Coastal Classic Reports

[Mothership 6]

197 boats, 3 scheds plus finish - that's 788 data points. Keeping all that together throughout the race whilst balancing everything else is not an easy task.

 

It's not the event organisers who generated the report; they received it, asked for confirmation and got it. Unless someone's paying for a S&R craft to be in the air to verify these sorts of things, then there's no way to be 100% sure on anything that's sent through. As such would you like silence until the event is over and participants sit around a camp fire and swap stories over a rum?

 

If you know of a way to confirm and verify everything that is said during the race that isn't cost prohibitive, I'm sure the organisers of the event (and many others) would be glad to hear of it.

 

Otherwise, following and comparing the progress of others is half the fun and the game of the whole thing!

[col j 0]

is it just my bung eyes or in that photo of crac a jack is the rig bent where it comes out at the deck then bent back at the goose neck?

[Guest]

grab your ankles knotme I'm coming to get you

Too long at sea again or some cryptic reference to someone sending stupid and idiotic messages about busted rigs?

 

One, I can assure you I'm knot your type, I do knot have a woolly or feather outer layer, nor am I one to send dumbarse messages that could easily lead to someone getting dead. I do like a good wind up but doing something like is being suggested looks to have happened, is well beyond a bit of fun.

 

Post the phone number/email addy and do a name and shame. Someone here will know who it was or will quickly find out I'm sure.

 

 

Mind you I did warn a few to hide their kids and small furry animals as you may have been lurking around Waiheke in fishnet stocking under the guise of being a performer in the weekends festival. I was told 'it wouldn't be the 1st time'

[Battleship 100]

We heard a call over the VHF that someone was having rig issues, so I guess that's where SAR got their info, some people sure have a weird sense of humor.

 

We really enjoyed our first coastal classic (despite the big trip home) and would really like to thank the organisers for a great, well run event, even us slow old tanks really felt a part of it. We had a reasonable race and just scraped in before the wind died completely and the tide turned.

 

Also if anyone knows the extremely drunk idiot who runs the charter fishing boat called Legend that collided with us at the Russel fuel dock, you might suggest to him that he modify his behaviour.

[Guest]

Jordon Harkin posted on Fri 12:37 PM that he read on HSBC website that Crac-A-Jac lost it's rig.

 

It is bewildering to read that the website claims to have been informed about the losing of the rig on Fri at 14:39

 

Crac-A-Jac clocked in at Flat Rock at 14:04, and did the penny drop? no.

 

Crac-A-Jac again clocked in at Sail Rock and Brett, still no penny dropping.

 

Crac-A-Jac finished at 10:38 Sat morning but the website states that we finished in the afternoon

 

It wasn't till Sat 14:30 that the website updated with the retraction.

 

The original report posted on Fri at 12:30 PM was removed on Sun morning

 

I would say cock up all over.

 

All credit to Jon Vincent who personally apologized for the cock up and even accommodated this in his speech at the prize giving, goodman, good speech, good prize giving, good race, good weather, good party, good cock up. All good.

 

Just hang out to dry the culprit with the overactive imagination who reported this, perhaps you can chip in for the treatment required, name and shame the person and report this person to the authorities.

 

Getting one thing wrong with all that is going on doesn't wash either. losing a rig is a big event, just ask anybody who has had the misfortune of the mess to clean up. Leaving the item on the website for more than 24 hours without so much as a query when we called in at Flat Rock, Sail Rock and the Brett is sloppy book keeping. Calling it a prank is a cope out. Can you imagine the stress Edwin's mother was suffering with all this miss information going around, this in itself is unforgivable.

 

When Edwin's parents became aware of the rig issue they contacted me via txt to check the story out, sounds such a simple thing to do, doesn't it? When the coastal classic media people were told that we were fine and our rig was intact. We were just off Cape Rodney. The media people did nothing. They did not contact us via any method. When we called in at Sail Rock a few hours later, coast guard did not query us either!

 

After crossing the finish line, and confirming with the finish boat we still had our rig intact, I enjoyed a settling beverage on sea harmony and Edwin chatted with the crew, a crew he knows very well, Edwin got a cab ashore while I folded the sails, had a bite to eat and then I moved Crac-A-Jac onto a mooring just off the beach then rowed ashore. I went online and still the news item of the rig issue was published. More sloppy book keeping.

 

I then found the organisers of the event, told them in no uncertain terms that I was very angry, that the news was still published, they told me they had no idea what I was talking about. Still no penny dropping.

 

Knot Me, the organisers know who the source of the information is, they have said they have re-checked, yet refuse to tell us who called it in. For there is the route of your evil and I know with your help this evil little toe rag will be flushed and when he or she is identified will you help me 'chat' with said same toe rag?

