a crew or indeed, need a boat to helm.

Skip also stepped up as Protest Chairman for the day & no doubt had good fun dealing with the Etchells & Impala fleet (haven’t they become protest-happy recently!!??)

See you on the water!

1. Next weekend marks the end of the regular season with the excellent weekend-long Closing regatta. This means sailing on Sat + sailing on Sun (obviously!!). So, get your e-mails going now. For owners who cannot make it, Pls be brave and contact Marisa so as to loan out your boat. We have potential new helms that are keen to join the fleet and what better way to entice new owners than an excellent weekend in winds such that we have had for the past 3 weeks.
2. The following week we move in to our summer series, which is more casual & provides excellent opportunities to try new things (err, in regards to sailing and boat set-up I mean) and to get new people into the fleet.
3. Don’t forget that we have the AGM & Prize giving on June 3rd.

THE LOVE CONTINUES!!!
This series continues to be a terrific success with such a buzz to it that it’s a joy just to be back on the water, irrespective of my placing (that’s my excuse anyways!!!)

A fantastic 12 LURVE boats out for this one & a LUVIN SPPONFUL OF THANKS to Louis Brink who could not sail last Sat but nonetheless came down to make sure that Tricia and Geoff could have a great day out in his beloved speedster. Good on y’ Louis & hope other boat owners who cannot sail will share the same LURVIN spirit and lend out their boats for this one (usual lenders rules apply).

The giggling LUVSTERS out for this one were; - Katori/Higuchi, Angela/Brett, Tricia/Geoff, Beth/Suzanna, Eileen/Rupert, Ryo/Ishi, David/Slopes, Marko/David, Harriet/Howard, Martin (Lurvin himself as Joe’s flight was delayed), Ernest/Sam, Clive/Chukee A (the LURVIN PESSIMISTS!!).

We had a nice wind day with around 8kts Easterly of actual v the 12 kts of wind forecast & pretty constant. The issue for the day was the pretty big outgoing tide.

Course 3 was chosen with a Hung Hom start. I think all boats were there on time but I must say I don’t recall seeing Ernest/Sam on the line & thus perhaps part of Sam’s earnest training of Earnest is the casual & extended lunch meaning you miss the start, sail faster/better than anyone else & still don’t win!!!

And so it was, we trolled the line & most generally felt a boat end start was the thing with a hard right to pick up the right-handers and the tidal advantage.

A surprisingly aggressive start considering this is a crew’s lead series (hummm, does this tell us something about the cuddliness of our regular helms). A bit of yelling & jostling on the line and bang went the gun…. Gosh, bang went the 2nd gun. David/Slopes went back but it seemed to yours truly that quite a few boats were over due to the tide/aggression. Anyway, we sailed on and some said the flag stayed up & some said the flag went down…. This begs the question on a crew’s lead series in regards to whom should be looking for the over-the-line jobee and then the showing/lowering of the flags jobee?!

Not sure who, but someone came screaming across the line on Port to try & get a jump advantage on the regular starboard starters & I guess they must have been one of the over-the liners since I didn’t see them after the first few moments.

Eileen & Rupert were away well as were Katori/Higuchi & Marko/David. Once again, it was great to see so many boats sailing in close quarters and for sure this adds to the fun. Come the Top mark, come much of the fleet. I think it was the excellent sailing from Harriet/Howard, Marko/David and Ryo/Ishi that meant they all hit the top mark (errr, not in the bumping sense) together. I think Harriet/Howard grinned their way round the mark first, followed by the huffing & puffing & stuff (ha ha!) of Marko/David and then Ryo/Ishi, which is wonderful both in Ishi’s coaching skills & Ryo’s speedy learning curve.

We then faced the first down wind leg and the Grinners were brave enough to take the traditional deep line, which meant they were well in the tide. Ryo/Ishi lead the charge off to the right to go right over by the old airport, which seemed to pay off handsomely both in terms of tide avoidance and slight wing swing.

Come the wing Mark I think Ryo/Ishi were in the lead with Marko/David close behind and then the grinners looking a little less bright in the teeth at 3rd. Just behind, there was an attractive tussle of Eileen/Rupert, the pessimists, Angela/Brett and Katori/Higuchi. Martin, singing to himself was very well placed but dropped off a bit due to being unable to fly his kite as he sailed single-handedly.

On the next upwind leg there were various hazards to navigate, mostly the casually chugging tows that seemed to use our marks as channel markers!!!. Ho hum was heard on a few boats. David/Slopes were sailing well & fast and were catching up others but maybe the short course was just a little too short for them.

And so it was, the delight of Marko/David was short lived as they crossed the line only to discover there was no gun for them, having been given OCS without going back. One can only hazard a guess on the conversation between Marko & David for the tide-laden slog home… ho hum is clearly the main thought. The grins… sorry GRINS reappeared for Harriet/Howard as they crossed the line second but got the gun which meant they were first. It’s then a hearty congratulations to Ryo/Ishi on an excellently sailed 3rd place.

Up next were Eileen/Rupert who had the speed & skills to hold off the Pessimists who finished very soon after them (they recorded themselves as retired as they were not a proper crew helmed team as Chukee A felt Clivee needs as much practice as possible!!! David/Slopes were next up & delighted at the news of the Pessimistmobile retirement keeping David in the hunt for the medals.

It was great on the hardstanding when all boats returned & lots of congratulations all round for all that took part.

Harriet & Skip then set up for a Sausage Sizzle and soon we were all settled in for some interesting discussions on the OCS issue and general talk of what an excellent days sailing we had. Sausages/buns & drinks were consumed by all and then your LURVIN FF Committee sped off for a hard-workin, hard-Lurvin meeting to extend the LURVE further for the fleet.

So, it’s a hearty, LURVIN well done to all that took part and great to see Beth back with us and to see Louise, Marisa & Matt join us for the sausage sizzle. There seemed to be plenty of happy & chubby kids in attendance also, so I guess someone borrowed children from friends in order to pad out the numbers & test Harriet/Skip’s cooking skills (or was it Suzanna’s cooking skills we were really testing… but that’s another story).

See you on the water!

1. Hope everyone saw the B&Q boat looking, well, splendid and fast, even as it was birthed in our normal launch area.
2. SSH has reminded everyone in regards to the FFleet Dinner for this coming Saturday, so Pls do get your replies back to SSH and also in regards to our bumper AG/Prizegiving evening for Sat June 3rd.
3. Hope all those that joined the Ellen McArthur dinner found it a wonderful evening with this fantastically talented person (although personally, if I sailed around the world, I’d want to take the entire FF fleet with me!!! XXX)

AND THAT’S (ALMOST) A WRAP!!!!

And so it is, with a tear in my eye and glancing lovingly at the bumps, bruises & scrapes I have gathered over the season, we draw a close to our regular racing season… BUT LO, what is that there right in front of me on the immediate horizon? YES, YES, YES, our summer season kicks in from June 3rd onwards (oh, and by the way, our MAGNIFICANT EL PRESDIENTE ISHI is going to lead for us to be able top race this coming Saturday, May 27th also). So, get your big list out of those summer jobs for your boat and make your plans now for being able to sail regularly over the summer and also schedule in that all-important TLC in preparation for the next season.

Our summer series is vital to us for bringing in new/young blood to the fleet. We are very privileged and fortunate to have a number of people who would like the chance to sail with us and maybe even a few on the verge of buying boats. The summer series provides a splendid opportunity to achieve this and so it is going to be super-important to keep in touch with (the very glamorous) Marisa and (the very handsome & Honorable) Ishi so that you can get to crew, get to helm, borrow a boat, cook me a nice dinner and more.

And so it was, we come to the season closing event, our Closing Regatta.

A healthy 11 boats signed on for this one for the Sat with 9 boats returning to do battle on the Sunday.

I am writing this from the sheets provided from the sailing office + just a little of the jungle drums. Therefore, if we have any intrepid reader who’d like to share their damp experiences from the weekend’s proceedings, Pls feel free to share.

Our signers-on for Sat were; - Louis/crew (great to have your out for this one Louis), Martin/Joe (with Martin no doubt fully recovered from whatever it was), Wai Chuen/Louise (great that Wai Chuen was back after having been away making millions for the past couple of months), David/M, Slopes/David, Howard/JJ (sorry, THE CHARMING JJ), Higuchi/Ryo + Ishi/Katori (not sure why Ryo/Katori swapped boats, but we’ll just assume it was one of those Japanese things!!!), Rupert/Eileen (where did you get to straight after sailing last week Eileen ???), Carlyon/Pete and Neil/Jack were out in the Pessimistmobile.

I don’t know the course that was picked but I do recall that the wind was pretty good and the rain not too grotesque. All reports are that it was a very good day’s sail and a fine bullet was achieved for Rupert/Eileen, with David/M in 2nd and then Slopes/David in 3rd with a rusty Howard/JJ in 4th.

