Ross Wrenn disappeared to South America for several months. Let’s hear about it.

Where did you go in South America?
In Brazil I stayed about 150 kms to the southwest of the capital, Brasilia. That’s about 1200kms from the coast. In Argentina I visited friends in La Paz (several hundred kms north of Buenos Aires), it got to 40 degrees at the time I was there in January, it also rained making the dirt roads impassable too. On my return in July I stayed and travelled and stayed with friends within the Buenos Aires province.

How long were you there?
I was in Brazil for six months and for three weeks in Argentina.

Tell us about the weather.
In Brazil, January to March was wet (rained most days, thunder and lightening), daytime max 30 degrees and at night 25 degrees. In the dry period from May the temp dropped to 25 in the day, and the night surprisingly cool, less than 20 then to 10 and even a frost one morning! (We were at 1000m above sea level, often with a clear night sky).
There were huge areas of slightly rolling land, great for cropping along with tropical pastures for beef production too. Crops of soya bean, maize, sugar cane coffee (in places) were all very impressive.

What were the best attractions you saw?
As a tourist I went to Pirenopolis, an old mining town nestled in a hilly region, cobbled streets, well maintained old buildings, scores of eating establishment that are well patronised on holiday weekends. Like tramping, water falls and swimming it’s all their a thousand kms from the coast.
Rio Quente (“hot river” in English) has a hot water pool complex managed to thehighest standards. We were there for a triathlon and certainly enjoyed the whole atmosphere.
Florianopolis, actually the Ilha de Santa Catarina is a coastal beach and tourist destination and site of the Brazil Ironman at the northern end of the island (Praia de Jurere) in May. Plenty of great beaches complete with bars, restaurants, fish and fishermen, beautiful people and warm clear water for swimming and surfing.

What differences did you first see?
Out from customs, I first noticed the long legs of the women, or was it that? Maybe it was the high heeled and fancy shoes they wore, so striking!

What language is spoken in Brazil?
Portuguese (not Spanish).

Did the language pose problems?
It does limit what and how you might do things or what you might say. I went to afternoon classes for 6 weeks, so have some knowledge of the language. The boys on the farm had no English so communication had to be in Portuguese, a strong incentive to learn. English is not common in the rural areas but in major cities often people will delight in practicing the English they have learnt at school or later in life.

What are the people like?
Friendly and helpful. They had to be patience to understand my version of Portuguese. Bus travel (not tourist buses) is a great way to meet and talk to the locals. What a great way to make time on your backside most rewarding, time just flies by. We had a maid in the house 5.5 days a week, very very helpful, she had a great family too.

What was the food like?
Rice, beans and maize form the basis of the diet. Chicken was the most common meat eaten, pork and beef followed. All the normal veges along with local tropical types. The basics were cheap; you could graze out at a “Self Service” restaurant, pay by the weight on your plate, really good quality and variety for very little.

And the fruit and juices?
Amazing, delicious, quenching, just how do you describe the tropical fruit juices? With ice, with milk, what ever, very necessary in a hot climate!

Other drinks, coffee etc?
I thought coffee would be a big thing, aromas coming out of every door! Alas very much no, almost nil coffee cafes. Free coffee, small, strong and sweet was frequently available in many stores, service stations etc. Beer is common, available almost anywhere and at any time. Cachaca, a high proof spirit made from sugar cane is strong enough to fuel a car, only to be taken in small quantities. All priced right to quench a hot climate thirst.

Is it safe there?
Where ever I went it was always safe. But there will be places, I think in some of the biggest cities where care would be needed or you are better not to venture. In the rural areas it was great. But watch out for the drivers on the pot holed roads.

What’s the traffic like?
In the big cities, like organised chaos (not nearly as organised as the colonies of ants taking supplies back to their nests). Numerous motorcycles line up at the head of the queue at the traffic lights (entertaining though). Count down and the races were on (Brazil has produced numerous well performed racing car drivers). On the highways speed had little limit; neither did the traffic accidents! Really bad!
There are thousands of kms of motorways (the cost of this infrastructure must have been enormous, but necessary), some in good repair but many a bit lacking. Some secondary roads are peppered with potholes, the local drivers were well versed in manoeuvring their vehicles to minimise the impacts. (The numerous tyre repair shops indicate the extent of the damage). Unsealed roads and there were plenty of them would be a delight to the rally fraternity, the 4WD manufactures, for many years.
Cars were generally small in size and most fuelled by alcohol derived from sugar cane (Brazil was sure doing its bit for the environment)!

