Megwyn 2 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Awesome Bardie - yet again another excellent (group of) post(s) from our resident Wellington Bard. Such a wordsmith! Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Actually, that was MY packing if I remember correctly and it WAS wooled.. So it was YOUR fault the wind gear got fouled then? Link to post Share on other sites
RushMan 31 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Actually, that was MY packing if I remember correctly and it WAS wooled.. So it was YOUR fault the wind gear got fouled then? Perhaps it was but the owner never goes up the mast at sea. Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Actually, that was MY packing if I remember correctly and it WAS wooled.. So it was YOUR fault the wind gear got fouled then? Perhaps it was but the owner never goes up the mast at sea. Link to post Share on other sites
B00B00 310 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Only when there are spreader patches to mark eh Smithy..... Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Only when there are spreader patches to mark eh Smithy..... I guess it was safer than the alternative Josh?? Even though the mast has been strengthened, it is still a bendy stick.. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Expedition Coppelia In the days leading up to the White Island race, I had been somewhat remiss in my duties as navigator and had not been scouring the internet for weather information, I think deep down I just did not want to think about the possibility of a 4 plus day race! We both tried to keep cheery faces once we finally looked at the weather on Friday morning and realised the possibility of no wind in the Bay of Plenty was real. We started at the leeward end of the line and “jetted” off to the Rangi shore, where we exchanged many tacks with the Marshall Law. As we entered the Motuhine Channel, my jumpy tactician tendencies got the better of me and we broke from the group of Truxton, Squealer and Marshall Law to stay left, where the wind was supposed to shift to. It was not a great move, but it did mean we ended up in the path of a pod of Orca, one which turned on it’s side and looked at Rob’s new (last summer) rudder. It was pretty special. The wind did go left enough to allow us to pull out the zero and kick back and enjoy a most beautiful day. Once round Channel Island, I headed downstairs for a snooze and woke to find Truxton meters in front of us, the boys having sun downers and being very cheery. We both wriggled out of the hole that we had fallen into and started to catch up with Squealer that had made a break of about a mile, first under code zero, then larger fractional (I must ask the mathematicians at work if there is a name for that) kite. I woke with the eerie feeling of the wind being light, and came on deck to find us south of the Mercurys still proceeding down the line, with Mr Skinner still in site. It was time to gybe! Predict Wind was as close as I have ever seen it for predicting wind direction and speed, and it indicated continuing down the line would end up in a becalming. Rob said after the race that I had been quite forceful about wanting to gybe. I think I was just thinking about the guilt I feel as a numerical modeller when I turn my back on my profession and sail by the seat of my pants only to find the model is correct! We headed offshore, and gybed back towards White Island as the south westerly started to build, following the guidance of Expedition’s optimal routing. We rounded White Island at 11:30 ish then started the very long beat back. We could see Truxton most of the time, meaning it was our conditions, when it is their conditions they do a 300nm day and we only 150nm! All was going most pleasantly, until we struck 25 knots of westerly within a mile of the coast inside the Mercurys. We changed down to the no 2, which ended up with us both getting wet for the first time, and Rob being a little put out that a wave had put the no 1 in the sea, with him wrestling it back on board. The final challenge we both knew was the Colville Channel. We both had a very close look at the grib files, there was indeed an area of low wind at the top of Coromandel, where the south westerly on the east side of the peninsular and the southerly on the western side meet. This area near Channel Island has been the cause of much distress to Rob and I, most recently 40 knots of wind funnelling out of the gap and making it lumpy during the last Simrad, and in February sitting in a hole while Chris Skinner and the mighty Truxton passed us in the Round New Zealand race. We braced for a soul wrenching becalming, we optimised our course using Expedition to try and minimise our time of slapping sails, I made soup and toast for distraction. This time the tide came to our aid, and in the time it takes to heat a tin of soup and eat it, we were back in the breeze and on our way home. Both of us were pretty surprised by our result and toasted our many miles at sea together this year with bubbly on the way home. See you all for the 3 kings in Feb! Link to post Share on other sites
DaveNoy 1 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Actually, that was MY packing if I remember correctly and it WAS wooled.. It was wooled and packed....but between it being packed and it arriving on the bow one of the clews magically appeared at the bottom of the bag not velcroed in. Did you pack the kite in the bow Smithy...you know you aren't allowed past the mast with your record. Link to post Share on other sites