Come the Sunday, come the hosepipe. For me, it was indoors being a good host to my visiting boss & entertaining our incredibly hard working staff at an excellent Hotel in Mongkok for a very fine staff lunch (if you want to know more… Pls e-mail Brett… For the Hotel that is, not my lunch).

Did I mention that it rained on Sunday????? MAN OH MAN, DID IT RAIN!!!!!

9 waterproof teams signed up for this one, being; - Howard/charming JJ, Rupert/Eileen, David/M, Jun/Sachi (YES, this does mean Jun is back in HK & looking to sail regularly), Ishi/Katori, Martin/Joe, Louis/Ollie, Wai chuen/Rohit (nice to have you back on the water Rohit), Slopes/David.

Once again I do not have the detail on the day’s proceedings, other than many many reports of RAIN RAIN RAIN.

It was an excellent mornings sailing for David/M to come home for the bullet having been pushed all the way by Ishi/Katori in 2nd just a few seconds behind and then Jun/Sachi in 3rd and then Rupert/Eileen in 4th. Not sure what happened to Louis/Ollie and Slopes/David but they were given as DNF on the results sheet.

The final race of the day/season saw 4 hardy souls sticking this one and I understand the afternoon was characterized by sailing/bailing in equal measures. Another fine bullet for David/M with Howard/JJ in 2nd and then Martin/Joe in 3rd with Wai Chuen/Rohit in 4th.

Congratulations to all that took part, and BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO DAVID/M FOR WINNING THE REGATTA (and did you know campers, this is actually the only trophy this dynamic duo have won all season).

That’s it for this season and I’ll do my best to keep everyone informed (sort of) over the coming weeks in regards to our summer series.

Thanks for coming & thanks for the memories… LUV YA

See you on the water!

1. This coming Saturday there will be a sailing opportunity & Pls do e-mail Ishi if you want to sail/crew/borrow.
2. The following Saturday marks our AGM & Prizegiving. Pls do e-mail SocSecHar (Harriet to some) to confirm your attendance. Pls do dress up smart for this one.
3. The SUNSET SERIES starts next week on each Friday evening, with the usual rules of turn up & sail. Pls do give it a go if your work/social schedule would allow. We will need to provide a Race Officer on one of the Friday’s, so if you fancy giving this a go, Pls do e-mail ClassSecClove (Clivey to some) to advise.

Another wonderful day in our wunderkind of fragrant thingy!

And so it was, we all pitched up, bright eyed & full of enthusiasm for another great one. Wow, how the weather had turned. Rain rain rain & thunderstorms a few days beforehand and then wot a gloreeeus day in the sun weez had.

Strange wind direction with Southerly forecasted but westerly’s showing on the flags.

This weeks eager teamsters were: -  Yes, Yes, Yes… the grinners were back full of their home spun modesty & humility (that’s Harriet, some-time-page-3-girl & Howard, some-time-page-boy !!), Ryo/Ishi back to prove that last week’s excellent sailing was not green-hand luck, Beth/Suzanne were back to add glamour & feisty concentration, Angela/Tricia were out in the Brett-mobile for a showing of girly-power, Ernest/Sam were back as were David/Slopes to add an air of sophistication as were Eileen/Rupert. Katori/Higuchi were back & this week Marko/Thomas paired up in David Chow’s speedster and the Pessimists were back again, deep in conversation about the meaning of life or suchlike (in fact, anything other than concentrating on the race by all accounts). Neil also came down all ready to take out the fleet boat but a shortage of crew at the bar sent him off for an afternoon of shopping in Causeway Bay before returning later in the afternoon to join us.

And so it was, course 7 (up/down/up/down) was chosen by our respected fleet captain M (Marko Markee Marker in a former life), with a club start and a big tide to start to kick in (well, out actually) sometime during the later proceedings. We had gusty gusty on the start line & I guess the wind was between 12-15 kts on the course & blowing upto 20kts…. But veering from Westerly to WSW, to SW to S & even to ESE…. Ho hum, easy stuff for some & down right confusing to others.

With the wind direction and the club start it meant another fine start with kite’s up straight away. The line was trolled & most opted for a pinnish end start, on port with the kite going straight up. Bang went the gun & great starts for Beth/Suzanne, the Grinners & surprisingly, the Pessimists.

It was the kind of start that they make photos of. Almost all boats together soon after the start, all with the kites up & blasting along once we had cleared Hung Hom…. I really wish I had my camera & maybe next week I jolly well will bring it (this is, of course, a cue for Martin to dress even more smartly for the sailing than he has done recently).

Along we all zipped & the left hand side on port was favored which the pessimists claimed and their story was that they tried to go a little wider in order not to take the wind from the fleet (well, the grinners in particular) and this is why they sailed into a brief hole before finally making their gybe onto starboard. The grinners were on the left & got their gybe in first & were able to pick up a fantastic right hand swing/blast that came in & propelled them well into the lead.

Along this first kite run/reach we had some big gusts & it was hold on for all you are worth & great credit to all the crew-helmed boats that everyone stayed with it. Then the wind swung right again & it was down with the kites…. Then the wind clocked back & up we went again…. Then it swung & down again…. Ho Hum was heard in a few boats and I’m sure you get the picture.

Come the top mark, the Grinners were grinning their way around the mark, closely followed, I think by Eileen/Rupert, Marko/Thomas and David/Slopes. Everyone else was close behind. Then it was a beat/foot down to the bottom mark which was a top mark I suppose and those that gained were those that played the swings/jib combination well & rolled on the waves a little. Some interesting traffic stalled some boats & allowed others to catch up. On the 2nd up leg, which was of course another kite leg, the puffs & traffic had made 2 groups with the grinners, Eileen/Rupert, David/Slopes, Angela/Tricia & Marko/Thomas in this leading pack. The pessimists thought they had the chance to lead the chasing pack back into contention when more traffic almost hindered Marko/Thomas and Angela/Tricia, but it was not to be.

And so, another fine days work for the Grinners brought another bullet, with David/Slopes a fine 2nd and Eileen/Rupert a very well sailed 3rd. Angela/Tricia were next home with a very satisfied looking Angela, all ready to discuss in detail with Brett upon his return.

Another superb afternoon on the water and it was then back to our beloved lawn, where other fleeters such as Ms Sachiyo and eventually Martin (exactly what was Martin up to in the afternoon???) joined as it was then off to the Chart Room for the monthly dinner in a rather more regal setting than normal. A fine evening was had by all & let’s hope the staff turned a blind eye to the bread throwing, but that’s another story.

Can’t wait until this Saturday, when I hope the sun will be blazing & Geoff Povey has already booked the fleet boat so he can once again join us on the water & the talking point is bound to be whether Geoff really will wear his deepest English-winter wetsuit again for this one… Now, where’s my camera!!

See you on the water!

Gangway, Gangway, move aside Please, busy person coming through… no time to discuss time saving devices… too busy, too busy!!!

And so it was, a great deal of water under the bridge, or more precisely for us, a great deal of smelly polluted water in& out of the Typhoon shelter since our last NewsLetter.

It was the RUGBY 7’s over the weekend of the 30th of March thru April 2nd. A jolly good victory for China over Taipei saved us all from an Island invasion if you know what I mean …… As for the BIG final, England were no doubt pretty good & the game was one of the closest & most exciting in years, but many of the purists will be asking if it really is right to sin-bin a player in the final in anything but the most exceptional of circumstances… Anyway, congratulations to England and the new sensation of Tom Varndell. Despite it being a regular 7’s year tickets were jolly tough to come by, with touts asking some pretty crazy prices. This, of courser, leads us to the great claim of our fleet that we now have “A PAGE 3 GIRL IN OUR FLEET”. Yes, an eagle-eyed reader brought to our attention the fact that none other than our uber-glamorous SSH was pictured on page 3 of the Sunday Morning Boast. In addition to having this celebrity in our midst, the 7’s gave us return visits for an incredibly relaxed and happy looking Andy Duncan, visiting from the UK where he seems to be spending most of his time making babies with Belinda. Great to see you Andy & congratulations. Also visiting for the 7’s and even managing to pop out for a sail was Stevie Mackey. When we met Andy & Stevie early in the morning we had the oddest confusion of an Australian living in England & enjoying it and an Englishman living in Australia and enjoying it. Wotz the deal here Boyz?

Anyway, I digress.

Sat April 1st (Rugby 7’s Saturday) saw an informal race with 3 boats out. Martin/crew, Higuchi/crew and Wai Chuen/Stevie. All reports are that it was a good day on the water with gentle breezes and some sunshine. The scores on the door show us it was/is congratulations to Higuchi on the bullet, with Wai Chuen/Stevie in 2nd & Martin in 3rd.

Next up was Vigers 2 on April 8th with a healthy 8 boats on the water. I only have the boat #’s, so am guessing a bit at the names, but here goes anyhows ;- Howard/JJ got the bullet, Higuchi/Katori close behind with continued good teamwork, Rupert/Eileen (remember them ?) up 3rd. Martin/crew in 4th followed by Slopes/David, Brett/crew, Ishi/Leo and 2978 retired.

