Thursday, March 16, 2017

Flag Officers Race and Overall Wednesday night Series Prize Giving

Last Wednesday night Race of the Season, this being a fun event.. the flag officers race.. According to the bridge we were over the start line, so we had to go back.. then worked towards new breeze on the water, reaching this breeze second, while most of the fleet stuck to rhumb line.. followed by a quick fetch to the first mark, with the Zero being hoisted... Gybing with the Zero at the mark, but it was clear to see that we would sail out of the wind again.. and the reality that if we continued racing we would be out on the water till late at night.. but the bridge realized this as well and decided to Abandon the race.. so back to the club. Aboard Were: Dale, Ian, Sieger and Cath. OVERALL PRIZE GIVING FOR THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT SERIES: XL Yolo came first in our division.. representing the team at prizegiving: Dale, Ian, Sieger and Cath.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Mykonos to CT delivery 4 MArch 2017

After the Mykonos offshore last weekend, the team made a decision to forego the Sunday delivery, as the winds weren’t too favourable. As a result, we had to make time this past weekend(4/5 March) to bring YOLO back to its homeport in Cape Town. We met at RCYC from where Dale drove the delivery crew up to Club Mykonos. After a quick pit stop to get food for the journey and a short mishap with the entry gate on the marina(was locked and had to find someone with a tag), we got ourselves onto the boat and set off for Cape Town around 18h15. With the engine humming away, we left the lagoon mouth and made a straight-line course for Cape Town. The aim was to get there as fast as possible with minimum effort. The weather seemed to be in agreement as she served up a light North Westerly with only a mild South Westerly swell. This gave us the perfect opportunity to abandon the sailing idea and stay under motor the whole way home. After a quick supper, a bit of attempted GoPro footage and some tunes to put us in a good mood, we sorted out the watch system and settled in for the night. A simple 2 hours on and 4 off sufficed for each person to get a single dogwatch in. The night was fairly uneventful from here on, good news for us. We moored up at Royal Cape around 04h30, meaning we managed a semi decent 10 hours and 15 minute delivery. This beat the 16 and 14 hours had by fellow racing teams that delivered on the Sunday when we resorted to driving home, a somewhat more comfortable decision from what we hear. After a quick flake of the main and a tidy up, we locked the boat and headed home to squeeze in a few more hours of sleep before first light. Aboard: Ian, Shane and Cath.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Mykonos Race 23/25 Feb 2017

Day 1: Getting a good start in light winds, the fleet quickly tacked off with the leeward boats managing to stay in slightly stronger breeze allowing them to pull away.. and Yolo hanging on.. Closing on Robben Island a deciison was made as the forecast indicated that a Westerly would arrive early afternoon so Yolo made the tack out to sea to incercept the new conditions... knowing full well, that if the forecast was wrong, it would hurt as the boats going down the shoreline would get better conditions. As it turned out, the shift did not happen as expected so Yolo eventually had to consolidate and make for the Dassen Island gate.. the second leg Yolo did much better with the winds eventually shifting on the final approach to South Head... and then kite up and a good sail to the finish.. just missing the win for that leg... IN all a pleasant day onm the water with flat conditions... but a poor overall result in our class. Day 2: The expected conditions were for it to be strong... so set the boat up.. and got a good stsrt and first leg... on the downwind the boats behind were able to get fresh puffs which quickly brought them into range... and the leg back upto Jutten was light... with Yolo opting to hold onto her heavy weather jib... consting valuable distance.. a great downwind thereafter.. followed by a good beat and downwind to the finish.. this race is probbably one of the more enjoyaable races on the circuit, sailing in scenic interesting waters... Getting a third in our class for this race. Overall scoring a 4th place in our class.. Aboard were: Dale,Ian,Sieger,Cath,Hans(Dubai) and Shane.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RACE 22 February 2017

With a firm SE on the water.. Yolo got a fair start and hung in with the bigger boats to the first mark(Paarden Eiland) followed by a downwind to Milnerton, with the longer boats slowly overhauling Yolo, a gybe at Milnerton and a fast beam reach to the offset mark.. overhauling a boat in our class on the process... good rounding and a good solid beat to Harken followed by a final reach to the finish... making good time on corrected in our class with a win... Crew very pleased.. one the races we got right. Aboard were: Dale, Ian, Sieger, Shane and Cath.