You were there a long time, what were you doing?
I was there helping to convert a farm to dairying, using NZ principles to guide the development and management. A start from scratch and milk will be flowing in March 2009. It’s a large project (1000 cows), fences, water system, heifers, animal health, mating, buildings, pastures, other feeds, staff just to name a few of many parts of the jigsaw puzzle.

What sports did you do while you were there?
I took up swimming again with some friends who were training for triathlons. Sure I was not in their league but it certainly stretched my muscles. I managed to fit in some sailing at the Iate Clube de Brasilia (the Brasilia Yacht Club); it’s much more than a yacht club, many more sports and a host of social activities too. Security at the entrance and plenty of paid staff etc. The “commodores table” of which I was welcomed at was well supplied with wine, something a little stronger too, cheeses, breads, deliciously prepared meats (a tradition that could be started at Ngaroto) and good people and conversation. A Samba dancing lesson was sprung on me in Argentina and later abseiling (and surviving both).

What wild life did you see?
Ants taking leaves and seeds etc back to their nest were abundant, all shapes, sizes and colours they even explored our house. I saw one spider at least as big as my hand (not that I touched it), a snake about 1.2 metres long and got both on film. Bats spent the day in an old derelict house on the farm. Large frogs croaked away at night, I captured some on the camera along with colourful green lizards, an ant eater, and an opossum like creature. Buzzards that quickly devoured any creature that had died, a few groups emus roamed over the farm, colourful toucans would occasionally be seen flying, woodpeckers attracted attention by knocking on hollow trees. I didn’t see any freshwater crocs but they were around; monkeys evaded me too.

Your best moments?


I was very proud to see the Kiwis on the Podium at the Rio Quente triathlon and doing very well at Brasilia (6th) and the Brazil Ironman 82nd from an international field of 1200 competitors. My host family, their friends and relatives and the farm staff saw to it that my stay would be enjoyable and not forgotten. I will always remember the smiles on the faces of people when I gave them their family photos that I had taken. The local village school-church fund raising dances and talking to the locals were very satisfying times.

Are you planning to go back?
The invite has been given, I cannot let it go by, but when I am not sure yet.

Laguna Chascomus, Argentina; a memorable sailing experience

Away from the hustle and bustle of yacht racing in Brasilia I had another yachting experience, this time, Argentinean style. Imagine out in a light breeze, quite light so no chance of a capsize, a big open “Lightening” dinghy, a couple of very attractive, intelligent, young local ladies and sharing a “Mate” with them as we picked a path of breeze across the lake and back. The venue was Laguna Chascomus an inland water way covering a thousand or so hectares, but just a few meters deep, (not so different from Lake Ngaroto apart from the size) surrounded on one side by the town and scattered affluent housing and areas for camping around the other shores.




The club house was steeped in tradition dating back to 1905, it had seen better days in the rich Argentinean past, still painted in “pink” the same colour as the “Casa Rosada” the parliamentary house in Buenos Aires (incidentally recently the site of very large protests against the government for their unbelievable taxes (near 50% of gross value) on agricultural exports). The wharf would have been better if the decking was intact, but the restaurant inside with polished tables and chairs and sparkling glassware looked immaculate through the large glassed entrance way.
A couple of guys to help with launching and retrieving the yacht into the waters that were also enjoyed by fishermen and holiday makers from Buenos Aires a hundred kms to the north.
I was in the very good company of three friends from Buenos Aires who made sure my first sailing experience in Argentina would be truly one with character. We started with “Mate” a local tea like drink taken every where by many people, in the car on the trip to the laguna (what could be more Argentine), we took the “Mate and Bombilla” and flask of hot water out on to the lake too along with a little to eat. The light breeze may have been a little cool but a little more “Mate” and the company of my friends (Carolina, Barbara and Federico) warmed the memories of the sail. The yacht was a “Lightening” I understand developed in Britain several decades ago. It carries a main and foresail along with a spinnaker and is about 18ft long. This particular boat was constructed of fibreglass back in 1985 (its forerunners were made of wood) and had experienced many a days sailing in the past. A careful restoration by Federico had made her ready for the water again.