We then had a fleet dinner on the Saturday evening and all reports are that it was a great time for all, at “the dirty duck” in Wanchai on the large balcony. This is the first time we have tried this restaurant & well done SSH for the arrangements and the whole occasion received a hearty congrats so for sure we’ll be going there again sometime.

We are then on to the Sunday, April 9th for Vigers 3,4,5.  Six teams took to the water for this wonderful sail fest. Again, based upon the boat #’s I am surmising; - Wai Chuen/crew, Martin/crew, David/Marko, Ishi/Leo, Rupert/Eileen, Howard/JJ. Races 3 & 5 belonged to Howard/JJ with Race 4 going to Rupert/Eileen. David/Marko also had a good day with 2 second places and a third. All in all, as Ishi would tell us, these days on the water with a few races in the same day are an excellent opportunity to hone those boat and team skills.

Next up was the WONDERFUL Heron cup on April 15th, this year heartily attended by 7 teams who may or may not have had some kind of family relationship; - The Bullet went to David/Rupert Phillips, with Sam/crew up 2nd but I don’t know the status of his crew & indeed if they qualify for one of the prizes. 3rd place (or possibly 2nd) went to Joe/family member (was it Ann that sailed with you Joe?), Up 4th was Higuchi/Ms Sachiyo & we can only but speculate at the family relationship!!!, now to the undoubted STARS OF THE DAY, we move to Skip/Hector with Hector surely being the youngest racing competitor we have had in our glorious fleet, with Hector being, well, very young (I am guessing at 4 years old).  Next up were Mark Hanselman/Wai Chuen and then Ishi/Ms Sakaguchi. Congratulations to all & hope it was fun.

Then, Wow, we are into a new series, being our Challenge series from Sat April 22nd with Challenge 1. a healthy 9 teams pitched up for this one. Great to see Eileen/Rupert back on the water, as were the now well dressed Joe/Martin combination. Katori/Higuchi were rearing to go as were Harriet-the-page-3-stunner/Howard. Angela/Brett teamed up as did David/Slopes. David chow teamed up with the visiting Alex (or vice-versa actually) and Skip once again took to the water with Hector. PessimistClove was back again after several weeks away and teamed up with the charming Ms Sachiyo who insisted he helm as he was in such need of practice… Yes, the challenge series is a CREW’S HELMING series.

A weird wind of SSE was the order of the day & the possibility of a really big tide kicking in (or out to be more precise) later in the afternoon. And so it was that course 7 was chosen with a Hung Hum start. This meant that it was going to be a kite start for this upwind & downwind race. Bang went the gun and off we all went with Joe/Martin getting away very well. Harriet/Howard had the course-side advantage if the wind would keep going. Katori/Higuchi chose the right hand side to get clear wind but this meant they did not have a great angle up to the mark. Once again it was great to see such close racing with almost all the boats converging to the top mark together.

And so it was, the visiting Alex/David managed to sneak into the lead and then stay there with some very fine sailing, picking up the bullet just ahead of the Page-3-babe/Howard combination and then David/Slopes in close behind. All boats finished pretty close together & then scattered all over the harbour for a slow & sporadic sail back to the club against the building tide.

And there we are Ladies & Gentlemen, that last month or so in a snapshot. Looking forward to seeing everyone on the water, on our beloved Lawn (?) and also over a cozy fleet dinner or 2. Feel the love and love the feel…Of being a FIFTEEENEEE!

See you on the water!

Yes, He’s Back He’s back… However, even the most liberal of consciences would not be singing the Gary Glitter songs these days…. Michael Jackson YES, Gary Glitter NO THANKYOU!!

And so it is, your humble & fleet loving scribe is back in his well-worn seat, feeling the lurve from our most wonderful of fleets. As a tear rises in my eye, I say a heartfelt thankyou to all of our fleeters for welcoming me back. Further, our multi-talented artist M has done a splendid job of keeping everyone entertained with his songwriting for Sinead O’Conner, Tom Jones & jazz arrangement for Debbie Harry, plus of course running a rising empire that he will soon be selling for gazillions, crewing for David & even helming rather well it must be said. Is there anything this follicle-challenged colossus cannot do?

Ok, enough of the foreplay (apparently this word is not in Australian dictionary’s), let’s get to our main task… finding people to pick on and (relatively gently) make fun of.

And so it was, a splendid day awaited those that made it. An excellent 12 teams out of Sat 18th, even excluding Brett, for whom congratulations go to (along with Connie), and let me be amongst the first to ask when we will be hearing the patter of little brettet feet?????

My my, where have all these ladies come from!!! will this lead to better behavior, will it lead to Martin changing away from his fence mending kit, will skip sail in his Speedo’s…. where will it all end…. Will Marisa take to the water again… where is Louise…? The questions just go on and on.

I digress. Martin/Joe, Ogawa/Ishi #2, Skip/Harriet, Higuchi/Katori, Ishi/Leo made up our regular as prune-juice teamsters. Then we had some mix & matchers with Slopes/Gabi (how come she is always amongst the winners except when she sails with the pessimists?), Sam/Thomas-new-crew, Marko/Tricia, Suzanne/Jo (err, Josephine if you can spell it), Wai Chuen/Damian, Louis/crew (Great to have you back on the water Louis), and finally, the Pessimists were back to bother me (sing along to I will survive at this point if you wish…. Don’t worry boys if you don’t know the words, it’s a chick’s song!!).

And there we were, all giggling & chatting & looking at each other’s heavy weather gear as the sun blasted down (sort of). We wondered where the wind was, since the board said 6 & the flags said nothing. Looked like a bit of a tide going out but the ships said no. ho hum ho hum, and then it was Hung Hum and course 3 was on the board with our gentle easterly. We paddled out of the shelter & were then very pleasantly surprised to find there really was a bit of wind out in the harbour.

And so it was, all safely to the start on time, even Sam. SuperRonnie would have been proud.

Lots of trolling up & down the line lead us to see that a starboard start fairly close to the committee boat, but not too close, then tack off to the right was the way to go…. Or was it. Bang went the gun & none of the bumping etc that M has reported. Ogawa/Ishi # 2 were away well amongst the right-handers and a few were well away on the pin handers.

The fleet split into 2 lots with some boats opting for the right, believing the outgoing tide would lift them up to the mark & others off to the left since the ships had not moved round to indicate there was indeed any lift to be had from the tide.

At the top mark, it was fantastic to see some 7-8 boats all coming in together. I think it was Sam/Thomas round first with Ishi/Leo & Slopes/Gabi round equally 2nd. Quite a melee of boats then rounded for some very close racing & good teamwork being the key to get the jump on others. On the broad reach/run down to the wing mark I think it was Ishi/Leo that got the jump on everyone, having gone off to the right further after the top mark to get a gybe & gain more speed & possible to be out of the tide on the way down.

Ishi/Leo lead for some way and then other boats gained, with Higuchi/Katori making some more of their very fine teamwork to sneak into the lead on another of the down-wind legs… was this due to Katori’s excellent kite work or indeed their general teamwork…. Who can say?

With many boats sailing in close quarters there was some excellent racing & the usual on-water exchange of views amongst a few. Sam/Thomas then had the lead again but along came the wily skills of Professor Slopes & Gabi to grab back the lead.

And so it was, a fine bullet went to Slopes/Gabi, with Sam/Thomas in 2nd & within touching distance, followed closely by Ishi/Leo who are now developing the same understanding & teamwork skills that Ishi had with Marisa.

Higuchi/Katori were next up, followed by another finely sailed day for Skip/Harriet.

All 12 boats finished well, with Louis/crew being at a disadvantage by not flying their kite, although they will be on for the kite flying next week. It was one of those wonderful days in the harbour where the wind stayed pretty much where it was, with not too much & not too little.

A very fine day was had by all!

Marvelous attendance up on our beloved lawn and even your hard working, soft luvin committee snuck away for a general kissFest and Hug-in to talk about all the wonderful ideas for our fleet. If the tardy CSC get’s his act together, we may even get some notes to share from the meeting.

This was rounded out by a very fine evening in the Bistro where we had a visit from our former assistant measurer Takano san (the donator of our current fleet boat, 2978) and his wife Mitsuko. There were around 25 of us and plenty of wine was flowing.

And so it was, then on to the Sunday.

Once again, it’s great plaudits to our Excellente El Presidente El Ishi for campaigning to get boats out for the Sunday sailing. A healthy 7 boats signed up for this one. (You can now hum the tune… du du du du da… wah wah wah… yes of course, it’s the theme to the Magnificent 7!!!_). From our Saturday of gentle 6 kts of constant easterly, we then moved to another of those days that they make the “I WUZ THERE” t-shirts for.

The wind was blowing upto 35kts and zipping left & right to boot.

The heavily wrapped teamsters were: Louis/Di (a big hearty WELCOME to Di), Ishi/Leo, Suzanne/Jo, Howard/JJ (remember Howard?), Ogawa/Ishi #2, Wai Chuen/crew, Martin/Joe and Slopes/David (welcome back).

