The blue sea pushed in on the late afternoon in coming tide. The wind from the northwest prevailed all afternoon reaching 10 knots at times. A Paper Tiger raised a hull now and again and the puffs and wave action initiate planing for my Laser. The Paper Tiger took line honours in the three races; in my Laser I took a third behind the Finn in the opening race and then a couple of second places. Christine Headey sailed a Hartley 16 (a big do up job, that her father was still working on before the race), a great finish to the boat that also supported new sails. Three Frostplys and an Optimist made up the rest of the fleet in an atmosphere that was very much Coromandel style.

The WTYA Centreboard Championship regatta is being run on the 18th and 19th April 2009 and hosted by the Thames Sailing Club. The venue is up at Te Puru a few kms up the coast road from Thames. The Te Puru School is the base for the regatta. The water off shore is blue and the wind can be great. The TSC will need a few extra hands over the weekend, registration, BBQ, results etc. If you are not sailing consider making yourself available, many hands do make for light work, enjoyable too. Contact Christine Headey finnsailor@ihug.co.nz at the Thames Sailing Club.
Let the Ngaroto Sailing Club led the way with a big fleet of centreboarders; Optis, Starlings, Lasers, Phase 2s and whatever! We’ll have the new marquee up there as the base for the club. Camping on site will be fun.

Ross Wrenn