kenneth 0 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 A little race report from Farrago II: We had a pretty green crew, with myself never having done an overnight race or passage, but having years of inshore racing experience. Most of the rest having more cruising/offshore experience and less racing. Three of us sail together on a Stewart 34 (Promise) for the Monday night sprints, and that was our main nemesis and competition for the race. Five of us went for a practice sail and shakedown the weekend before the race. And and sixth crew came on board the week of. We had a decent start, right off the stern of Coppelia. We soured as we watched them point higher and leave us behind (they are quite a crew, and have a faster Farr 11.6), and so we made our own (not as savvy) tactical decisions which left us trading tacks with Duty Free, Promise, Isa, and Unitec. After getting out around Waiheke, we were able to gain some by staying up away from the coast. We rounded ahead of Duty Free, Promise and Unitec, and sailed into a wind hole, drifting to chatting distance from Isa. We were flapping sails for a few hours while the sun set and well into moonlight before we got consistently under breeze again. We watched Promise skirt the coast and sail on past us. Duty Free came upon us just as we had one brief moment of breeze, and they carried their momentum through and made some good gains going into the night. We went inside Great Merc and The Aldermans, chasing Isa most of the night, with Duty and Promise closer inshore. We put up a spinnaker around 03:00, only to take it down within 15 minutes due to wind shifting forward, and groggy eyes and weak torches getting the spinnaker halyard fouled at the top. Lesson learned, when just getting up, do rigorous double checks, and use bright enough lights (not a puny head lamp) to check the mast head. Switched between the jib top and #1 through the night and into the morning went to the light #1. Approaching White Island, we had our only proper spinnaker haul of the entire race, for a couple hours ending on the far side of White after a few gybes. Due to foredeck business, navigating inside the rocks, and fisherman, unfortunately didn't get a real chance to admire the island much. We rounded at 13:30 Saturday afternoon. We mis-judged our tacking coming out the other side and Duty and Promise made back some miles to be nearly even again. Through the evening and night we reeled in some gains and found ourselves not far off Isa's stern. We had more shifts in the breeze which had a more than a few sessions of: "Lets put up the gennaker." "Ok ready to hoist!" "Wait, lets go to the #1," "Ok, ready," "You know, I think we are good with our light #1 still..." At the very least it kept us warm and occupied in the middle of the night. I was greeted by a couple of frolicking dolphins at 06:00 when my shift on the helm began. Not a bad way to start the day. Early morning found us nearing the tip of Coromandel, where the breeze went from 7-10 knots to 20ish quite suddenly. Went to #1 and 1st reef. Within 10 minutes we noticed it dropping off, and within a minute we were in 3-5 knots breeze coming up to Colville Channel. This is when we noticed the boat we were tailing all morning was actually Isa, not Promise - much to our relief, as we could see Promise skirting the coast far behind. As we shook out the reef, the main hung and the batons were under significant pressure, flipping back and forth regardless of sail or rig trim. We noticed the rig was extra noodle-y and went back to one reef which settled things a bit. We supported the mast as much as we could while still reefed, and then tried to sail out of a convergence. We could see Isa about 300 meters west, in fickle breeze, just ahead of them 15 knots westerly. We were just sailing in 5 knots easterly. We were floating between these zones for nearly an hour trying to shoot the gap and get into the westerlies, which we did nearly an hour after Isa, again watching Promise climb up the coast behind us to find the westerly established in the gap on their arrival. With us now around Channel, we began discussing our situation with the mast. It was definitely not healthy. We decided to reduce the risk of further damage and the temptation to push the rig, and called in our withdrawal from the race. We started the motor, set the autopilot, and proceeded to try and finish all the rum and beer still aboard. I thoroughly enjoyed the race, even with the DNF. Learned a lot. Saw lots of marine life (pods of Orca, a Humpback, Pilot whale, some dolphins, penguins, a sunfish, the bird colonies on White Island...). Saw more of the beautiful NZ coast. I am really looking forward to The Three Kings. PS - In my gear bag this time I had a bunch less than I took with me on the Coastal. I even downsized along the way, as I donated my sunglasses to the depths around White Island during a gybe. Link to post Share on other sites
JK 28 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 That sunfish turned up to look at a few yachts!! Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Actually, that was MY packing if I remember correctly and it WAS wooled.. It was wooled and packed....but between it being packed and it arriving on the bow one of the clews magically appeared at the bottom of the bag not velcroed in. Did you pack the kite in the bow Smithy...you know you aren't allowed past the mast with your record. You're right Dave. What was I thinking?? Except a certain Tactician had promised to bag it but decided sleep was the better option.. Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Actually, that was MY packing if I remember correctly and it WAS wooled.. It was wooled and packed....but between it being packed and it arriving on the bow one of the clews magically appeared at the bottom of the bag not velcroed in. Did you pack the kite in the bow Smithy...you know you aren't allowed past the mast with your record. At least there were no wineglasses. I must be improving!! Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 Nice report Coppelia, and VERY well sailed. We seem to be in close proximity to you guys far too often!! Link to post Share on other sites
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