It was absolutely survival tactics right from the off.

By the time your humble scribe got there late morning with his ruby-playing/bowling asking son, 4 of the 7 had come back. All had loved it, but absolutely needed to come back for various breakage or bailer-challenged reasons.

Ogawa/Ishi # 2 had a broken shroud, Suzanne/Jo were full of water, as were Louis/Di & could not sail it off due to having only one functioning bailer (a good summer job of boat-lurvin TLC maintenance for Louis). Howard/JJ had come back after winning the first race & deciding one win was enough for them.

And so it was, Howard/JJ got the bullet with Slopes/David in 2nd and Martin/Joe in 3rd.

A Hearty Well Done to all those that took part.

The 2nd race of the day (Junk pot 5) had to be abandoned due to too much wind & too few survivors. CloveSecClasse has sent a nice e-mail to the RO to thank him for a good job under the difficult conditions of the day.

See you on the water!

1. Yes, Yes, Yes, we are all set for another Sausage Sizzle this Saturday with our very own Australian-land-owning Mogul, David Phillips as the SS host.
2. Pls see attached to the e-mail for photos from last Sat
3. Pls also see attached photos of former fleeter “Yummy”, being Siobhan and partner Hamish who now have a wine drinking, Burger flipping business together in Australia. Siobhan is best remembered as guiding our El Presidente round the course in past seasons.

Do you remember that really good bit in that Movie “Chariots of Fire” when one of the characters (Eric Liddell I think) said, “If I can’t win I won’t race”, to which his girlfriend (Jennie I think) said, “If you don’t race you can’t win”.
We are reminded of some great words related to our sailing & life in general about preparation. “If you want to win, prepare to win”.

Errrr!!!??? Wazzat I hear yer say, not me mate.

Well, you see, it’s very simple. If it’s pretty dammed cold & highly likely to hammer down with rain, turn up wearing something that will keep you at least a little warm & dry. And so it was. 10 hardy & eager teams pitched up for this one. No doubt many had stories of last Sunday’s 35+ winds ringing in their ears & looking forward to another full on sort of a day.

Our first casualties of the day were the excellent teamsters of Higuchi/Katori. Such is the quality of their teamwork that they can instinctively shake their heads in disbelief/disappointment & swear in Japanese in perfect unison. The reason for this?  Their beloved 3533 was to have some speed enhancement work that left them unable to hoist their jib.

And so it was. A most confusing course 11 (I think) was chosen. This was a cunning ploy to make us sail further in light winds, cold temperature & lousy rain. This meant sailing to SKW rather than TKS for a Big Bog small kind of course. Despite the nice direction of the wind we set off for a Hung hum start.

And then our next casualties came. Barely-Alive-Pessimist-Clive was not quite his usual irritatingly bouncy self, nursing an American-debt sized hangover, along with the charming & sophisticated Charles (Chukee A to his close friends) set off in their Pessimistmobile. Barely 20 yards outside the typhoon shelter, with the rain kicking in big and cold time, PessimistCloveyBong declared that he was too cold, felt like S**** and didn’t believe there was going to be any decent wind. Ho Hum said Chukee, “well I suppose I could pop back to the office & make another HK$1M in advance on account”, and so it was, the 2nd boat of the day was out.

I’m not entirely sure of the precise details of the day’s proceedings, but the teamsters that actually made the start line were: Sam/Richard, Martin/Thomas (borrowed from Sam after an excellent outing the previous week), Suzanna/Tricia as our glamour queens (or was that Martin’s title ?), Howard/JJ, David/M (the temperamental but talented artist formerly known as Fei Mark), Louise/Damian making an outing in Carlyon’s beloved 3054 (I shudder to think how the long-distance call went …. “Hi Carlyon, sorry to hear you are in hospital with damaged ribs from Skiing, but I guess that means you won’t be needing your boat this weekend so I might as well use it!!”). David-Land-owner/Heir-Rupert were out in the Slopester and making up the starters were El Presidente Ishi/YK (YK was one of the owners of FF 999 & back in HK to visit after many many years of relaxing & taking life easy in Canada).

Bang went the gun & most headed off to the right for a long & cold beat up to SKW. Seems it was all fairly competitive & then on the 2nd round most went right again with Sam/Richard taking a flyer off to the left which left them way way off the pace.

David/heir-apparent also retired for the day due to damp & freezing charm.

I think that Howard/JJ were leading at one time & then coming to the mark on Starboard it is said Howard had a bit of a chat with a port-handed charging Etchell… tu tut & ho Hum I believe is how it went & after appropriate avoidance Howard hoisted his flag (post race seems the Etchell agreed on his error & retired for the day). Anyway, the scores on the door tell us it was the bullet for David/M so congratulations for getting back to winning ways. Howard/JJ were next up followed by Ishi/YK in 3rd.
So, 10 in the bar, 7 finishers.

The day was followed by a very charming Sausage Sizzle courtesy of Australian-province Owning David Phillips, with a near calamity of NO BUNS being averted by the wonderful staff of the Bistro. Land-Owner in waiting Rupert and ClassSecClove were his eager assistants.

Suzanne was a good sport & owned up to thanking Louise for all the hard work she has done in the crew coordination & website arrangements. When Louise and Ray joined for the SS she was suitably bemused & mall was put right. M even took some photos, which may or may not be shared in the next century.

See you on the water!

1. Let me ask this. If we are culling all these birds in order to avoid bird flu, what does this mean for that thing that they sang about in the Lion King movie…. You know, the circle of life. Does it now mean that the world is going to be over-run with all these bugs that will now not be eaten because there are not enough birds around to eat them???!!! You heard it here first.
2. Do Skip & Harriet have real jobs or do they just fit in odd-jobs in between their multitudinous holidays!!??

BANG…went something, thankfully not the gun, as M’s eyelid opened half ways.  With hindsight he wondered was it really necessary to stay to celebrate? the departure of Robert the bird until 0200 hrs the previous night.

And so it was, struggle down to Kellet to find that this week’s newspaper suggestion of 13kts was TOTALLY WRONG…however the quite a lot of tide coming IN, appeared so.

Course 7 was selected to be different, difficult, confuse and create controversy.  Some appeared happy with the change, while some greeted such change with various groans and moans, one of these been Clivey even though he was away! The club determined the start line would be at HH in view of the America’s Cup China? (albeit more frog for now) team match racing event. Between official group breakfast, lunch, post race dinks and more official dins it was amazing they found time to race at all.

Moving onwards……….there was some predictable team combinations but not many. Martin save the cents / Joey USA, Professors Slopes / David, Presidente Ishi / Leo, Suzanne / Beth the glamour girls… (also glamorous the week before!) Ogawa / Ishi #2, some not so predictable teams of Rups / Gabi advance bookings only please, WC / Dave will I wont I, Marko / Neil, Brett / Tricia, Sam / and Sam # 2. Once again a surprising no show of Howard? and NO representatives from the Skip family, and no Marisa… AGAIN. WOT has happened? Where is the COMMITMENT!

And so…with a gusty 10 knots out to the HH mark the excitement mounted, however prior to the start it STOPPED…the wind…DIED and DIED again!

With just enough wind, BANG went the GUN…a cluster of Rubs / Gabi, Sam / Sam #2, Ogawa / Ishi #2 at the pin end created a clusterF? of a jam with all failing to cross the line for some several LONG minutes. Others eased away gingerly? with M / Neil getting a clean start which turned to be the highlight of their afternoon!  The glamour girls got their second? best start ever or maybe their best EVER start!

Clearly Rups needs to practice his starting sequence this been the SECOND week in a ROW that he has got it WRONG, TOTALLY!

And so it was ONCE again…….most boats headed RIGHT, with M / Neil having made a carefully laid out plan of men and mice to go RIGHT, went LEFT? along with Professors Slopes / David, Ogawa / Ishi #2.

Coming into the harbor during this leg saw the awesome sight of Ellen Macarthur’s B&Q 60’ trimaran. Ellen was not on board, but as B&Q heads off for an Asian record breaking tour starting in Japan, HK will see B&Q with Ellen back around April 23-25.

The race continued, at a slow pace. The top mark saw Ishi / Leo with a LARGE lead, followed by Professors, Rups / Gabi. RIGHT side paid BIG time. Other boats rounded…. eventually, with some VERY FAR, VERY FAR, behind.

Prior to DB mark, Martin save the cents / Joey decided to DROP their pole into the water….AGAIN. This been the second time in recent months, as Martin save the cents opted to save some cents! by not replacing the spinny string.  Rather than stop to retrieve the floating? pole immediately, they decided to carry on around the mark, only to find meantime it had SUNK (surprisingly in their minds). Post race Martin wondered why he would want to purchase a new pole all the way from UK, when there were so many available within HK? LOCK up your poles?!

After DB saw ALL the fleet and ALL classes go RIGHT, however M / Neill, WC / Dave, Martin / Joey, decided to go LEFT? in order to determine how far we could get behind. It’s important to have a plan even if it’s the WRONG plan!