No day would have been complete without an “assado” for lunch. This traditional method of cooking meat over wood ashes, the meat in our case lamb ribs and beef seasoned with rock salt before being cooked to perfection and accompanied with hot chips, a salad and a light local beer from a restaurant over looking our sailing waters.

Ross Wrenn
26th July 2008

27th May 2008


Florianopolis is an island (50kms long) beach resort area connected to the mainland by bridge in south eastern Brazil. Its fame includes many kms of white sand ocean beaches, many known for their surf and also more protected beaches on the sheltered mainland coastal side. Tourists flock to the area over the summer; many people from Argentina, Uruguay as well as Brazilians fill the thousands of rooms in apartment complexes, hotels backpackers etc. Internet cafes abound indicating the number of seasonal travellers, in fact here they out numbered the women’s shoe shops and chemist shops (and maybe bars) that have to be the most abundant shops in Brazil. Women are particularly well dressed from the feet upwards and the beauty aids display their effectiveness. I am told that a woman’s image is very important, but not to attract men, but to compete with other female beauties (have I been slow to realise this?).


Sea fish run northward up the coast as the waters to the south cool. This is all very good for the local fishing industry (commercial) or the locals getting a feed off the beaches. I was a haul of 69 very edible fish netted by a group of locals within just 15 minutes. (There is much more time off the water preparing the net and boat, relaxing playing a local board game something like drafts (I suspect much more complex) and having a good social time with mates). No women fishing but I am sure they will relish the catch when brought home.
It’s a truly delightful view on the beach on a warm and sunny day. There’s are few yachts and launches in marinas, but nothing like that in Auckland. In summer it’s likely to be congested everywhere, on the water, roads and beaches. Beach life is very civilised here, restaurants and bars, tables and sun umbrellas on the sands edge. Waiters see that a thirst of any type is well quenched and a seafood delight satisfies the taste buds and stomach. An occasional wander down to the surf is the hardest part of the day!
I was here as part of the support team for the lone Kiwi doing the Brazilian Ironman. Finishing 81st in his first Ironman from over 1200 competitors was great, as were the conditions on the day (Sunday), the crowd and organisation. The water temperature was like that in NZ in the summer, air temperature reaching about 25 degrees before cooling off to the low teens at night. It will cool off a little more in the coming weeks.


So much for my little excursion, now I must go 2000 kms back inland to the farm and start insemination a bunch of heifers, for the objective next year is to fill a milk tanker each day!

Ross Wrenn

Lago Paranoa, Brasilia, 17th and 18th May 2008

Perfect weather prevailed over the weekend for the regatta, temperatures in the mid twenties, a lovely 10-knot breeze and the sun not so burning. I arrived a little late to get on a yacht on Saturday, but not a worry. I spent a very enjoyable afternoon at the “Comodoro’s” table, red wine (a little Cachaca, a car could run on that stuff), cheese, salami, bread, and some slices of very well prepared beefsteaks cooked to the point of perfection. The company too, some sailors, some social members, a lot of Portuguese and a little English spoken (they could have spoken Italian and Japanese too), it all added to the atmosphere on shore.
A NZ designed launch was moored at the wharf; a Brazilian had spent some years in Auckland in the boat building industry before returning and building boats in Brazil. This launch was used by a family for cruising the lake, over night stays in a most relaxing environment. An invitation aboard was eagerly taken up.

