Rum Race
Raced in the Rum race today at Victor Harbour. Course consisted of a downwind start to a mark, right turn to the bluff which was a tight reach, take the mark to port and tight to broad reach back past Granite Island through a gate and across the bay, take another mark to port and beat back to the club. The wind was off shore, blowing 15 to 20 but with some lighter patches and very gusty and shifty, typical offshore.
16 cats, a good cross section of classes, two Mozzies, me on Bullet and Peter and Simon Hallsworth on The Young Mariner.
The Mozzies hung back at the start and the spinnaker boats hooned off into the distance, it was blowing, I stayed towards the front of the non spinnaker boats and rounded the mark after a short downwind just behind the slowest of the spinnaker boats. Tight reached and beat across past Granite island to the Bluff, the gusty condition was making me work hard on the mainsheet to keep the boat driving plus the Young Mariner was close behind me, good motivation. Speed was touching 14knots and it seemed to take forever to get to the mark, had a very good rounding, caught a little wave and didnt even slow down as I gybed and and got into the lower hook and footstrap for the next 15 minutes of tight to broad reaching to the next mark. Speed had come up a bit 16's now, still the Nacra 5.8s where starting to get past me, later on they told me they hit 19.2knots on that reach. Had a Ok mark rounding onto the beat, the Young Mariner right behind me and we sailed in towards the shore in full pressure, most cats had tacked immediately towards the finish line a couple of miles upwind but going inshore looked like it would pay with a lift along the shore. When we tacked the Young Mariner had managed to overtake me by a few boat lengths so it looked like a good race to the finish. As we lifted upwind towards the finish the wind lighten a little and I managed to draw away from the Young Mariner and finish 31 seconds ahead.
First across the line was an F18, Mozzys where about 5 minutes behind picking up second and third on handicap. An Yvonne won the event on handicap, results http:/
The Victor Harbour Yacht club put on a great event, I think everyone enjoyed a fast sail. Unfortunately the rum I won is already half gone, <img src=
alt=
/> I will go back and try for a bigger bottle next year.
http://www.vhyc.org.au/
Darryn
Mozzie
1782
Hi Gary,
the yardsticks are wrong for 5 boats including the yardstick winner.
The first cat over the line was a Nacra Infusion, yardstick used was 73.5, should have been 70.
The yardstick winner Yvonne (from the host club) used a yardstick of 88 but that was their pre-spinnaker yardstick. SA and VYC yardstick for a Yvonne is 85.5. So they wouldn't have beat me by 2 seconds using that yardstick.
Blade F18, should have used 70 instead of 78.
Nacra 5.8 (1626 Bay Tram)with spinnaker should have used 70 instead of 72.
A class should have used 71 instead of 71.5.
These sorts of problems seem to be normal in cat sailing, perhaps that is the true reason for the decline of our sport? All I want is a fair chance at a win.
Darryn
Mozzie
1782

I don't think it's anything exclusive to cat sailing. It's sailing in general - the majority of regatta results produced these days contain mistakes.
But these results are worse than usual. You don't have to accept them as they are. If the club isn't prepared to fix up their results and publish new ones you should talk to Yachting SA. They should be right on to this as it's really bad for the sport. Hell I'm inclined to contact them myself. But best to ask the club first.
Yes, it isn't just cat sailing, Moth foilers, IRC boats with canting keels and stripped out sports boat are all causing grief on yardstick. How do sailors enjoy the win if they know they have a bogus yardstick?
There are some classes though where the yardstick is to low, I check results from all over then calculate what the cats actually sailed against a class I consider reliable, F18 (70)and F16(71.5) seem to be a little low and I would bring them both up 1 to start with if I was doing yardsticks.
Darryn
Mozzie
1782

Well that's exactly how the yardsticks are managed. Have a chat to John Donaldson and see if you can persuade him. I can give you his contact details if you're interested.
I told him the Mozzie with spinnaker handicap should go down and it went up so don't expect miracles <img src=
alt=
/>
If the results of the Rum Race didn't go up till after the event then it should be no problem for the club to correct them.