RIGHT paid………AGAIN. HALF ways down the leg, back markers saw Ishi / Leo rounding the top mark some 000’s of miles ahead, followed by Professors in hot pursuit.

And so it was…again, BANG went to gun for President Ishi / Leo to take ANOTHER fine bullet, making it TWO in a ROW. HOT HOT HOT. 2nd saw Professors and 3rd Rups / Gabi. Why does Gabi always finish at the top we wonder no matter who (apart from Clivey) she is sailing with?! The glamour girls finished well up the pecking order, while others were thankful that they finished at all, while some did not.

Post race once again continued and continued down at the BISTROT. This time numbers were down due to the absence of the MARTIN clan.

A GREAT day for some and NOT a GREAT day for others.  Read on…!

Notes

1. Congratulations to Brett and Connie who after years and years and YEARS are FINALLY tying the knot this Friday. We wish them the very best for the future.
2. This Sunday is a two-race sail day.  We want 10 boats this time. Helms get your crews and crews get your helms. Follow up with Marisa if need help to find.
3. Reports are that Clivey is due back from Swiss via Thailand? any day soon, upon which your future needs will be taken care of.

M

See you on the water!

Change is good. Variety is the spice of life… Except of course, if you are on a consistent and winning streak!!

It was all change this week with several different team combinations. Brett teamed up with Laser guru Jurgen who came with his cartoon sketchpad for some strange reason. Sam had another new crew and Ishi teamed up with previous teamer, the super-charming Marisa (who has kindly agreed to be our crew coordinator once again). Marko was helming the Davidmobile and teamed up with Chris, son of Slopes.  Rupert teamed up with Neal after we had several unsuccessful attempts to have the new-to-HK Neal to join us, so we are delighted to have you with us finally Neal. Hardy & fashion conscious as ever, Martin/Joe were with us (Joe having just returned from grueling meetings in Phuket that sounded like really tough work) as were Slopes/David and trying out their different jib in order to get that ever-important pointing that they seem to feel has been lacking for them (I suppose, nothing to do with not leaning out enough chaps !!??). Wai Chuen was teamed up with Louise once again and Howard teamed up to be on his best behavior with Jing Jing and Suzanna (looking very bronzed for some glamorous reason) was to team up with Geoff Povey…. If he could make it. The Ocean’s (or Harbour’s) 11 was rounded off by Pessimist Clove teaming up with the Howard trained Gabi (except thankfully, no cloying GRINNIG!).

Course 3 was chosen with a Hung Hom start. The newspaper suggested 20kts of easterly winds and quite a tide to be coming in. Once again the wind gods did not favor us and we were left with some 2-6 kts and sort of Northerly to boot.

This all meant a pretty spooky start with the start line almost at right angles to the course.

Lots of boats coming in for a very impressive fleet start as the gun went and it seemed to be the Pessimists who started well as did Rupert & Neal. Despite getting the start on starboard, the Pessimists were last to tack onto port and take advantage of the footing up to the top mark. Some kites were tried, some kites not tried and it was all a bit of a dogs dinner if I say so myself.

Good sailing for Slopes/David, Rupert/Neal, Howard/JJ, Sam/Crew and possibly Marko/Chris made the leading bunch up to the top mark.

The wind started to drop and with the tide stronger at this top mark we were not exactly whizzing round the top mark.

I think it was either Rupert/Neal or Howard/JJ round first and I recall a very good showing from the heavyweights of Brett/Jurgan.

All were round safely except the impatient Pessimists who tried to get a jump and got all the angles wrong & bumped the mark, to the amusement of the fashion-trend-setters amongst the fence-menders, Martin/Joe.

The foot down to the wing mark would not quite yield a kite and so it was a bear way rounding at the wing mark and then up with the kites once we were sure we’d clear the big floaty thing that the ship in our way was attached to.

Really not much wind, but enough to make Howard/JJ very happy and keep themselves in the lead. Rupert/Neal worked hard although they could not catch the leaders and the day belonged to the very well behaved Howard having teamed up with the impressive Jing Jing. Sam/Crew sailed well to sneak thru for 3rd and way further back Ishi/Marisa thought they might cede very last place to the Pessimists when some boaty thing decided to move/stop/move across our finish line but they hung on to leave the Pessimists at the foot of the table.

A fine day was had by all, even with not much wind.

See you on the water!

1. Pls see attached some notes from the club on the America’s cup evening that will be coming soon, along with the opportunity to sail with some of the China team members.
2. Next Saturday the 25th represents our next Sausage Sizzle, so do make sure you stay around on the hard after sailing or do come down to join if you cannot make the sailing.
3. Next Sunday the 26th represents our next Sunday on the water and our esteemed El Presidente has been campaigning for attendance, which seems to be going well. Therefore, if you have not already declared your interest, Pls do confirm back to El Presidente Ishi and let’s have a great Sunday of racing.

And so it is…with Clivey off to eat lots n lots of Swiss chocs, AND look at lots n lots of Swiss watches via Thailand? M has come to the rescue to put dots on paper.

For once the newspaper suggestion of 16kts easterly winds with quite a lot of tide going…out was…CORRECT! El presidente INSISTED that Course 5 MUST be selected and none other apart from Course 5.

There were several predictable team combinations, Rup / Eileen the boss, Professors Slopes / David, Presidente Ishi / Leo, the right honorable Higuchi / Kat the kit, WC El Louise, Suzanne / Beth, Ogawa / Ishi #2, some not so predictable of Skip (part racehorse, carthorse and rocking horse) / Harriet the chariot, Marko / Gabi (advance bookings only please), and some not so predictable no shows, Howard (boiled only), Brett, Marisa, Martin, Joe, Sam (although his new (TP52) on the hard looks like it may gives us a run for our money).

And so it was…a feisty? 10-15 knots at the start line.

Suddenly, BANG…went a GREEN RUFFIAN right BANG SMACK into the side of Ishi 1 minute prior to the start, and SCREAM…went M 30 seconds latter as a another YELLOW RUFFIN decided to sail through our start line on a collision coarse! Thanks a bunch RUFFIN’s!?#$%^&*!!!

Then, BANG went the GUN, AND BANG the GUN went again??

Some boats? were OCS at pin end…….Rups / Eileen? Slopes / David? Skip / Harriet? However the eagle eye of Harriet the chariot brought a yelling, kicking and screaming Skip back to cross again, BUT WAT else was over we wondered? as DAT flag did not come down…..did some think “it couldn’t have been us” “was it us….Rupert” “nonsense” no doubt the doubters decided to carry on and on for 2 more hours and hope it really wasn’t us !!?? Did some get away with it??

Boats that started pin end screamed off to the LEFT, and boats that started mid line headed for HH.  LEFT sided boats started to tack across on PORT, with some? opting NOT, repeat NOT, to give way to a STARBOARD boat?? WOT?? The port / starboard rule are applicable even to our fleet TOO! Sail for safety. This is the second time in two weekends that some helms have failed to pay attention to this BASIC rule. ………(READ note below).

And so it was at HH, Rups / Eileen, Slopes / David, Ogawa / Ishi #2 and the dream catcher team of Marko / Gabi in hot pursuit with the rest following. Most opted to take the RIGHT side of the channel up to the top mark, those that went LEFT channel lost out it appeared. By the top mark, Rups / Eileen, Slopes / David and Marko / Gabi …………..WOT?  Positions were held for the run to KB, the reach. With Ishi / Leo closing the gap on Marko / Gabi, the race was on. Next beat saw Rups / Eileen, Slopes / David going left side, but Marko / Gabi going right with Ishi / Leo and some others still following. Coming to the top mark ………..again saw positions maintained but WAIT……WHO was DAT?……….coming from left side….. WOT……..Skip / Harriet having sailed the leg diligently? gained truck loads of miles? to CLOSE the gap. The SS run (sizzling not boiled) saw places maintained, but once again don’t mess with me Ishi / Leo were in hot pursuit and were closing the gap EVEN more, however despite all, Marko / Gabi remained cool and calm under such attack?!

On the final triangle………Marko / Gabi couldn’t take or find the pressure, and lost the f………..riggen wind under the shadow of the very LARGE white ship! Ishi / Leo took advantage and passed with Skip / Harriet closing RIGHT up to touching point of Marko / Gabi……….rounding the final DB mark saw Marko (reportly post race going very very slow) then BANG went Skip / Harriet into the back of Marko / Gabi (er…sorry Dave).  (Just like Rups said, it pays to go slowly around a mark!) And so it was, off went Skip with Harriet the chariot to do their turn(s)? but did they do “A” turn? or turn(s) was the post race discussion. Did Harriet the Chariot have a guilty look at post FF sail dins or not?

Coming the finishing line, Ishi / Leo crossed and BANG went the gun? WOT was DAT?

