An unseasonal cold summer’s day greeted the sailors on the shore of Lake Jindabyne on Wednesday last week. Four catamarans and six mono-hulls rigged up and the sailors searched for their wetsuits.
Peter Hickling set a long start-line and sent the fleet off exactly on time. Ian Foster and his new colourful sail made a fast start and drove through the fleet only to hit the first mark and be forced to complete a penalty turn and lose several places. Tim Symons on his Hobie 17 led the cat fleet to the Mountain mark on the first of many reaching legs in the light shifting Easterly breeze.
Martin Van Weel on his Mosquito and Barry Dennis and Ross Tattersall on their Hobie 16 passed Tim on the long reach back from the Mountain mark. The cats stayed in that order until the second leg back from the Mountain mark. A large wind shift pushed Martin and Barry towards Curiosity Rocks and forced them to tack to get around the peninsular.
Tim and Ian on their Hobie 17s managed to sail a higher course and reached the Bay mark without the extra tacks. This allowed them to catch up to and pass Martin and Barry. Martin tried a tricky move to pass Ian while rounding the Bay mark. He hit the mark and had to make a penalty turn, relegating back to third place. A couple of legs later, the cats finished in this order. The Handicap corrected times gave Ian the win with Martin second, Tim third and Barry and Ross fourth.
The mono-hulls sailed their usual race with Phil Daley and Ross Lawley leading on the Flying Fifteen while the Lasers battled for position. Gote Vikstrom and his Laser Radial showed the others how to handle the tricky conditions despite having a smaller sail.
Terry Lee followed closely behind with Jason Abbott on a club Laser. Kerry McGaw and Brodie Hamilton carried on their usual personal battle with Kerry coming out on top this time. Peter Hickling shortened the course in the tricky breeze. Gote received a well earned handicap win with Phil in second followed by Terry, Jason, Kerry and Brodie.
Summer returned to Lake Jindabyne when six sailors turned up to compete in heat 12 of the 2012/12 Saturday series. The first long race took the sailors from the beach to the Mountain mark, around Church Rocks and between Lion and Cub Islands and the shore, then back to the beach. The light breeze changed direction and strength constantly around the course challenging all the sailors. Ian Foster and Tim Symons on their colourful Hobie 17s led the fleet across the lake. The four mono-hulls stayed together and jostled for positions all the way to past Church Rocks.
The sailors took different courses past the caravan park, Ian near the islands found some breeze, while Tim found none near the shore. This allowed the four mono-hulls led by Ross Lawley on his OK Dinghy to steadily catch up to the cats. All the sailors tried to find breeze and lifts on their way back to the beach.
Gote Vikstrom on his Laser Radial made the most of these and moved ahead of the mono-hulls and challenged the cats. Ian gained a big lead on the fleet only to sail into a hole in the breeze, slow down and allow the fleet to catch up.
Ian finished first after over an hour and 10 minutes of sailing followed by Tim, Gote, Kerry McGaw, Ross and Brodie Hamilton. Brodie suffered many wind changes on the final leg and took an early swim to help get his Laser to the beach. The handicap corrected times worked against the cats with the win going to Gote followed by Kerry, Ross, Brodie, Ian and Tim.
A short second race was started with Brodie zooming off the beach to make amends for his previous race. He led the fleet to the first mark, just, before the two cats passed him. A small triangle course was sailed in the shifting breeze. Ian and Tim jostled for position at the head of the fleet while the mono-hulls held their own battle. Ian reached the beach just in front of Tim and won the sprint to the clock by 2 seconds. Brodie maintained his lead around the course finishing in front of Gote, Kerry and Ross. Again the handicap results changed the order with Brodie taking the win followed by Gote, Kerry, Ross, Tim and Ian.
All the sailors enjoyed the warm sunny day on Lake Jindabyne and wish for more sailors and breeze next week.
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