2007 Jollyboat National Championship
The 2007 National Champs were sailed over the weekend of 17/18th of February at Te Puru, a small township just north of Thames in the Coromandel. Hosted by the Waikato Thames Yachting Association we shared the course with a large variety of classes who were competing in the annual WTYA Centreboard Regatta, supported by Yachting New Zealand.
The Waiheke contingent turned out in force with 3 boats making the trip to join the mainlanders. Te Puru offered easy launching off the beach and digs were either in salubrious accommodation in town or camping on site in the grounds of Te Puru Primary School.
There was a good forecast in the week leading up to the event, a Tasman high was promised with its attendant southerlies which materialised forcefully for Saturday morning. Our race officer was keen to get in racing whilst the breeze lasted and took the fleet out in 15 knot white capping conditions with steep seas in the ebb tide. To add some spice to things and to keep the chances of collisions down we were set trapezoidal courses which provided variety but lacked serious blast reaching angles which would have been good for the fleet as a whole.
Race one saw two boats immediately stamp their authority on proceedings. Roger Hall in Peppermint Planet jockeyed for first with Colin Brocas sailing two up in Icy Red. Gordon from Waiheke snuck in a small reef and proved that heavy guys can go very fast with reduced sail area in a breeze and Peter Marlow also put in a fine innings in the beautifully presented Wind Warrior. On the line it was Hall, Brocas, followed by Matt Hall-Smith in Snorter who's still learning to filter out any form of Waihikian tactical advice during racing.
There was then a very long wait whilst it dawned on us that the OOD had set the same course for the Opti fleet. However this did allow time for observation of the local sea life. Funnily enough this seem to comprise entirely of very enthusiastic young hammerhead sharks which were obviously having some sort of Shark Big Day Out in the Thames Estuary.
Race two presented much of the same conditions, slightly moderating and a more competitive start that on race one. The two leaders powered off again, and this time it was Weapon steered by Mark Winters who took up the call to try to reel them in. Going right seemed to pay heavily and for those who went left there was much cussing as the course offered very little in the way of passing lanes. It was good to be racing in a fleet where every move counted. Roger took the gun, followed by Colin then Mark. We then all retreated back to the beach to stretch the legs, warm up and get some lunch which was ably supplied by the shore team and went down a treat.
After lunch conditions continued to moderate and race 3, sailed in about 10 knots at the start kept people on their toes. The course was shortened for this race and Mark Winters again put his foot down showing good speed and tactics both upwind and downwind. Roger was still up there though quite possibly looking a little relieved at the conditions swinging back in favour of the single handers and with the tide inbound a little less time hiking was required. Race 3 also saw Grahame Rowe take to the water after a long trip up from Wellington bringing the numbers up to thirteen. The third race was won by Roger, followed by Mark and Colin with last year’s two handed National Champion Roy Cunningham also finding where the gas pedal was coming in a creditable 4th in a dwindling breeze.
The effects of the high pressure system were now fully in effect in the late afternoon and Race 4 showed a mark decrease in windspeed coupled with some erratic directional changes. A hasty start, notified to the fleet by a Yachting New Zealand whistle as the hooter had malfunctioned, combined with a massive windshift made it almost impossible for those on the right to lay the start line on starboard. As a consequence those who were at the pin end filed around the mark and set off bravely up the track being lifted into the breeze by a tide firmly on its way in. Race 4 was won by Mark Winters who picked his way through the minefield upwind and consolidated on the runs. Matt, observing a park up happening on the 2nd downwind leg, threw in a well judged gybe and passed the fleet to leeward ending up second with Steve Tennant in Bartman showing good speed to come in third.
The days racing brought the fleet together again over beers, rums, gins and and fine meal put on by TWYA and over time we dispersed to our digs, with the only annoyance of the evening for the campers being a couple of die hard 3.7 sailors who were so high on V drink that they couldn’t seem to get to sleep.
Dawn broke on Sunday with a glimmer of a breeze remaining and all the locals saying that “It ain’t going to last” … and it didn’t.
So, that was a wrap on the racing which left Roger Hall once again our National Champion. We all have Roger to thank for his enthusiasm and passion for sailing Jollies affects us all ... it is significant too that this win saw him with the title for a record fifth time in a row. He shares this victory with another recent success of winning the Hartley 16’s Nationals. Second and winner of the double handed title was Colin Brocas and third in Weapon, was Mark Winters.
Sunday, with racing postponed was one of those days with a lot of hanging around waiting for wind. Here are a few observations from the boat park :
- Mast culture, egged on by intermittent performances on Saturday there was an outbreak of mast rake measurement and subtle tweaking of adjusters between drinks as the temperature in the boatpark soared. Hopefully we all have that one nailed now.
- Alex from Waiheke, desperate to save weight was out to rid his boat of any remaining excess baggage and in an interesting move decided to abandon the use of the mainsheet to be replaced with a one to one “boom angle adjustment device” which doubles as a hiking aid. Watch for this innovation to take the class by storm, good on you Alex!
- Paul Mac, stunned at how pumping and ooching seemed to have so little effect in a Jollyboat got the hammer out and spent the morning “adjusting” the rake on his spreaders in a manner that can only be likened to a blacksmith forgeing a battle axe. Some raised eyebrows from the locals … then some mid morning on the water testing, net result … interesting looking bent spreaders which, I’m sure will be fast as.
- Mark gave Matt a lesson on why checks are a good idea. Matt’s off to investigate. Bits were falling off Weapon (probably as a result of a hammerhead strike) during this tutorial and it’ll be a miracle if she’s still afloat at the end of the season.
- Roger promised to make us all mainsails in 2007 which are cut just like his.
Thanks to all at Waikato Thames Yachting Association who did a fine job of hosting the event and in a such a great location making the most of some very difficult weather conditions.