 

I attended a corporate function tonight at Delamore Lodge, at the function there was a representative of a corporate charter yacht company which operates out of the Viaduct, Crac-A-Jac has a small berth in the viaduct. We got chatting, as you do, mentioned that I had just sailed the coastal with Edwin on Crac-A-Jac. The next thing he said was.... "Sorry to hear the young ad had lost his rig." Fortunately I was able to tell him that Crac-A-Jac's rig was intact and we had a great sail. He then went on to say "What sick mind would report such a thing." He is a sailor himself and knows Edwin. This little 4 line news item has been seen by people all over the world of yachting. Thanks for the publicity, but it's knot what we had in mind and I have wasted enough time discussing the actions of this toe rag. Toe Rag, you can start putting this right by donating a large amount of money to edwinsail.com

[Absolution 7]

Finline coastal report - We started from the Orakei end of the line to give ourselves clear air. Easy kite hoist, easy gybe in the channel and good speed under masthead kite all the way through tiri passage. A couple of gybes at flat rock and then headed for the outside of the hen and chicks. Already seeing 18-20kts of wind off Cape Rodney and breeze going forward so we went to the fractional genni and as the breeze filled in we cranked along at 12-13kts boat speed with 16-17kts in the puffs and having a great time.

 

The wind went right 30% behind the hen and chicks and we couldn't hold the genni any higher so back to jib top and then watched Pork Chop come from about 15mins behind, still holding their fractional genni. Put our fractional genni back up a few more times before the brett but we had lost too much time under JT.

 

On the wind all the way to the finish. 6-7 kts of breeze for the first half but the 2-3kts or less for the second half and boats that were just ahead of us sailed away. 10mins down at brett turned into an hour by the finish and any chance of a good handicap result faded but still all smiles because it was a great day on the water. Video from the fun bits below....

 

 

 

[SloopJohnB 322]

YY typical press these days...... only report on possible sensation news like bikes & trikes and masts falling over.

[Guest]

YY typical press these days...... only report on possible sensation news like bikes & trikes and masts falling over.

 

SJB and YY I think you are being unfairly harsh on the team who handled this.

 

My comments are not because of the great exposure TVS had, and while the waloper who called this in should be hung up by his back wheels, I dont think you can hold the Media team responsible for this. I am sure a lesson can be learnt about looking for verification from the vessel involved, but lets remember that the volume of transactions with 196 boats calling in 3 times in 8-10 hours is around one a minute, so not a lot of spare time.

 

IMO the NZMYC and teams did a grand job of promoting and exposing the race and boats, C-a-Jack included, they say all publicity is good publicity.

[Guest]

the yachts name is Crac-A-Jac. please, whatever you say about the yacht, get the spelling right. The media team had almost 24 hours to put things right yet chose not to until someone got angry.

[Guest]

the yachts name is Crac-A-Jac. please, whatever you say about the yacht, get the spelling right. The media team had almost 24 hours to put things right yet chose not to until someone got angry.

 

 

YY re C-a-Jack, sorry if you dont like my abrev's but now u bein a d.i.c.k.

[Guest Rocket]

Dumb arse should be named - not funny!

 

Edwin is a good kid and he was upset - I personally don't get it.

 

Lets all applaud a great effort for a 14 yr old - 2 handed up the coast!

[Zoe 8]

Good call Rocket. An excellent achievement for a young boy. We all know that the sailing is only part of it - getting the boat ready and building up your skills is also very important, and it's a long term commitment to race the Coastal in your own boat.

 

Accordingly, the Coastal Classic has always been very supportive of Edwin's sailing and as a young up and coming sailor, and our efforts directly have secured significant coverage for Edwin including a 2008 TV3 interview when he raced on Starlight Express, a 2009 feature in the Sunday Star Times as the youngest skipper, and this year's article in the Herald a couple of weeks ago.

 

While the 'hoax' de rigging is regretable, I feel that the clarification on the website, and at prizegiving, is as much as we can reasonably do to set Edwin right. I had talked to Edwin's parents on the Friday, and they seemed at that time to be fairly relaxed about it, and very proud of their boy, understandably.

 

The 'lost rig' has certainly never been sensationalized on the CC's part, in fact it was a couple of lines that said we'd had a report that Crac a Jac had lost its rig. Nothing more. We do the race commentary 'on the fly' - and in 8 years of doing it, this is the first time something like this has arisen. We have made occassional mistakes sure, if you write enough stuff eventually you are going to get something wrong, but others have been happy to accept our clarification, and get on with things. We will look at ways of checking further in the future but the last thing we want to see is less coverage of the fleet. I received more than 200 progress reports from the fleet (plus radio skeds, which are monitored by Coastguard) in a short space of time, making for a very intense day on Friday because I am the only person doing all of the website coverage and looking after media requirements. I may not be perfect but I give it 110%, and I know that overall I do a good job, as do the organizers of the Coastal. We have worked together for eight years and each year we try to get better and add something else to the race. We all do our best and when criticism comes it is usually very public, as in this case.