And so it was, confirmed, Rups / Eileen, Slopes / David were over the line, so well done to Ishi / Leo to take 1st followed by Marko / Gabi 2nd, Skip / Harriot the Chariot 3rd.

Post race, Eileen totally blamed (poor) Rups and considered the whole afternoon a complete waste of time; Slopes, defiant cried “no way were we over” and Harriet the chariot looking smug citing “I told Skip to go back”.

Post race continue and continued at the LRC courtesy of Kath…………….who having laid down the best of plans, of mice, men and women only to have it totally up-heaved with the arrival of the Martin 10 strong clan on the 11th hour…compromise was called in the form of a relocation. Jeff the pilot also tuned up, as did Joey of our USA clan.  Many thanks to Kath and SSC Harriet the chariot for all arrangements to get a 20 strong group together.

A GREAT day of close racing, a GREAT breeze and a GREAT social.

Notes:

A small lesson according to thy “Sportsmanship and the Rules”

Some basics:

1. Be aware when you are on PORT tack – you have NO right of way and MUST keep clear of STARBOARD boat(s) even when they are on a different leg of the course.
   HELMS & CREWS be on the look out. DON’T take the chance thinking we will make it…you might or you might not.
   Even our top sailors (and many others) have got it wrong at times in the past, resulting in CRASH, BANG, WALLOP and $$$$ expenses, not to mention a likely Protest and DSQ.
2. The penalty is a 720º turn if a PORT boats hinders the course of the oncoming STARBOARD boat.
3. Hit a boat – the penalty is a 720º turn
4. Hit a buoy – the penalty is a 360º turn
5. If a boat shouts “PROTEST”……….and you think you may have done wrong, best to take the penalty, then (if necessary) sort it out in the protest room afterwards. (some sailors may beg to differ on this point !) By taking the penalty you are exonerated from a DSQ unless serious damage occurs.
   If a boat does not shout “PROTEST” the boat cannot protest afterwards, BUT even if the protest word is not uttered, if you think you have done something wrong be Sportsman like and do your turns.

We are supposed to be a self-policing sport so lets be it!

M

After we had a cold one, we then get a no-no one!!

Eager, warm and willing was the order of the day for 8 handsome teams on the 28th. We sat, we gazed, we mused over the fantastic news that Carlyon “might” buy a new boat & donate his current nostalgia-gem to an eager team waiting in the wings….. We waited, and then we waited some more (errr, for the wind, not for Carlyon).

Finally, the RO for the day came & advised that after a second checking on the course there was absolutely BA wind and therefore racing for the day was cancelled. Of course, it should have been a great opportunity for some boat maintenance, but instead, some went shopping, some to the bar & some to the sunny paradise sauna & massage!

And so it was, Saturday the 4th rolled around and another 8 handsome & hardy teams pitched up for this one. The forecast was for a blaster with 22kts of wind predicted. Lots of optimism for big wind on the course and not much tide early in the race at least. The measures only seemed to be 5-6kts and then a little intermittent both in strength & direction. And so it was, ho hum, almost no wind and our crafty Fleeet Capertain M (the artist formerly known blah blah blah) picked course 3 with a club start. Sam/new-crew, Wai Chuen/Louise (great to have Louise back & her little baby is now settling down well to enable her to sail more regularly), Harriet/Howard (the grinning duo), David/M, Brett/Angela, Martin/Katori, Slopes/David and Clive/Charles (for a personal record-breaking 4th week running for the pessimists !) were the handsome teams to make the start line. With Super Ronnie’s timely reminder of being on time to the start ringing in our ears, all were out to the course in time, which was possible as it was a club start & not a speculative start at Hung Hom.  bit of trolling up & down the line showed it to be better nearer the pin end and a rather shallow starboard entry start. Ho hum was the reaction from all, as the wind-god had some amusement & sent the wind in quite a different direction seconds before the start, forcing all to tack back onto port and then drift across the line. Martin/Katori were away well taking the highly risky typhoon shelter lane. y the time we got to Hung Hom, David/M were well away in the lead, with Martin/Katori behind. The grinners were not doing so much grinning at this point as they were dead last to pass Hung Hom. At the top mark it seemed the day belonged to the ballet-loving duo of David/M as they danced away from the fleet to show a clean pair of nylon-tights clad heels. It was a funny old day with the fleet really strung out round the course at the first mark, but amazingly the entire fleet closed up by the time we reached the reaching leg. Very good sailing & wily tactics of picking the correct channels from Slopes/David enabled them to get past the ballet dancers and take the lead. Martin/Katori were neatly in 3rd with the grinners close behind and then Brett/Angela, Wai Chuen/Louise & the Pessimists close in behind. Sam/Crew had taken a flyer which didn’t seem to be paying off as they sailed with blistering speed from one dead-end to another.

The grinners managed to sneak past Martin/Katori towards the end of the race and the Bullet went to Slopes/David for an excellently sailed race, with David/M close behind in 2nd. The grinners came home for a very fine 3rd with Martin/Katori in 4th, then with the pessimists finally getting some of their tactics back to come home just ahead of Wai Chuen/Louise, with Brett/Angela close behind. Sam/Crew had a bit of practice in re-rounding marks as Sam insisted to go back after once of his favorite caps fell in the water. I was a very enjoyable day & fantastic to see all the boats finish so close together at the end of the race.

See you on the water!

Make mine a cold one thanks …. No, not the beer but the weather!

And so it was, 7 hardly well wrapped teams (all except Skip anyway, who seemed to be dressed for a beach party in Thailand) pitched up for this one. Hardy perennials Slopes/David, Martin/Joe (with Martin dressed in his fence mending kit for some strange reason), Higuchi/Katori, David/Marko, Osano/Ishi #2, Skip/Harriet and the pessimists of Clive/Charles were there for this one. Marko cheerfully chose course 3 and a Hung Hom start, so thankfully if the wind died we’d be able to get back to the warmth of the showers before the sun sets. Not too much tide and wind light & cheerful at around 8 kts from sort of northerly.

A funny old start, with the 5-miunute signal going up when it was clear not all boats would make the start. Those that were out early could see that the pin end was favored, but by the time the actual start came, the wind was with the boat-end-starters. Bang went the Gun and Osano/Ishi #2 were away very well, as were David/Marko. Sort of a beat, then fetch, then reach ensued up to the top mark, with the good teamwork once again of Higuchi/Katori enabling them to share the lead with David/Marko.

Round we went, with, I think, David/Marko round first and then Higuchi/Katori, followed by Slopes/David. Meanwhile, the late-starters of Skip/Harriet & Martin/Joe were having to work it a bit to get themselves back in the action. There were sort of 2 groups, with David/Marko, Higuchi/Katori and Slopes/David in one and then Osano/Ishi#2, Clive/Charles and Martin/Joe in the other, along with Skip/Harriet gaining well. It was kites up for the leg that should have been the beat & then fetching/footing for the other legs, all a bit strange really, but at least the wind was consistent in strength if not necessarily in direction. David/Marko came home for a fine bullet, followed by Slopes/David who had managed to pass Higuchi/Katori and then Martin/Joe who had sailed very well since they missed the start.

A fine day was had by all (and a little Poo Poo to the RO who surely could have waited another few minutes for all the boats to arrive).

See you on the water!

Notes:
1. Our wonderful El Presidente Ishi hosted a fine Sausage Sizzle after racing. Undeterred by the lack of a cooking stove (we understand, all was neatly packed in his car & the stove was neatly on his table top at home !), he moved to the waterside and we were all happy to join. This was a great success with the kids in attendance, and I think either Skip or Harriet won the kid’s go-kart racing to make up for their late start in the sailing. Rupert & Eileen joined us, as did Angela and Marisa. A few people nipped in to the ship shop to buy warm tops & pessimist ClassSecClove reappeared with some white thing that was clearly a target for the mustard sprayers, but that’s another story.

Zoom, Wizz, Crash, Bang, Pop!

Yes, it’s that time of the year again. 2005 has come to a close & 2006 is upon us. Ho Hum, did we achieve all that we set ourselves in 2005 ?

Some of us are bang up to date & well in command of all we survey, others of us are just about finishing a quarter of the work total for 2005. And those scales, what horror stories do they tell us about the years precedings. Well, enough of my failed resolutions, let’s talk sailin !

Dec 24th saw the crew tankard & of course not exactly the best time for this race but the only slot in a difficult calendar year. 4 boats out for this one, with Nigel/Carlyon making the pairing that cleaned up, followed by Katori/Higuchi and then Ryo/Ishi followed by Vincent/Louis. So it’s yet another fleet trophy and bragging rights that goes to Nigel. Congratulations to all that took part.

Boxing Day saw our splendid McGruer, with 12 boats out on the water for this one. No Steve for the 1st time in many years & hope we see him back with us next year. No Rupert & let’s hope he is with us next year. In order of signing-on, we had ;- Collin Smith (using 3830 & joining specially for the day), Marko, Louis, David P, Wai Chuen, Ishi, Suzanne (looking glamorous in her high heels sweetie !), Nigel, Clove, Skip, Carlyon, Slopes. We were well marshaled by the wonderful Angela who had once again kindly agreed to officiate for the day. The Photo for participants was well attended for a change so the day was off to a good start.