Sunday morning, I made sure I arrived early so not to miss getting on board a yacht, racing started a little before 10.00am. The club staff put the fleet of patrol boats in the water and set the course for the sailors to enjoy the day. A windward-leeward course with the startfinish line about a quarter the way up the leg was completed twice in each race. A short broad reach followed a port rounding at the top mark; spinnakers were hoisted before heading down wind gibing several times before rounding the bottom mark and heading back up wind. Three races, back to back, each taking about an hour and a half were sailed.
So how did we do? We made 4th place in the first race (after being 6th for most of the race), a good feeling at the finish. We suffered from some bad shifts in the next two races (I am sticking to that) and finished three or four places further back despite our polished crew work! Still a good weekends sailing, a tropical fresh water paradise with the city of Brasilia as the backdrop. Twelve yachts competed each with a crew of up to six; I spotted an all female crew who would have been delighted in winning the final race. The sailors eagerly downed a few ice cold drinks at days end in the shade of the clubhouse while the staff pulled the yachts from the water and parked them orderly on the hard. A hard days fun!
There’s a lot of alcohol (alcool) in Brazil. It is produced by the fermentation of sugar cane grown in large areas wherever there is a refnery (the nearest one to us is about 50kms away). It’s cheaper than petrol and the power loss is minimal. Brazil is certainly doing its bit in saving on petrol; it’s nations fleets of small cars (most being in the 1 to 1.5 litre range) mostly are fuelled by alcohol. Brazil has many thousands on kms of motorways all helping with fuel economy. Unfortunately traffic accidents are all too common, some road surfaces are poor (some secondary roads don’t have much of a developed surface at all), traffic drives very fast especially for the size of the cars and driver skills appear not so high. Over the weekend I saw two traffic accidents on the open roads, pretty typical. Still imagine that Brazil does better than countries that have many big gas sucking autos!
PS. The yachts motor was not started at all during the weekend.

Ross Wrenn
Brazil

For me it was an afternoon out on the committee boat to oversee two races in the Snipe Class (they are a double handed centreboard yacht about 15 feet long). Each yacht had The starts were an evenly contested affair, the sailors having a good sense of time and an adult and a junior sailor, the adult helming the first race and the junior the second. distance. The first race consisted of one up wind leg of about 4 kms in a light breeze that occasionally saw the need for hiking. The 15 yachts finished at a mark in the centre of Lago Paranoa. (Lago Paranoa has a surface area of 40 square kms with a depth of around 20m over much of the area. It’s a hydro lake, one arm with a dam and hydro-power generation).
From the water there’s a great view over to the city of Brasilia, tall buildings in the background, hotels, lavish sports clubs and houses around the shoreline and the president’s residence occupying one peninsular. Up to US $3.5 million is paid for the top end houses with all the facilities (water slides, gyms, entertainment areas, tennis court, wharf etc.) on the waters edge.
The committee boat was an older but well kept launch especially fitted with the necessaries for the job; a chilly bin full of bottles of iced cold water for the officials and sailors ranked high on the list, a radio to call up the three (50HP) support boats and of course plenty of flags and a horn to run the standard international start system. A professional photographer was on board too. The language was Portuguese, not a word of English today.
The finish of race one was tight with some fickled winds keeping the sailors alert. After a quick stop for drinking water and a skipper/crew rotation they were under the starters orders for a second time. Again upwind towards the dam, around the channel mark and all the way back down wind to the yacht club and the finishing line at around 5 pm. Hard work in the hot sunshine in Brasilia (it’s “winter” here and still close to 30 degrees during the day)!
Mother’s Day was celebrated in Brazil on Sunday and I was very kindly invited to a family get together. A very enjoyable affair, two hours of pre lunch nibbles (all sorts of meats and hot breads off the “BBQ” (Brazilian style) and drinks, followed by lunch proper and desert, finishing at 4.30pm. (There was no doubt that my hosts could do real justice to the hospitality at a regatta at Lake Ngaroto). It was then time for us rural people to drive the 150 kms back to the farm for another week’s work.

Ross Wrenn

Report from Brasilia (20th April 2008)

The weekend here saw the Optimist sailors training for an important championship coming up some time soon. (The language created some difficulties so I did not get the details). About 20 Optimists went out in a nice warm breeze at 10.000 am on Sunday morning. Adult staff setup the Optis for the children, the children give them a quick check before taking to the water. Several inflatables accompanied them and the instructors put them through their drills.
For me and a couple of high school students we went out in Lasers. The students had 4.7’s, one very new. I had a standard rig Laser, unfortunately supporting a few defects. I noted a large crack in the gooseneck fitting before taking to the water, so decided not to strain the boom too much. After about half an hour I couldn’t keep up with the 4.7s, so I tagged along behind, getting further behind. She was not handling well and after one gybe water came well over the bow, strange I thought, it’s not that windy and the waves are only small. I concluded a short while later that the hull must have taken on water. I headed straight back to the club, the handling characteristics becoming increasing worse and some more water coming over the bow in spite of my efforts to move further back. I was most thankful to eventually make it back.
I floated the Laser onto the trailer OK but two of us couldn’t pull it more than half out of the water. Pulling out the rear bung and opening a rear hatch cover verified my suspicions, heaps of water inside, so I waited while it drained and taking her inside to de-rig. Still it was a good day, near 30 degrees, a little cloudy to start with and tomorrow Monday was to be a public holiday here.
I caught a taxi back to central Brasilia, checked the market out and a few shops and saw a little beach volleyball as teams were preparing for the “Independence Day” celebration on Monday. For me Monday was to be back on the farm with my hosts; some animal work to be done and some more urea to apply to the pasture. We had visitors too, so the day had a good social component.
To the future I am off to help buy more heifers later in the week and next week and visiting an Agricultural Show for two days in the Minias Gerais state. The sailing will have to wait.