 

I think that the topic should be closed now - I am sure that the last thing Edwin wants to see is it debated on here for days on end. Well done Edwin and we all wish you the very best in future races.

[Guest]

tell us who sent you the information about the indecent before this toe rag repeats its actions

[Guest Peter Marsh]

Race report from Slipstream III - After buying Slipstream III in May, not a lot of winter sailing and a couple of pretty average Wednesday Night races, Lisa Chamberlain and I embarked on the 2010 Coastal classic two handed. I know the Coastal track pretty well and have done the race 2 handed a couple of times before but am still learning how 88’s work. Lisa on the other hand is a 20 year old West Australian who is in Auckland to attend the RNZYS Youth Scheme program. An unusual combination, especially as we had little opportunity to sail together before the race, let alone get to know each other well.

 

We got quite excited when we saw the forecasted light weather patterns earlier in the week, thinking that those conditions would suit us well – so long as we had enough puff to finish. Once we got the later forecasts of fresher south westerlies, we knew that we would have to concede PHRF honours to the downhill fliers. Continuously on my mind though, were doubts about how the two of us would handle the boat competitively in those conditions. It didn’t make for the best pre-race sleep!

 

There were no other 88’s doing the race two handed to keep pace with, so we resigned ourselves to the philosophy that we would just go as hard as we could and be satisfied with whatever result we achieved.

 

Friday morning came around and as usual, I was well prepared, anxious, but well prepared! We decided to get a clean start and to carry a genoa only to North Head where we would gybe and hoist a kite. This worked well for us, so the next decision was which of our two kites do we use, the flatter cut reaching spinnaker or the larger of the two, bearing mind that by the time we hoisted it, we were quite a way back in the fleet. We chose the smaller kite which worked well until the wind backed north of Tiri and we peeled to the bigger one. Then we had to put in a couple of gybes and our confidence was building all the time. We had made up a lot of ground by this time and were near the front of the 88 fleet, so we hoped for those conditions to continue.

 

A two sail reach across some of Bream Bay, then a quick kite ride across the face of the Chicks until the wind lightened off a bit in the Tutukaka region and we were feeling pretty good about things. We dropped the spinnaker a bit early at Cape Brett as I anticipated the wind going further forward than it actually did and then fell into a park up inside Piercy – frustrating as yachts sailed inside us when we thought we had done everything right.

 

Then we looked to weather to see my son, Chris on his tricked up SR 26, Mercenary. We were sure that Mercenary who would have loved those conditions would have been a long way ahead, so felt very good about things – all we had to do was concentrate in the light winds going up the harbour.

 

Slipstream smoked up that track (as it does in the light) and we finished first Young 88 home and 15 minutes ahead of Mercenary – but do you think I will ever see that bottle of rum??

 

A thoroughly satisfying result and I am absolutely delighted. I needn’t have been apprehensive or anxious on Friday morning because our spinnaker handling and crew work was without fault and that’s a huge credit to Lisa. She worked her butt off and concentrated all night which is primarily why we didn’t have any foul ups or broken gear. A great effort for someone who hasn’t done a two handed race of that nature before.

Peter Marsh

[Changed 10]

The Travell'n Man's Coastal Classic

 

We decided that this would be a good lead in to the White Island race and with the forecast looking promising got the boat prepared. I'd been away for a month so things were a bit last minute but

come Friday we were ready. It was a healthy two handed fleet so we knew we would have our work cut out.

In the mass start keeping clear and undamaged is always my concern. I got cleaned up on the start once before in a single handed race and it really spoils your day. We made a clean but conservative start under #1 switching to the fractional gennie once we were around North Head. A little slow but the masthead is a little hard to handle if the wind flicks forward. Once past Rangi light we changed again to the masthead kite and started to truck. Good ride to Takatu. Checked in at Flat Rock at 1.39.