Bang went the gun & off went Nigel, to lead from start to finish with some very fine single-handed sailing. Collin was a very happy 2nd and Slopes came home for a well deserved 3rd.  Angela then kindly informed us of our various infringements, which included; - Louis, Marko, Andrew failed the dress code… Slopes missing the photo… Collin dressing like a prisoner… Skip forgetting his own boat name when signing on…. Suzanne, no spinnaker…. Vincent for stealing all the wind & sailing a different course !.... Nigel for winning without even slowing down to make it look like some could catch up…..Angela for not exploding when we were delivered YET AGAIN with the wrong Sandwiches!!! All finished safely and a very fine morning/early afternoon was rounded off with a few bottles of champagne & a few left-over’s from people’s Christmas day goodies.

The next race was the ladies race on Dec 31st, when once again it was not an ideal date but the best we could do in the calendar. All talk was of Angela and/or Suzanna winning, but up popped “Harrier the Chariot” to win by quite a margin we are told (ummm…. Actually, we are told VERY frequently about the margin of victory, so PLEASE; do not encourage her or Howard on this). Congratulations to Harriet (SocSecHar to her friends).

Next up was another non-sailing event with New Years Eve at the club. We had a table of 16 and a wonderful evening was had by all…. As far as we can recollect. There were tons of photos that started off quite sensibly & became more footloose as the wine flowed & the evening wore on. It’s great thanks to Fleet Captain Marko for putting this together and great to have Gareth/Di and James/Sue to join us also. For the technical element, it was widely reported that our dancing has made zero improvement year on year !!!

We were into the New Year and ho hum the weather became colder, prompting the gleeful dusting off of that rubber wear some of our fleet love to put on in the name of sailing. It was then the Ffionuala 1 on Jan 7th.

I’m sorry that my dog ate my notes from Ffionuala 1 and at the time of writing the details are not on the website. All we have is that Rupert/Nigel won and the Pessimists “had an interesting day”. I’ll get back to this one either when my dog coughs up the notes or I can get the details again from the club.

Almost up to date & last weekend’s race was the Tomes cup, which boasts a magnificent trophy, possibly one of the best in the club & has been proudly won by our Fleet President & mysteriously won by CloveSecClass also in previous years. Last year Sam came agonizingly close to winning it again for our fleet but it was not to be. This year, we had a fantastic 14 boats out for this one. Sam/Ernest were looking for some silverware, Carlyon/Trish (new to HK & our fleet), Ishi/Ryo, Higuchi/Katori, Martin/Joe, David/Marko, Howard/Gabi, Slopes/David, Wai Chuen/Steve, Brett/Angela, Ogawa/Ishi #2, Louis/crew, Vincent/crew and Clive/Charles.

The conditions looked good for the race and for our fleet in particular. The question was…. Will the wind hold. We had a fine easterly & not too much tide. It was a big course once again, giving us a big triangle using the first top mark way up on the right, then the next top mark our regular top mark on the left for our sausage, all very simple I suppose. A little bit of yelling before the start & off we all went, with Howard/Gabi and Sam/Ernest getting away very well. David/Marko and the Pessimists of Clive/Charles were close behind. Howard chose the left, Sam the right with David & Clove chose the centre. At the first top mark, Howard/Gabi were well ahead after Sam had lost out going to far to the right. The pessimists felt they would have been 1st round had it not have been for the only hole in the entire afternoon just on the right, followed by appalling judgment from Cleave, allowing some 10 boats thru. David/Marko picked their lines extremely well and managed to pass Howard/Gabi and get themselves in amongst the leaders for this pursuit race, for a glimpse of the silverware. Sadly, the wind started to die just enough to convince the race committee to (correctly) shorten the race and enabling the Pandora’s, Ruffians and Sonata’s to stay mostly ahead. It was an “if only” kind of afternoon, with David/Marko 5th overall and Howard/Gabi not far behind, then with Martin/Joe next up for our fleet.  A fine afternoon’s sailing was had by all.

A very fine start to the year and looking forward to seeing plenty of action as the year progresses (and maybe even being up to date with the news).

See you on the water!

Notes:

1. Your incredibly hard workin’ blah, blah… committee have been hard at work on the race calendar for next season, which indeed includes a worlds qualification and the worlds in the summer of 07 in Spain. Pls feel free to pass any comments (um… on the calendar that is) to committee members.

And there we were, filled with patriotic fervor, ready to make it a special National day…..if only we could actually see anything around us, other than the stifling heat & humidity, combined with yet more throat clogging pollution.

And so it was, a comfortable 10 teams fronted up for this one, eager to get back on the water doing wot we do’s betterest, sailin.

The dream-teamers were back again, with Nigel huffing & puffing, generally running around to make sure everything was ready for another successful outing whilst Rupert surveyed all around him in a calm, dignified & authoritative kind of manner, checking that indeed Nigel had faithfully prepared everything. Ishi/Leo were back again, as were Suzanna & Vim, ready to roll in the gleaming 3305, Slopes/David were present & correct, having joined some incredibly important civic function or other earlier in the morning. Martin/Joe were back to cast off their “in your dreams team” tag and Wai Chuen had flown in specially & was all set with Richard Bland who had come down from Shanghai to experience our brand of pollution instead of his own regular Shanghai blend. Higuchi/Katori were back to build upon their excellently developing team work, as were Ogawa/Ishi #2. Sam/Crew’s boat was certainly ready, which is more (much more) than can be said for Sam & his ability to make the start on time !! …. Oh yes, and what gloomy, polluted, semi-windless day would be complete without the pessimists, back on the water to winge & moan their way round the course, looking for any opportunity to bail & head for a massage in Wanchai ??

And so it was, a Hung Hom start, strange westerly wind, clocking occasionally southerly & indeed occasionally disappearing faster than slopes on round-buying duty. Course 3 was the choice of the day, with all worrying a little about the end of the outgoing tide matched with the westerly & chances to get back to the club before being burnt to a crisp/polluted beyond reason.
And so it was, bang went the gun & up went the kites. Luckily, a long line & people choosing spots all the way along the line meant that there was not much yelling going on. Out popped the dream-teamers with the expert kite skills of our very own shifty leading the way. Also getting away for another great start was Higuchi/Katori and indeed, newsters, the delightfully cheerful Suzanna/Vim were right up there.

As we drifted/sailed up to the top mark, it looked like the dream-teamers would walk away with the day. Then came a bit of shifting winds & no wind that brought the fleet pretty close together for the top mark. Round first were the dream-teamers, followed by Slopes/David & then I think Higuchi/Katori. Once round it was lean off to the airport side to keep out of the tide…. But not too far as there seemed to be little wind there. On this leg down the pessimists caught up Higuchi/Katori & possibly overtook them for a short while, but it was all very difficult to tell once we drifted/sailed gently round the wing mark with some choosing high & some choosing low for a canny/shifty beat to the bottom mark that seemed ideally suited to the dream-teams shifty skills.
More frustrating kite work on the legs back up to the top mark saw a large number of position changes, with Martin/Joe gaining well, only to loose it back somewhere in the smog. Ishi/Leo sailed consistently well to wend their way through the fleet and come the last beat down/run-up, there was the angst & pained look upon Rupert’s face which told the sorry story of the hole they had sailed into. Some frantic maneuvers and it was the canny duo of the summer battle-hardened team of Slopes/David came home for the bullet, followed by a very happy Higuchi/Katori in 2nd and a very tense finish saw Rupert/Shifty come home for 3rd, just ahead of Ishi/Leo in 4th.

For the chasing pack, the relaxed approach of Martin/Joe saw them home in 5th, with the pessimists ruing their missed chances (a bit like Liverpool in front of goal, but that’s another story) coming home in 6th. Sam/Crew sailed well & with speed for the whole race, but when you start several minutes behind everyone else it is rather difficult to win & they came home in 7th. Your scribe is a little unsure beyond that other than to say a fine day was had by all.

It was then up to our beloved lawn, which we strangely did not inhabit for a change, to be greeted by the ever-jolly & charming Harriet & Skip. All settled down to wind down from the heat & pollution & get our selves ready for the Splendid fireworks display in our Fragrant harbour. For me, it makes me proud of HK to see such a magnificent display and remind ourselves “only in HK’ can you see & experience such a display, with the sounds & lights bouncing off the building all around us. Phooey to those that say it’s a waste of money.

See you on the water!

Notes:

Pls do get back to ClassSecClove at the above e-mail in regards to the Po Toi clean-up, which is now tentatively schedule for the 11th (a public holiday). Boats to take us there/back may well be arranged if we confirm our final numbers.

Pls see attached the note from the club on another course, for this Thursday evening…. Do try to get the time to get down to the club if you are in HK.

