Thanks for the excellent report! Best of luck tomorrow! Brian --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Monday 27 December 2004 E-Mail > > Sunday’s weather was a repeat of Christmas Day, Winds out of the south @ around 25 to 30 knots. Tom and I spent most of the day waiting on our charter boat to arrive from the factory. We filled the time chatting and getting to know the factory folks from Hobie Australia. We got to lay eyes and hands on some of the newest, latest and greatest in rudder blade innovations, and took some photographs to bring home. If Tom can locate a <a href="http://www.srch-results.com/lm/rtl.asp?k=usb%20cable"; onmouseover="window.status='USB Cable'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">USB Cable</a> to hook up his camera to the computer here we will upload some photos for you guys. The boat finally showed up about 2:30 in the afternoon, but by the time we got it all rigged and ready to sail, it was around 6 in the evening. Everyone else had left for dinner or home, and the wind had built to around 35 knots with a 4 foot swell coming onshore. We decided that without any kind of safety backup it might be best to call it a night and do a shakedown cruise in the morning. > > Monday Morning we hit the beach about 8:30AM with wind and wave conditions about the same as we had left them the night before, but both of us were eager to get out on the water so we suited up, raised the main and pushed off the beach. > I think the Aussies were a bit surprised to see us push off in those conditions. We were only out about 3 minutes and realized that three of our battens were coming out of the sail so we turned and headed back to the beach. Anyway, I’m sure we didn’t impress anyone, but we were the only boat that left the beach all day, so I guess that gives us bragging rights of some sort. By the time we got the battens secured, a 40 Knot squall had blown in so we decided to drop the mast and get in the line to have the boat weighed and measured so that we would be ready to race in the morning. > It was after 1pm when we finally got done with weigh in. The wind was gusting up to 52 Knots and the wave’s were up to 4 to 6 feet onshore, so once again, Tom and I decided to call it a day and hope for better conditions tomorrow. We are both quite disappointed as we had hoped to get in some practice together before the start of the event tomorrow. > The welcome dinner this evening was a very nice event at the Port Phillips Yacht Club Facility, they have a JumboTron mounted on the side of the building, and a couple of large <a href="http://www.srch- results.com/lm/rtl.asp?k=flat%20panel%20monitors" onmouseover="window.status='flat panel monitors'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">flat panel monitors</a> mounted inside the building for after event photos and video’s. And get this, one of the sponsors is Porsche, and all the beach tow vehicles are Brand New Porsche 4WD SUV’s. > The Forecast tomorrow is for 20 to 30 Knots with 15 to 20 knots for the rest of the week. So, hopefully we won’t spend the whole week survival sailing. > For now, I guess that’s all the news that’s fit to print, wish us luck tomorrow. > > Stephen & Tom > > Tuesday 28 December 2004 5:30pm E-Mail > > Well, on the Bright side, after the first day of scheduled Racing, we are Tied for First Place, > On the flip side, after the first day of scheduled racking, > we are Tied for Last Place, > The reality is that due to extreme weather conditions again today there was no racing. > > We had a skippers meeting, or as they call it down here, the Competitors Briefing @ 10AM, Wind was steady @ around 28 Knots gusting to almost 40 Knots. The PRO lifted his glass of wine and wished everyone a great day being tourists, and invited us back @ 6 for the evening dinner party. > > Tom and I took some time and visited the Maratime Museum, and wandered around town a bit. Melbourne is a very modern city mixed in with some very historic architecture. It really is an enjoyable place to be a tourist, really quite clean and the people are very friendly. > > Not much more to really talk about, but wanted to let anyone that was interested why there were no results yet posted. > > G'Day for now, > > Stephen and Tom > > Wedensday 29 December 2004 > > Wedensday morning started right on schedule @ 10:00 AM, unfortunatly, due to some rudder cam problems we missed the start of the first race. However, we did manage to cross the line within the four minute limit to avoid a DNS. Wind and Wave conditions combined were like nothing Tom and I have ever sailed in before. 20 Knots or so with 6 foot "Chop". We had caught one boat before we rounded A-Mark, and were about to pass another after we had rounded A and headed down to C Mark for our first downwind leg, when we just blew over as a wave lifted the sterns and a gust hit at the same time. That pretty much cemented our fate for that race. > > Race Two we got a fairly decent start, but were having trouble pointing with the rest of the fleet, and by the end of the race we only managed to stay ahead of one or two boats. > > Race three we got an excellent start, but our pointing problems continued, and after blowing a tack @ the final rounding of A-Mark we still managed to only beat one or two boats. > > Race Four we once again managed to pull off an excellent start, the wind had picked up a bit, and we were finally beginning to get the hang of sailing in these conditions. We Arrived at A-Mark in 6th position, managed a decent tack and were beginning to feel like maybe the day wasn't going to be a total loss when once again we just blew over. The wind conditions, combined with the steep chop is really quite challenging. Managed to turtle the boat and by the time we got back on our feet the whole fleet had passed us by. We decided after 5 hours of beating ourselves up that our fun cup was full, so we turned for the beach and called it a day, taking a DNS in the last race. > > Today was the first time I have ever worn a Drysuit, and I have to say that I am really quite impressed with the Stolquist Drysuit. Never once during the entire day did I ever get chilled, and after 5 hours in the most strenous conditions I have ever sailed in, and two capsizes, when I took the drysuit off, I was as dry as when we left the beach that morning. After we got back to the beach and took care of the boat, I just peeled it off, and went over to the Yacht Club for a cold beer. Makes me wonder why I didn't get one a long time ago. > > Anyway, as you can well imagine, I am one whipped puppy this evening. But, if any of you are following the results on the internet, I figured you might be wondering what the heck happened, so, now you know. Tom and I are taking the positive attitude of being encouraged by our performance in the last race prior to our capsize and hoping for better results tomorrow. > > Hope these notes from down under find all of you well and enjoying a Happy Holiday season. > > Stephen and Tom
Group Home http://www.TheBeachcats.com Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beachcats/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
