Simrad 100

SIMRAD 100 from Communique

After much speculation about the course all was revealed on the day, #2. A good choice with the prospect of freshening ENE. Large bias on the launch end of the line for the Short haul start, so the launch is the place to be. The race begins at the start so a good start will give us some breathing space before the heavy metal rolls over us.

Two minutes to go we are on port tack heading deep past the launch against the tide, tack with just under a minute to go and begin racing. Time on distance looks good, our own patch to play in here. Thirty seconds to go and the heavies are thundering down the line power reaching towards us. “Go up” no response, Danaide calls “no room”. This is not a good look; we bear away from our track to the line with 20 sec to go. Danaide rolls over us we standup in the wind shadow. Our rigs cross, it looks ugly we heal towards Danaide and are pulled around, with a bang our masthead gear falls into the cockpit and we are released to sail over the starting line. Unfortunately we see Danaide to windward; wounded with a torn main we are grateful for the narrow escape from disaster.

The first leg is a time to be patient, keep low, stay in our own lane of wind remember the coaches words to my Opti sailors. Thirsty work sails around us and heads high. Tiri nowcasts 40deg versus the 70deg we had at Bean Rock. The NE is ahead in open water at Rangi light we are maybe 200 metres below but there is traffic and some holes we are happy with our compromise. We continue on starboard until we get lonely. A couple of tacks along the Rangi shore are uninspiring. A long tack out to sea and in at Rakino is a good call. Port tack past the D’Urville Rocks, its light now the boats further ahead and out to sea look better. Around us the fleet is tacking off, L'Avanti crosses us, not a good look for a 1020. How does the VMG look on starboard? Not good, so patience is the call and we continue.

Approaching Waiheke the breeze fills and we feel satisfied with our choice. At Thumb Point Grunty Chicken and Thirsty Work cross but no one who tacked out appears to have been rewarded. Around Tarahiko scrapping by on starboard tack. Its along leg to Flat rock, we cook and eat while speculating on the track followed by the boats to weather, have we made mistake with our Flat Rock waypoint? Flat Rock appears as expected. Three boats have pasted us on this leg, Ilex, a R930 and a sportboat, a fair effort for us. Call AVCG and we are away very square after our gybe set. Insight 2 behind us. Glowing red and green in the night.

Around the island we get the kite off in the lee a much harder and slower task in the confusion of the night and the dinghy on deck is no help. Heading for the North end of Whangaparoa it is a brisk 2 sail reach, Insight 2 blows by. It’s a procession now we debate the kite at Tiri Navy buoy but talk ourselves out of it. At Rangi light we find our selves with more company than expected. I think we have stumbled into a parking lot.
Keep the sails eased and we ghost, Pirate passes under a cloud of Kevlar. It is painful, an Y8.4 passes at Northhead but we feel no shame. At last it is over Trinidad slides into view, thanks guys. Engine on, have we done enough? We have the perfect score going into this race. The Stewarts have done well but it is Azure who was second and unseen all day.

In the marina Azure is quiet and dark; if she wins we must be 5th or better to claim the series. In the morning Justin calls, have you seen the results? Good one mate…



Cameron’s Race Report

I’m still adjusting to staying behind watching all the boats sail off into the distance. I’m also struggling with the concept of writing a race report for a race I never did !
But I have gained a huge insight into what goes on behind the scenes and just can’t believe how much effort a lot of volunteers put in. I have a new appreciation for race committees and will try to ensure that I do more as a competitor to ease their workload in the future. Hopefully I have managed to add a bit more of a competitors viewpoint into the race committee so they have a better idea of what the competitors want. With 120 odd boats entering every race it is a nightmare to try and make sure you identify each and every starter so that we can make sure everyone finishes and is accounted for at the end of the race. Thanks to those who call in before the start or let SSANZ know if they aren’t going to make it to the start. When you see the RIB flying around after the start it’s not just me having fun using vast quantities of fossil fuels but an attempt to check off each and every starter, then it’s back to the committee boat to compare with their radio check in list and see if anyone is missing. Finally we phone people unaccounted for normally to find they are at home enjoying a sleep in ! To be fair some competitors had emailed to various committee members but without a common contact point it is easy to lose track. Next year maybe a single special email address set up for the purpose could be a good idea….Regardless of that we double check until happy then cruise back to the marina for a few hours.
The Race officer then updates Coastguard with the starters so they know who to expect for Radio Skeds, this is just the start of regular correspondence between SSANZ and Coastguard about where everyone is and any problems. This race wasn’t without it’s incidents, firstly startline antic’s resulted in Danaide withdrawing with a torn mainsail. Secondly McMoggy withdrew when the crew went through the tramp to end in the water, luckily recovered and ok other than getting wet and cold. Finally Ubique bumped the rocks leading to a tow to Gulf Harbour from a fellow competitor. It’s always great to see someone do the right thing and put their race on hold to help out someone in trouble.
The Race Committee always dreads the last race because we know it’s the longest, virtually all the boats finish at night and we know it will probably be a all nighter ! This time we were better prepared, plenty of food and drink to keep everyone awake, a bigger team allowing people to get a break when required as well as a RIB to get to any boats that we were struggling to identify. I would particularly like to thank the RNZYS for the RIB upgrade, being able to get out of the weather was fantastic…as well as having more than enough power to catch anything on the harbour (Guys can never have too much grunt !!). All in all it went well, but it’s a great sight to see the last boat come in when it’s after 4am in the morning. I can assure you the last boats tactics on the final approach to the line are the most intensely discussed and watched of the race….especially when they sail past the layline and give away more time.
Hopefully now that I’ve done my bit this year I’ll be allowed to escape and race again ! But it has been a great experience and you see a lot at the starts that you never notice when you are racing. I never appreciated the size of the fleet until I stepped back. Two handed racing has found it’s niche in Auckland, the series continues to be as popular as ever. Alot of thanks has to go to the long time sponsors ATL who through their Navico and now B&G and Simrad agencies have continued to support SSANZ while the formula was created and now hopefully benefit from the growth and popularity we see today.

Cameron