madboutcats Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 This is a fresh water race accross 400 square km Lake Alexandrina down the Goolwa channel to Goolwa. Safe race for families to do, due to so many boats on the water Late notice but if you want to be in this race you must enter by today on their Top Yacht system for Sundays race here's the link https://www.topyachtsoftware.com/db/otb/entry_menu.php?EventID=44 So far there are more than 200 trailerable boats registered for the race with more than 30 cats including 3 x Nacra 5.8, 3 x Taipan 5.7, 3 x A Class, 3 x Stingray, 4 x Yvonne, 5 x Mozzys, 4 x Hobie 16's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niso Posted January 22, 2012 Report Share Posted January 22, 2012 Jeff Did " The Bear" make it to Goolwa on the week end ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madboutcats Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Milang to Goolwa 2012 race as seen by Jeff and Maeve Southall on their Nacra 5.8 in the Catamaran section. The race started on a hot day with a slight breeze, we chose to wear wetsuits so we wouldn’t get sunburn but we did get very hot. We also chose to not use our spinnaker as there were two other Nacra 5.8’s racing as well as the other cats with none using spins except the Yvonnes. The breeze was deceptive, by looking at the 170 monohulls that started there looked to be enough wind to get to the line but we were 5 minutes late for our start with others even later in fact there were hardly any cats on the line at the start. It was an impressive sight to see 200 sail boats in front sailing upwind across Lake Alexandrina at around 3 to 5 knots, we went at wide angles to keep up boat speed but lost ground on the other similar cats, just overtook plenty of monohulls of all sizes and smaller cats so we pinched and made up more ground. It took 2 hours to cross the lake and round Point Sturt into the Goolwa Channel by then the lead boats were out of site. Once around the point it was a gentle drift of 1 to 3 knots in baking hot sun for about 1.5 hours. Some trailer sailer crew decided to go for a swim, they jumped off the front of the boat which stopped it dead if they had jumped off the back it would have gone faster, don’t know if that’s a legal move though. As we limped along a steam boat came past quite close with tourists taking photos etc, it blew a pile of steam at us so I angled to use what I thought was pressure but was only steam so didn’t gain anything but laughs and bow waves that stopped us, we were gradually overtaking a Stingray that was about 300 metres in front after 15km we overtook him and were limping after a Taipan 5.7, then the Yvonne’s came down the river with their spinnakers and overtook us, when we got to the remains of the Clayton regulator there was a clear group of boats at the front that finished early, our second group and about 170 boats behind us on the river which was an incredible sight, once past the regulator the wind lifted a bit but still limping downwind we continued to overtake trailer sailers, all boats had races within the race, some of the big monos started to make a bit of ground on us as the wind increased slightly and their spins became more efficient, we basically held position for the next couple of km when I saw the Taipan 5.7 crew get on the wire and take off so we kept our down wind settings but I hooked on my trap dog bone and waited for the wind shift. There was no gradual wind shift it just went immediate 160 degrees about 15 knots, I just jumped out on the wire, while Maeve got into her trap harness and pulled on hard which saw us take off upwind flat out, I was watching the trailer sailers about 400m back and they obviously were too busy watching TV or had their heads in the fridge because they soon had spins wrapped around their masts and we didn’t see them again. This late wind closed the gap between the fastest boats that limped most of the race and the last boats that caught up a lot of time on the leaders, we were alternating between upwind and reaching with one or two on the wire, with the GPS showing 16 knots as we closely passed the steam boat to windward spray going everywhere, jumping through and over their bow wave which gave the tourists some entertainment. We reached down to the bridge just getting in front of the fastest Yvonne, once on the other side of the bridge the wind dropped as we made our way through the finish line. We didn’t see the winners finish but the A class that was leading broke its dolphin striker, which broke but didn’t snap its carbon beam allowing it to limp to the line claiming 2nd after a Stingray that he’d tussled with all day slipped by him to claim 1st, then another Stingray 3rd followed by two Taipan 5.7’s, then us. The 18ft skiff that started earlier finished in that mix somewhere after capsizing in the wind shift. We had a 3hr drive home so didn’t stay for the results so I don’t know if any other monos from the earlier start were in that mix. There were some odd things about the race, the club originally were going to charge an extra $65 if you didn’t register two weeks before the start and you couldn’t register at all on the Saturday before or Sunday of the race, I know that put some boats off and am sure it won’t happen next year, the race was run superbly with heaps of rescue boats, hope it’s on again next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madboutcats Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 G'day Nisso I caught up with Kyle before the race and had a chat but didn't see him on the water, I know he started but didn't see him finish as we were packing the boat up well inland from the finish line. I know he woudn't have had much fun while we were drifting but the seabreeze should have brought him home with a smile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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