Ross Wrenn
26-4-08

Winter has arrived. Snow on Ruapehu and it felt as if it will be sitting on Pirongia next week.
So the morning race sailed into a stiff South West. Two laps of triangle - windward-leeward produced some good racing and fast planing conditions. Resivor and Espresso tussled for club champs; a bit too close at one point when Espresso revved Resivor round a mark.
Elsewhere, a Phase II ploughed the lake bed and the Southern Comfort looked as Alex was about to take off.
The wind slackened in the afternoon but was fair enough for the two remaining Mark Foy races.
Fabulous weather; a great days sailing.

There was a bit more wind on day 2 of the Regatta ... gusting to 15 knots or so on occasion, with some spectacular spills and excellent sailing had by all.
The results published below are from the Sailwave files.
Many thanks to Alan and Joyce Singleton for timing the finishes and entering all the results and to Peter Carr as Race Officer.
Sailing went without a hitch. We hope you enjoyed yourselves and see you again next year.

Saturday 12th April, first day of the Waikato Thames Centreboard Regatta. And what a superb turn out. Forty three boats, Optimists, Fire Bugs, Starlings, ten Phase IIs, Mistrals, a Zephyr or two, Lasers, 3.7s, a PT, one P an unidentified class or two. Fantastic.





We ran three divisions: Optimists, Phase II and the rest (Division 1).
First three races were sailed in light south westerlies so picking the shifts and sailing well into the wind paid dividends. Races were 40 to 50 minutes … no dramas except for one Starling falling over before the start of race 1! The wind picked up to 8 to 10 knots in the final race, so the 3.7s managed to hang out on the wire and even the PT flew a hull for 600 metres or so.
Optimists were taken off to play roundabout a MaiMai to keep clear of the crowded Division I start. Phase II seemed to have a number of tussles and battles on the water. Lovely weather; great sailing, great company. Thanks for coming guys and check out the photographs (click the link).

The 48th Anniversary Regatta of the Iate Clube de Brasilia

I was lucky enough to be at the Iate Clube de Brasilia to celebrate their 48th year with a trailer yacht and keeler regatta in the first wekend of April. I sailed on a Delta 26 (26 foot) along with about 10 other yachts of this class in a fleet of 50 yachts in total. Really a great sight, especially in the early stages of the race when all the yachts were together. A nice 8 to 12 knot breeze propelled the yachts on a tight reach to the first mark followed by the popping of spinnakers for a long off wind leg that included a few gybes for most yachts. Around mark two positioned in front of an architecturally designed bridge over one arm of the lake and back upwind again. After a few tacks we rounded a peninsula on which is sited the presidents residence (and accompanying fortifications and markings to not to get too close) then onto a tight reach to the penultimate mark. A gybe around the mark and with the spinnaker raised then another gybe we shot through to the finish line in front of the clubhouse for a top 10 finish. The polished performance was finished by docking at the wharf without the use of the motor, just as we had begun the mornings sailing.
It might have rained a bit to start with, but at 25 plus degrees that’s nothing to worry about, the sun shone towards the end of the hour plus long race to make things dry. We packed the sails away and left the rest to the helpers at the club to put the yacht on the tractor pulled trailer and park it in it’s customary berthing spot. Drinks were then on the house, very nice and time for me to practise some Portuguese and for some locals to practice their English, I almost forgot some pasta and cheese too. I presented the Vice Commodore with a Ngaroto Sailing Club shirt and the skipper of my boat with a Ngaroto cap (this will go well with the North Sails jib, the Navman electronic equipment and the Weaver front hatch (Auckland). NZ equipment is widely used and known to sailors around the world. I talked (in Portuguese) to the skipper of another Delta 26 named “Peter Blake” (after Sir Peter’s infamous death in the Amazon River); a Brasilian consulate representative also talked (in English was much easier) sadly of the incident too. Truly the Brasilians are a very hospitable lot making the most of a great environment for the sport of yachting! Being 2000 kms from the sea has the advantage of focusing sailors to Lago do Paranoa a paradise for those living in or near Brasilia.