How does this set of results look? Well done. It was a close race but you won Darryn.
| Place | Sail No | Boat Name | Class | Skipper | YS | Elapsd | YS Cor d T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1782 | Bullet | Mosquito | D Kopp | 84.0 | 49:36 | 59:03 |
| 2 | 1800 | The Young Mariner | Mosquito | P Hallsworth | 84.0 | 50:07 | 59:40 |
| 3 | 515 | Red Zepplin | Yvonne | P Mahoney | 85.5 | 51:56 | 01:00:44 |
| 4 | 1684 | Carmma | Arrow | C Pearsons | 91.0 | 56:37 | 01:02:13 |
| 5 | 617 | Painter and Docker | F18 | S Kroon | 70.0 | 44:01 | 01:02:53 |
| 6 | 1626 | Bay Tram | Nacra5.8Spin | J Wright | 70.0 | 44:25 | 01:03:27 |
| 7 | 2 | Lone Wolf | F14 | T Barrett | 77.0 | 49:15 | 01:03:58 |
| 8 | 1633 | Ten Tenths | Nacra5.8 | M Vaughan | 72.0 | 47:01 | 01:05:18 |
| 9 | 1635 | Two Up | Nacra5.8 | T Hollingsworth | 72.0 | 47:51 | 01:06:28 |
| 10 | 332 | Infectious | F16 | D James | 71.0 | 47:40 | 01:07:08 |
| 11 | 300 | Blade Cats Aust | F18 | K Hibbert | 70.0 | 47:10 | 01:07:23 |
| 12 | 7 | Might & Power | AClass | P Short | 71.0 | 48:34 | 01:08:24 |
| 13 | 1 | Blade | F16 | W Kruger | 71.0 | 49:15 | 01:09:22 |
| 14 | 405 | Virtigo | F16 | B Pearsons | 71.0 | 50:43 | 01:11:26 |
| 15 | 501 | Ricoshea | Yvonne | P Hawkins | 85.5 | 01:01:08 | 01:11:30 |
Hi Darryn all the rum races I have sailed have resulted in a Yvonne winning due to wrong course sailed or wrong yardstick being applied. As you no I had no chance of winning was just happy to be first F16 over the line. Race was fun wish there was more down wind rather than the two super long reaches we had but maybe next year.
I just got an email back from Yachting SA who have discussed the situation with VHYC. YSA outlined my options and advised I ring the Commodore. After talking to Robert the results are going to be redone and corrected. The club used the old Yvonne yardstick which was reprinted in our current YSA book, VHYC tell me they didn't get the email sent by YSA on 4th Dec 2007 advising the updated yardsticks where available on the website.
Tim, it looks like the results you have calculated will end up being the final result. Thanks for urging me to contact YSA, they are very helpful, and I have learnt good stuff today.
Darryn