Switched to outboard sheeted #1 for the broad reach across Bream Bay staying high inorder to get an angle for a return to an A sail. Checked in at 5.58 once passed Bream Head. Then hoisted the masthead gennie for the ride of the race. Carried this until we were north of the Poor Knights and made good time. Top log

reading was only 11.5 knots but we didn't see less than 9 for about three hours. Fantastic fun. As we got further north we started

to have to bear a way a little too far so went back to #1 and headed in a little closer to the coast. Lots of boats in close

seemed to be going real slow so we didn't get in too close. As the wind started to fade we switched to our code 0 a neat little number on a roller. Just the right angle. Glad I bought it. Around mid night it got really light with some big wind shifts. Switched from the #1 to the code 0 many times to avoid being run over by some of the bigger boats. At this stage we saw Mixed Emotions steaming up behind us with their code 0 on only to hit the same hole we were in.

The wind backed for a short while so up with the kite and back up to 3 knots!!! Then back to the 0 and out into the bay at 2.42. We held on to the 0 until we were well through the Hole, switched back to the #1 and hardened up for the slow beat to the finish. Stayed over on the northern side until well passed Whale Rock when we tacked back closer to the lay line.

Had a great tussle with Mixed Emotions all the way but they had stayed with a code 0 and were having to pinch

to stay high. We held on and beat them over the line by a few minutes. They did the same to us last year when we had to dip them at Takatu so good to pull one back. Finished at 6.13 and went straight to the raft up with the Mercenary. They seemed to have the party thing well in hand by that stage. Finished fourth in div 5 on handicap but can't find the full results for the two handed division.

[Guest]

After posting here on Crew I got a call up to sail on the Ross 930 "No Worries".

 

This is the boat that many of you wrote off in favour of the other two 930's due to an injured skipper... However with a determined crew and plenty of new toys to play with, we weren't going to let that slow us down.

I must say that when I arrived at the boat I was very impressed with how well set up she is. I was greeted warmly and guys were very quick to give advice, which allowed me to learn a few tricks along the way.

 

We started the race under frac genny and were holding our own with the big boats up the front. Starting to windward didn't work out as we had to wait too long before gybing, so Drop Dead Fred was able to sneak around the inside at North Head.

By Tiri channel we were onto our 3rd Genniker, setting a trend for a race where we used every sail at least once, and one thrice. Fred still had a good lead, but we had Recreation in check and the Stewart 34's were keeping similar pace. Things stayed even until after Flat Rock, when Fred gambled on sticking close to the land, lost wind for a while but then came back out smelling of roses. After this we started reeling them back in as they tried to carry a spinnaker. We changed down to a two sail reach to stay inside the hen+chicks, at which point we were neck and neck.

At Sail Rock we had the lead with both Fred and Rec snapping at our heels and the Stewarts were no where to be seen. (we beleive they went outside the hen...) We were first to hoist the Genny and with that we ran away.

Before sun down we switched from frac to masthead genny. Recreation was a yellow spec and Fred wasn't far ahead of them. Through the evening we were busy pacing ourselves with Division 2 boats and had great fun watching one boat in particular scream past about 5 times whilst getting further behind.

We carried the Gennaker right into Cape Brett, changing to the jib as we rounded. Clocked in at 22:43. Apparently Recreation were 3 minutes behind, but we didn't see them there and didn't hear their radio call. We did however hear Fred clock in over half an hour after us and wondered if Recreation was behind them.

We got about half way up the bay before the wind puttered out. At one point the instruments showed us with no speed pointing in the wrong direction. When we finally got a puff, we tried 3 times to tack the boat, got over to some pressure and carried it in to the finish, leading a Ross 40 across the line at 02:24.

 

A congratulatory call from the other side of the world resulted in a rum breakfast, which came to an end when some rude fella congratulated us for coming second and not first! This made me check the website on my phone...

While we had been drifting, Drop Dead Fred had eaten into our lead and taken the handicap win by 2.5 minutes. We still did very well to take Line Honours and Second Handicap for Division 4. It was a great sail and I had a great weekend.

 

I would like to thank Ian for a great race on a great boat, and Jono for inviting me along and his support as a sponsor of the race.

[Guest]

hey tman,....nice race.....

i too enquired about the fulll 2 handed results...still waiting...

here is a quick results i worked out....

 

Geralda

Coppelia

Gale force

mr roosevelt

Erazer

tman

oracle

slipstream

mxtmotions

cracajac

revolution

nevenka

nukuna

[Guest]

ust noticed they are now on the coastal site....

http://tiny.cc/mgeh0

[Changed 10]

Thanks for that. Will have to push harder eh. Good fleet. The little Elliott is very welled sailed. Two in a row for them, div 5 and the two handed and Rob has Copellia going well too.

[ScottiE 174]

ust noticed they are now on the coastal site....

 

sh*t - less than 45 mins on line between 1st and last 8.5 - and if you took the 25 year old Whio out of the equation (no disrespect to Tim's boat - she's a beautie!) then its about 10mins. Now that's competitive!