tornado Posted April 19, 2003 Report Share Posted April 19, 2003 DAY 2 Sail Sydney 2003 (Georges River Sailing Club - Botany Bay) We had 15 to 20 knots today and great racing. Very intense competition against a 29 year tornado vetran David Hart on a Marstrom Tornado with brand new sails and Andrew Macpherson who was Bundy / Forbes training partner and a regular top 10 to 15 finisher at world titles. On Day 1 we had an average of 26 knots with gust recored at 35 knots. This was not racing, just a fight to stay alive..... Race one was won by Tornado Vetran David Hart closely followed by Tornado ALIVE who were the only mad dogs to through up a spinnaker. We experienced some of the wildest downwind legs whilst dodging capsized and out of control 29ers, 49ers, 420s and 470s. Andrew Mcpherson retired after a cartwheel at the top mark when he and his crew (18 foot skiff sailor, Andrew Heaney) went around the front on the wire. His crew was in awe of the speed of the Olympic Tornado and was left speechless with how much quiker they were than the 18s........Could we see him up front on a Tornado in the future??????? Grant Bow also never made it to the start line due to a broken forstay. Race 2 and the wind realy kicked in with 35 knots recorded on the course. Team Tordado ALIVE once again few their spinnaker, with every jibe picking up the hull when exiting and thretening to throw us over. Eventually the wind finally got the better of us and on a spinnaker jibe threw us over with frightening speed traping myself under the hull for about a minute and fighting for air. Unfortunatly this capsize resulted in gear failier and forced us back to shore for repairs. David Hart once seeing ALIVE in the tide, slipped into cruze mode and limped home to be the only finnisher with gear damage off his own. Race 3 was cancelled for the Tornado with no boats left to front for the start. Day 3 saw a more realistic 15 to 20 knots and all Ts made it to the start. With some feirce racing between the top 3 boats we finished up with 2 first placings and a second and am currently leading the series with 1 drop. If we have enough races to drop 2 races the points will read, us on 4 points with David Hart and Andrew Mcpherson tied for 2nd on 5 points........... dosn't get any closer than this. Will have to put in a big performance over the next 4 races. Stephen Medwell Team Tornado 'ALIVE' AUS-260 www.tornadoalive.com supported by Club Marine (Boat Insurance) Seawind Catamarans Finlease (Marine Finance) Sign*A*Rama - Petersham [This message has been edited by tornado (edited 19 April 2003).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HooD Posted April 20, 2003 Report Share Posted April 20, 2003 Sounds like your haveing a ball! Putting up a kite in 35knots isnt crazy, its just plain insane It would have been an awesome sight!! Did you get any photos of the action on the water?? sounds like there would have bbe some rippers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HooD Posted April 20, 2003 Report Share Posted April 20, 2003 . [This message has been edited by HooD (edited 20 April 2003).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado Posted April 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2003 Hi Hood We have no pics unfortunatly. Will see what we can get from the press. We have some mean photos from Sail Melbourne where we flew kites in upto 30 knots and had waves upto 2.5 meters. Also took out a waterproof camera and should have some killer pics from that too when it is developed. Would you like me to e-mail any to you. Yes, flying a kite in 35 knots is insane and not something I would like to do again. For the record these windspeeds were recorded both at the airport and on the course. The racing should realy have been canceled. Stephen Medwell Team Tornado 'ALIVE' AUS-260 www.tornadoalive.com supported by Club Marine (Boat Insurance) Seawind Catamarans Finlease (Marine Finance) Sign*A*Rama - Petersham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado Posted April 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2003 Day 3 Sail Sydney 2003 Pleasant but very challenging conditions today with winds of 8 knots to 19 knots. There were many wind shifts and stiff lines of breeze floating down the race course. Racing was very close with many positional changes, especially downwind as tail enders followed the gusts down the course under spinnaker. Race 6 With a hot start, team ALIVE rolled David Hart to lead up the first upwind. Unfortunately we rounded the wrong top mark and dropped to 3rd where we finished behind Andrew Mcpherson 1st and David Hart in 2nd. Later, upon returning to shore, we lodged a protest against the race committee for adding an extra top mark without notification and not in the race instructions or announced at any briefing. The protest was thrown out by the protest committee because it was lodged outside the 1 hour time limit after race finish. We were very disappointed with this as it took more than an hour to sail back from the course and get the boat ashore. Race 7 Very close racing with only seconds between the top 3 boats around the course. The wind shifted from South to South West and intensified, funneling down the right hand side of the course making a very starboard bias course. On the second upwind ALIVE sailed under David Hart and powered up to take the lead with Andrew Macpherson seconds behind. The downwinds were very aggressive with the trailing boats attacking those in front and trying to throw wind shadows onto them. At the bottom mark, all 3 top boats left their spinnaker drops to the last second, jibe dropping around the bottom mark and rounding up within inches of each other. Alive rounded the top mark for the last time with what was thought to be a comfortable lead when 2nd and 3rd hooked up in a strong line of breeze and carted down the course. With less than 100 meters to the finish, Andrew Macpherson rolled ALIVE and jibed in front. We jibed on top to throw a cover on them and powered up with 2 on the trapeze. With the finish about 20 meters ahead , we began to roll over Andrew but nose dived and went for a swing around the front on the wire. After a miraculous recovery we powered up again and crossed the finish about a boat length in front of a very fast finishing David Hart with Andrew taking his second victory for the day. At days end the top 3 results read ALIVE leading on 11 points, Andrew Macpherson 12 points, David Hart 13. If we race 2 races tomorrow, our 9th race will allow us a second drop and the points will stand at Andrew Macpherson 7 points, ALIVE 8 points, David Hart 10 points. The final results will come down to the wire on the last day. Stephen Medwell Team Tornado 'ALIVE' AUS-260 www.tornadoalive.com supported by Club Marine (Boat Insurance) Seawind Catamarans Finlease (Marine Finance) Sign*A*Rama - Petersham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HooD Posted April 30, 2003 Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 So how did it finish up?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tornado Posted April 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2003 After 3 days of glorious breeze with fast, furious and close racing, the last day greated us with a very light and fluky South Easter. The series was still anybody's leading into the last day. Racing was very frustrating with those going to the wrong side off the course punished. Through out the majority of the racing, crews sat inboard and both hulls stayed in the water. The last day was a disaster for team ALIVE having only to place better than Andrew Macpherson in 2 off the last 3 races and David Hart in 1 off the last 3. ALIVE was well off pace in the light breeze, with ceterboard strips ripped off on day one not helping the speed. 3 first placings to a fast finishing Andrew Macpherson saw him take out the event followed by David Hart knocking Team ALIVE off in the last race for second. Tornado ALIVE will race one more club race this weekend at Kurnell, then be retired until the Tuggerah Lakes Brass Monkey Regatta (see bellow) so as to undergo repairs to the rig and hulls after a very tough Sail Sydney. After Tuggerah, ALIVE plans to travell to various clubs racing winter series. Tuggerah Lakes Memorial Sailing Club Tuggerah Pde Long Jetty NSW 42nd Annual Brass Monkey Regatta 7th, 8th, 9th, June (long Weekend) 3 Days of short course racing Stephen Medwell Team Tornado 'ALIVE' AUS-260 www.tornadoalive.com supported by Club Marine (Boat Insurance) Seawind Catamarans Finlease (Marine Finance) Sign*A*Rama - Petersham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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