The Delta 26 championship regatta takes place in May in Brasilia and an invitation is in my sailing dairy!

PS. Not for the ladies. English text is in use at the club (we are truly lucky to be native speakers of this language), they have to learn the English terms (sailing rules) that prevail at international regattas; a photo is attached.
Ross Wrenn

Clearing the Raupo

There was so little wind for Races 5 and 6 for the club champs (6th April) that we abandoned race 6 at 2.30. At 2.45, the a gentle breeze set in, but by that time, team Ngaroto was pulling the out the Raupo clogging the ramps. We’ve agreed to to sail two more races in place of the Mark Foy races scheduled for April 20th.
Race 3 and 4 were sailed in 5 to 8 knot breezes; it is fairly typical late season Waikato weather, hot humid and windless.

We’ve cleared Raupo from both ramps. And in the process recovered a motor mower, various concrete lumps and other rubbish. Click on the link to see the photos!
We made space for Claire’s P hase II in the boatshed, and have begun preparations for next weeks Waikato Centreboard Regatta.

I have sailed in my first regatta in Brazil, a race to celebrate the 48th anniversary of one of several clubs on the shores of Lago do Paranoa, a lake that provides great recreational opportunities just minutes from central Brasilia.  I boarded the beautiful 26 foot fibre-glass yacht named “Arrojado”, an Argentinean designed trailer yacht at the Iate Clube do Brasilia at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning and motored with the skipper Cisa to another arm of the lake to the regatta start point.  We picked up two more crew there and had a shake down while we waited an hour for the wind to settle and the race to start.  Fifty yachts jostled for position, we were certainly not the largest (some so big they must have been keelers) and away we went in a reasonable position. 

As things progressed in the upwind leg to the first port rounding mark we were well positioned in the top ten (the skipper and crew were very good sailors), the spinnaker hoisted promptly at the mark for a down wind leg that included several gybes to keep us in a good place.  The yacht sailed even better upwind taking a couple more places as we went tacking up the shoreline in a breeze of around 8 to 10 knots. The skipper played the breeze well, positioned the boat well to exploit the starboard rights and laid the top mark perfectly before the spinnaker was hoisted again for the second and final downwind run.  We found an area of lighter wind for a while but faired better later in the leg to be close to two other similar yachts at the bottom and penultimate mark.  A tacking duel followed to the finish line, we had the best of it and knocked one of them off.  Second in class and well inside the top ten overall was a good finish after an hour and a half of sailing.
 
What a great, great place to sail in, 2000 kms from the sea, 800 meters above sea level the third most populous sailing area in Brazil I was told.  The lake that also provides hydro-electricity and a panoramic view for scores of social/sports clubs situated around its shores(I can not forget the presidents residence, hotels, apartments and houses).  The Iate Clube do Brasilia is the finest of them all (I am told), a very good find for me. The club has several indoor tennis courts, a swimming pool, beach volleyball courts (and attractive young ladies to go with them), a triathlon club, shops and several buildings for both small and large social functions.  At the yacht club its self, paid staff see to that the yachts are ready in the water for the skippers and retrieved after the days sailing.  They have a great tradition for hosting, the vice commodore has a table not far from the bar, wine and cheese laid on throughout the day and into the evening.  It was his birthday too so the evening on Saturday was a busy and enjoyable one too. 
 
I almost forgot that I sailed a Laser too, half a dozen youngsters and I went out in the afternoon; they were being coached.  A nice little breeze to start with, very typical of what they get, then a little later 25 knots came through and either flattened them or sent them scurrying for home.  I stayed with a couple of yachts till the rescue boat could deal with them and then had an exhilarating reach back to the clubhouse, one of the few not to take a swim in the tropical waters.  What a great afternoon that was!
 
