WIND: 6-14 Knots- NNW-NR

TIDE: H @17:13

COURSE: Kelo Reverse

NUMBER OF BOATS: 38

“Are we there yet”? Is often a question posed from the back seat of the family car on a long trip from many a child and so it seemed on Wednesday with a very long beat to the windward mark. It didn’t help that the breeze was soft for the early starters and everyone had to fight the flooding tide until they were clear of Green and St .Helena islands. However it was a fantastic race as skippers and crew needed to think hard about how they were going to tackle the day’s challenges.

At the start line, the breeze sat at NNW 5-6 knots until 13:15. It then finally swung to the forecast NE 10-14 knots favouring the latter starters. As the fleet made their way east and out into the bay, via the western cardinal (Green Island) the breeze strengthened and made the new Sand Hills RM a true beat and what felt like a long way off. The specular sight of yachts tacking all over the bay was something else. Once finally at the mark, the fleet converged and a starboard rounding was followed by a run to the floating red (St. Helena), a reach down to the southern cardinal ( St Helena) and another run home to the finish line set back at the western cardinal. Although it seemed a long way, there were many great comments back in the bar. I can say that the 4 new marks and new coursers are a hit!!

Coming Up: Race 2/7 of The Geoff Anderson Memorial Super Series 6/12/2023

Report by Paul Bolton, Volunteer WAGS Co-ordinator

Results

Closest to the line: 00:04 OUTSIDER-TODD (not claimed-worth $60 next week)

Lucky door prize: BRIGUS-DAN/PETER

Lucky Crew prize: BEN-IAN/FI