I had a dream… Wednesday Wonders Race 7 Summer 2017

15/11/2017

Just sometimes dreams come true. If you start at the front of the fleet you always dream that the wind will drop after you have been sailing about 30~40 mins, leaving the rest of the fleet well behind. Race 7 for Pippa was the dream that came true. Race 7 started at 13:30 and the wind was NNW blowing 19knts, gusting 25knts. Pippa’s average for the 3.1 nm leg between 7 to 5 was 6knts, with some bursts touching 8 knts. 30 mins later the wind dropped to 16 knts gusting to 21. At 14:30 it was 12knts gusting to 14 knts. There was a significant shift about 15:00 when the early yachts had past number 3, and were not very affected if they tacked out. The other hardship for the yachts that were behind was the confused state of the sea after the change with sloppy choppy seas due to the left over swell conflicting with the change in wind direction. The gusts of wind just before the race caused some yachts to opt out of the race, or choose smaller sails. Pippa went for her new North ODi No 2 sail and the wind was just right for it to set and fill beautifully. It was not the Pippa Skipper who sent the chopper to hamper the progress of other yachts even though it did look like a deliberate generation of negative wind gusts, which affected some yachts and missed others. The wind and flat sea resulted in a very fast race for the early starters. There was not a lot of difference in the lapsed time of the yachts’ usual performance. The slower yachts still took 30 mins longer to complete the course. Only 1 boat was over the 2-hour mark by 1 min. It was just a fast race that did not allow enough time for the faster yachts to catch up. PIPPA crossed the line just 2 mins after ESPRIT – but… unfortunately ESPRIT still had another triangle to complete. PIPPA finished 3:38mins in front of CASSANDRA, and in third place was SUMMER WIND. The other Triton, WILLARIE, finished only 1 min behind in 4th place. The results in this race sees WHITE POINTER still carrying the yellow flag as series leader. FOGGY DEW, SUMMER WIND, SALTSHAKER and PIPPA appear in the aggregate top ten for the first time this series.

Big Bob ~ Rocking & Rolling his way to second place

Windward Buoy Race 7 - Bullet point summary

• For this race 28 yachts received handicap increases, 14 decreases. • The largest adjustment was ROLLER COASTER plus15 minutes; • About 65% of the course was a run or reach; • The time of 1:22:39 recorded by STAMPEDE was 5:35 mins faster than her closest rival • The winning yacht tacked 4 times (plus roundings) • ESPRIT the first yacht to win start of the day more than once this series; • Median start was 13 seconds • All but 2 yachts started within 42 seconds or less of their handicaps: • CASSANDRA is first yacht this series to record 2 podium finishes; • 9 of first 10 yachts across the finish line were among first 10 starters; • Average elapsed time of 1:40:19 fastest for this Summer series; • PIZAZZ and UPBEAT recorded the same elapsed time of 1:39:40 but Pizazz finished 6th

and Upbeat 19th; • Average yacht speed of 5.91 knots (apparent) fastest this series; • Fleet started 53 minutes 36 seconds apart, at the half way mark was just 19:22 mins

apart finished 32 minutes 7 seconds apart; • This race had the biggest winning margin of the series – 3 minutes 38 seconds; • Average wind speed at Fawkner about 16 knots for the afternoon. • A significant wind shift from north west to south occurred between 14:30 and 15:00

WW Summer Series 2017-18 Race 7 Wind Speed & Direction

0

10

20

30

time

win

d sp

eed

(kno

ts)

04590135180225270315360

win

d di

rect

ion

(deg

rees

)

WindS peed 17 19 16 12 15 15 16 17 14 16

WindGus ts 23 25 21 14 18 19 19 19 17 18

WindD irec tion 337.5 337.5 315 315 202.5 202.5 180 180 180 135

1300 1330 1400 1430 1500 1530 1600 1630 1700 1730

George asked, “Did someone order Hot Chips to be delivered?”

Nine of first 10 yachts across the finish line were among first 10 starters. None of the last 10 to start was among the first 10 to finish.

Wednesday Wonders 2017 Grand Prix Classic Car Yacht Race

Race 9, November 29, 2016 Avoid time penalties Enterby 23:00,23rd November.

Eligibility: Any Wednesday Wonders Summer series entrant, skipper or crewmember that can prove by bringing

their car, showing a photo, or other means, that the car that they own or did once own was manufactured pre -1975. You do not have to have the car at SYC to enter but you will get an extra 5min advantage in your Classic Score. This race will be conducted within the normal Wednesday Wonders Race with normal handicap times determined

by the Wednesday Wonders handicapper. However for those registered for the ‘Classic Car Yacht’ race, there will

be modifications to the start procedure. Start time 20mins before handicaps and will be timed from the Ken King

centre. Adjustments will be made to the yacht’s finishing position by various time criteria to determine the results

for the Car Yacht Race Scores. Prizes will be awarded to skippers who have a classic car registered for their yacht

at SYC on the day. There will be other fantastic prizes presented on the day but you must register your yacht to

participate. To register Email mark-windward@live.com.au. See details in Mark Windward’s report on the SYC

website titled ‘Grand Prix Classic Car Yacht Race’

.

Top left: Mr Kaufman in the driver’s seat.

Some Wednesday Wonders think that the surveillance of WW yachts has gone a bit too far

. The crew of White Pointer can all relax now as they are in the number one position for the summer series.

Thanks to the entrants in the Classic Car Yacht race for their contributions, the Pappa Art Sea, Windward Buoy and the Tower Management. To avoid time penalties for the Classic Car Yacht Race ensure Mark gets your entry by 23:00 on the 23rd November. Send entry (or comments) to MARK Windward “The good seaman weathers the storm he cannot avoid, and avoids the storm he cannot weather.”