Rumour has it that M (the artist formerly know as MarkoMarkieMarker) will be hosting another sausage sizzle this Saturday so do come on down & join the throng in your thongs (footwear !!) after sailing this Sat. we can all marvel as M cooks up a feast and takes photo’s at the same time.

Live a good life. Love your pets and be good to your neighbors. Love well.

Oh my Gosh, time is once again our enemy (as Dumbledore would say to Harry) and it’s going to be yet another brief report from your harassed humble scribe…. But less of my troubles, but since you mention my bad back…..

I turn my back for 5 minutes and what happens ??!! We were down to a measly 5 boats on the 19th for our Ffirebowl 3, which the racee’s tell me was sad since it was another fine day in our choppy smelly thing. I don’t have the full 7 yards, but it seems lawn-chair sailing style rules the day…. Yes, folks, Martin/Joe cleaned up with a start to finish victory. Beyond this there does not seem to be much to say. Roll on the 26th, when we were expecting great things from this young man (Hagrid to Harry), but lo, still only 5 measly boats. Do we have an entire fleet filled with people unable to manage their time properly ???

A Hung Hom start and course 3 chosen due to somewhat feeble winds. So feeble were the winds (or perhaps our judgment of how much time would be needed to get to the start) that a Choy lee had to come & tow 2 boats in order to get to the start…. Only a few minutes after the other boats. An interesting split in this biggish tide day saw 2 to the left and 3 to the right. The magnificent Martin/Joe were not only late to the start, they picked the correct side (left) and off they went. Ho hum, another start to finish lead for Martin/Joe saw them safely home for another very fine and well deserved victory. A very well sailed day saw Higuchi/Katori home in 2nd with dream-teamers Rupert/Nigel sneaking past Slopes/David to take 3rd. this left the returning PessimistClove/Ciara to come home 5th.

It was then off to the powder room to glam ourselves up for the Thanksgiving party at Joe’s home which was well attended by the fleet. A very fine evening was had by all, with Grace led by Joe and the food eating led by Charles/Clive’s guests ! We then moved on to a Thanksgiving quiz cunningly prepared by Joe so that only full blood American’s would have any chance to answer the questions correctly (that’s the reason for my low score and I’m sticking to it). It was congratulations to Ronnie, Liz, Kath for taking the top 3 prize spots and we look forward to the return of Joe’s wife Ann in order to deliver the final prizes… other than a fine bottle of Champagne shared around by the winners.

See you on the water!

Notes:

We have 9 boats going up to Shelter Cove for the coming weeks sailing, with this weekend being the class regatta and then the following 2 weekends given over to our exciting Class Champs. There may well be a few crewing spots opening up over the coming weeks (no, this is not someone throwing their toys out of the pram and changing teams !!) so do let Nigel Reeves know if you’d like to join.

Pls note that during the coming weeks there will be no sailing in the harbour and no crane service even if you fancy a bit of relaxed sailing. Normal service resumes on Dec 24th for our Crew Tankard race when M will no doubt be feeling the pressure.

Pls do make sure you have marked in your diary for Sat Dec 17th, which will of course be our Ultra-Glitz event of the FF Christmas party. We sadly will not be able to hold the party at Kellet Island, due to the WTO proceedings and possible issues arising with the Korean urine-bag throwers/protestors. Therefore, your incredibly hard working FFcom is deep in discussion on final arrangements and the like. Watch this space but keep the date clear.

Have fun, Love you all and don’t touch them Chickens XX

Boy oh boy, them weather gods sure know how to throw up a challenge….. and rumour has it that plenty of those bobbing around the steamy harbour on Sunday were also ready to throw up.

It sure does make it tough to write an upbeat report on such a difficult weekend, but hey, that’s wot the scribe gets all these big bucks for right!? And so it was, a trusty & hardy 11 teams geared up for a feast of fun & frolics for the whole weekend.

Wai Chuen was back from re-designing large swathes of Beijing & Saigon, teaming up with 470 sailor Rohit for his first outing in the harbour, Brett was back from servicing a large number of wealthy people (!!?) to sail with Jonathan once again, Shifty was back from fixing yet more boats (but this time his own) to sail with Stefan the Dragon sailor. Higuchi & Katori were back to build on their previous week’s fine result. Martin & Joe were back to impress all again with more lawn-chair sailing, Ishi & Leo were there, Sam/crew, Carlyon/Steven, Howard/Harriet the grinning duo were back look for more bullets & ready to take on Slopes/David once again and making up our Ocean’s 11 were Marko & Ciara in David’s boat.

The wind easterly of around 7 kts & not so much tide to speak of, so all was set for a gentile day. And so it was, bang went the gun & all were away cleanly. It seems Howard/Harriet got away well & headed right as did most boats. Marko/Ciara went left in true David style & come the top mark it was the familiar sight of Howard/Harriet grinning their way round the mark, but somewhat surprised to see Marko/Ciara bombing in from the left hand side to round in 2nd. I guess it was Slopes/David round next as the report is there was a good tussle between Marko/Ciara & Slopes/David.

In the end, the day belonged to the grinners once again and it’s congratulations to Howard/Harriet for another fine victory. Slopes/David was 2nd and Sam/crew effortlessly cruised thru the fleet to come home 3rd. A good, if somewhat gentile day was had by all on the Saturday. Your incredibly hard working committee then met up in the evening for a committee meeting & the notes from that meeting are attached to this newsletter (seamless organization innit !!)

If there’s anything to be said for last Sunday I certainly don’t know what it is !! Another healthy turn out with hearty breakfasts & much talk of the heat & lack of wind. And so it was, all took to the water & bobbed around in the harbour for an hour or so before floating their merry way back to the club. Ho Hum was heard from a few as we understand.

See you on the water!

Notes:

This week, we welcome to the FF family a new boat owner in Suzanne, who has purchased 3305 from SuperRonnie, having been skillfully advised by the charming and sophisticated (it says here) Warwick Downes. All will remember Warwick as having given the fleet a good presentation on preparing to win which was clearly NOT heeded by our Worldzers !!

And of course, we could not let this one pass. For those that were there it was a magical moment, for those that were not, it’s probably meaningless, …. the quote of the day had to be, delivered in the kind of voice all actors aspire to when playing Olivier Twist “but they were judged ok for the Worlds” ….. When being advised that someone’s sails were judged illegal in a wind-up from crafty judging person UberRonnie.

Did you notice, or perhaps I should say, how could you not miss, the gleaming hull of Enigma parked on the Hardstanding. It looks a fantastic boat & thank god I’m not paying the running costs for that one !

If a week is long time in politics, then a week is a hell of a long time in the weather gods’ calendar.

From Zippo to Zappo and all the quotes that go with it ….. “man it was gusting 40kts”……” I knew we could handle it .. not like …..” …..”Wow, what a blast” ….. “Days like this come only very rarely” ….. “I was dammed glad to get back to the typhoon shelter” ….. “We had a great time until everything started to bend” ……. “We nearly couldn’t gybe as the sail was pinned against the stays”…. “man there was zero visibility so we just went faster”…..”Did you hear what happened to the Etchells”…..Quite how strong the wind really was we will have to leave the legend and the talk from the bar. The rumors go from gusting 30kts to gusting 45kts.

And so it was, a healthy & hardy 11 boats ready, but only 10 signed on, when Brett thought better of taking his daughter Katie out in such conditions. Pessimist Clove was back, but due to tardy planning & wimping out from the wind, spent the afternoon doing something or other to his boat. Excited new owner Suzanne/crew (3305 new owner) took to the water as did Kevin Palfreeman & crew. This week’s dream team, out to catch the grinners, were Rupert/Nigel after Nigel spent large parts of the summer making Rupert’s boat ready (but not cleaning up the mess on the hardstanding near Rupert’s boat…. But that’s another story). The grinners, Howard/Harriet were back, intending to prove that this winning chariot’s not for turning. A good outing for Ogawa/Watanabe and Higuchi/Katori, together with hardy perennials (?) Ishi/Leo, Sam/crew, Martin/Joe & Slopes/David.

Well, in a nutshell, its hats off to everyone that took part and an extra well done to all those that finished. Martin/Joe even took their mainsail down at one point due to the ferocious wind & total lack of visibility. Rumor has it Slopes was in for a swim & drink of harbour water for the very first time in 150 years, Ishi/Leo’s boat went right on it’s side and a general feeling of hanging on for all you are worth seems to have been the order of the day.

It’s congratulations then, to our Dream Team of Rupert/Nigel, teaming up for the first time this racing season and brining home the bullet. Rumor has it that they were finished well ahead of the other boats, but obviously not quickly enough to enable them to get back & clear up the huge pile of junk by Rupert’s boat (but that’s another story). The grinners of Howard/Harriet were still grinning & feeling pleased with themselves for having simply gotten round the course. 3rd up was Slopes/David, followed by the “in your dreams team” of Martin/Joe, then Sam/crew and Ishi/Leo bringing up our 6 finishers. Well done to all and no doubt the warmth & comfort of our beloved lawn was a welcoming return.

See you on the water!