Ross Wrenn

Saturday arrived and many keen members turned out for an interesting afternoons sailing. The strong winds and gusty squally showers were going to be testing. I dropped Matthew, Evan and starling off and took the easy job of going to work. On my return some gear failure had struck the fleet. Linda Wilkinson’s mast had broken having not weathered the years as well as she has.(Happy 40th Birthday Linda). Peter and Micah had some screws popped out in their newly acquired Hartley, although all was not lost as they then enjoyed an afternoons sailing on Resivor gaining some experience for their Winter Series debut.

Matthew battled the winds and many capsizes while Shaun crewed for Hamish in the Phase 2 which he must of enjoyed given the descriptive vocabulary used on his return to shore. Arthur was the best of the laser sailors giving Evan and Jamie a good lesson.

The dinner was enjoyed by all with Matthew and Arthur (in pink) taking out the hat competition. The mature youth kindly did the dishes although some mumbling was heard about the need for a dishwasher. Micah, Matthew and Shaun exited stage left to do some night fishing.

Sunday dawned and it looked like lighter winds would be the order of the day. Everyone found a boat to sail and Murray Rumbles set the course. The wind kicked in and all boats were flying.

Lianne and Thomas but mainly Murray Wall will be eternally grateful for Kate’s loud starboard call at a buoy rounding as Lianne with Alex as crew came in on port and Thomas with Kate didn’t spot each other until the last moment. Some speedy helmsmanship and a T boning of the 420 was narrowly avoided.

Phil was the better of the laser sailors with new man Josh sailing exceptionally well. Linda and Micah worked hard in their borrowed starlings and Hamish and I had our first capsize, Hamish being the true gentleman and taking the wet exit while I scrambled for high ground.

Many thanks to Murray for the ODmanship and Owen for defrosting the beer fridge.

A New Year celebrated, a new day, a new race-course, many new ‘if only” yarns told and new winners! A very civilised race start time at 1400 hours to match the late tide gave the sailors plenty of time for a late breakfast, recovery, the New Year market and race preparation. A fleet of 27 yachts was the biggest fleet for many years, blue incoming tide, a developing 10 to 15 knot westerly sea breeze, a bright blue sky filled with the new Year’s sun was truly a great setting.
The line winner, a man not to sit in the “corner” Jack loaded with a crew of six, despite the shallows of the course, displayed their light blue spinnaker down the Ahurei Channel before crossing the finish line an hour and two minutes after the start.
A certain skipper just sails for pleasure, the pleasure that others derive from being ahead of him. A self imposed handicap system had been applied to this Joker, leave the outboard motor hatch open, the motor dragging in the briny and to cap it off don’t even have the dam thing running (now known as the “Chappy Factor”). That’s no way to climb to the head of the “Column(bine)”!
The leading Joker for much of the race, not so used to being at the head of the pack, more used to a leisurely sail pulled up on a sand bank, was that time for an Espresso before rejoining the race?
A soft floor to the harbour “ResiVor” put a defining halt to yet another Joker’s chances of a win. Or was it the lack of her normal crew called home for a days work and undermining the master’s performance?
A flawless effort from the powerful yet graceful and uppermost the accurate navigation instincts of the sea bird “Taiko” she swept to a victory to take the leading Joker prize of 2008!
The most majestic yacht on the harbour had to be the Flying Dutchman of Philip Phillips, she may have been late to the start but her classic lines and materials were pleasing to the eye.
The most loved yacht must have been “Aroha Nui” for she spent most time on the racetrack under the careful guidance of Pete the Pom and Danny the first mate.
A competitor to the fireworks of New Years Eve, a Laser show staring four Ngarotarians intensely competed for the New Years honours board. Two knights, the Arthur’s, often at the head of the tightly knit group had an intense tactical battle on the two long upwind channel legs. The first reaching leg gave a shiny blue hull a chance to show and “Man” he did fly toward the front approaching mark three. The architect of their undoing (following in the foot steps of the famous English architect Sir Christopher Wren) put his bow ahead for the first time as he passed the wharf on the first upwind leg but not before being relegated again on the downwind leg. A repeat performance upwind toward the penultimate mark put paid to the “knights” again and gave the architect a tight victory and the hooter!