F16's have yardstick of 71.5
Damn! That's how the mistakes happen!
You're right of course. I've re-calculated and the places stay the same. Sorry you didn't catch the Nacra 🙂
| Place | Sail No | Boat Name | Class | Skipper | YS | Elapsd | YS Cor d T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1782 | Bullet | Mosquito | D Kopp | 84.0 | 49:36 | 59:03 |
| 2 | 1800 | The Young Mariner | Mosquito | P Hallsworth | 84.0 | 50:07 | 59:40 |
| 3 | 515 | Red Zepplin | Yvonne | P Mahoney | 85.5 | 51:56 | 01:00:44 |
| 4 | 1684 | Carmma | Arrow | C Pearsons | 91.0 | 56:37 | 01:02:13 |
| 5 | 617 | Painter and Docker | F18 | S Kroon | 70.0 | 44:01 | 01:02:53 |
| 6 | 1626 | Bay Tram | Nacra5.8Spin | J Wright | 70.0 | 44:25 | 01:03:27 |
| 7 | 2 | Lone Wolf | F14 | T Barrett | 77.0 | 49:15 | 01:03:58 |
| 8 | 1633 | Ten Tenths | Nacra5.8 | M Vaughan | 72.0 | 47:01 | 01:05:18 |
| 9 | 1635 | Two Up | Nacra5.8 | T Hollingsworth | 72.0 | 47:51 | 01:06:28 |
| 10 | 332 | Infectious | F16 | D James | 71.5 | 47:40 | 01:06:40 |
| 11 | 300 | Blade Cats Aust | F18 | K Hibbert | 70.0 | 47:10 | 01:07:23 |
| 12 | 7 | Might & Power | AClass | P Short | 71.0 | 48:34 | 01:08:24 |
| 13 | 1 | Blade | F16 | W Kruger | 71.5 | 49:15 | 01:08:53 |
| 14 | 405 | Virtigo | F16 | B Pearsons | 71.5 | 50:43 | 01:10:56 |
| 15 | 501 | Ricoshea | Yvonne | P Hawkins | 85.5 | 01:01:08 | 01:11:30 |
regards
No Goolwa to Milang race. VHYC ran a simulated Goolwa to Milang on the ocean earlier in the year. I hope they run it again next year with a longer course. Milang Regatta Club was running races up to close of the season, I hear they have been moving the race course further out into the lake. I dont think they have given up on the lake, lets just hope we get some rain and some of it makes it to lake Alexandrina. Your on the coast aren't you Jeff?
Darryn
I'm at Kingston SE, I was going to the Milang Easter regatta with the Nacra but the organisers basically said there wasn't enough water. You made me jealous with your Rum race write up because I was gardening and thats crap.
I'm planning to do some of Adelaide Sailing clubs winter series, are there any other regattas planned during winter that you know of
regards
No Regattas this time of year in SA, the next racing I can find is,
1st June, Adelaide Sailing Club, 1pm start.
8th June, Christies Sailing Club, midday start, racing against Trailer Sailers, I have sailed in there winter series for the last couple of years, its good practice, I will probably be the only cat.
22nd June, Christies Sailing Club, midday start.
1st July, Adelaide Sailing Club, 1pm start.
20th July, Christies Sailing Club, midday start.
3rd August, ASC, 1pm start.
6th September, ASC Hot up Series, 1pm start.
Sailing continues until winter 09.
If your up for a drive the Sauna Sail at Latrobe Valley is a big event, 7th-9th June.
Darryn
G'day Darryn,
Would the race in July be on the 6th at Adelaide? 1st is a Tuesday. <img src=
alt=
/>
Depending on rosters I may be over in S.A. the weekend of the 5th and 6th July. Might bring Now What? for a mid winter freeze. <img src=
alt=
/>
I'm also after a new mast, and could pick up one from S.A. while I'm there.
We'll see how the roster works out. If not it'll be August when I come over.
alt=
/>.
In light wind some of them are quick, especially downwind, Masrm's, Young Rockets etc. Plus some of the crews were cat sailors and won Nationals back when sailing was a much bigger sport so the post race discussions can provide some very useful info.
The yardsticks dont work to well comparing cats and TS's so the results are more dependent on wind strength then sailing skill but its not about the results, everyone who sails wins.
Darryn
Mozzie
1782

well done darryn, just got home from another shift away and always keen to read up on who is sailing and where. i have won the rum race before also but on a uni-maran. yes, i have come over from the dark side. i hear they are building the weir at wellington and then opening up the entire lower lakes to salt water. which will be great for sailing, but not good for pastoralists who rely on the lake water. however it is all gone though. i will be sailing at either milang or murray bridge from now on as we have bought 75 acres at langhorne creek. however if there is no water anywhere i may have to make the long haul to christies still.

75 acres will take some mowing, I guess you have more room for the horses to roam, plenty of good sailing around there IF they build the weir but do you really think it will happen? I have never sailed at Murray Bridge, what sort of cats sail there?
Darryn

Darryn,
Murray bridge is fun and fast but certainly need to be on your toes.
I have not sailed there for a few years now but used to have a mossie and stingrays and my A....and reaching across the river to a gybe mark I thought would be fun, and a chance for a breather until I saw that the stingrays were double trapping, heading to the river bank as fast as you can go is not for the faint hearted.....managed to do more damage there to the A than anywhere else I have sailed.....but fun.
I don't know how many boats are there at the moment but know they would welcome a fleet of mossies with open arms...food for thought and maybe when they have more water.
Let me know if you are interested as Peter and I would be starter too, I guess...along with a few from Barmera I would think.
David
Banh Sidhe
Hi all,
Adelaide Sailing Clubs winter series starts this Sunday 1pm.
http:/
Christies winter series start date has been changed from Sunday 8/6/08 to 15/6/08.
Darryn
Mozzie
1782

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