Classic Yacht Assn NZ annual regatta

[John B]

Day 1 was a spectacular and beautiful day with light winds . I was invited on Ngatira for the day along with two other WBF ers and we had great fun.
As the old saw goes about yacht racing, those who make the least mistakes win and yesterday we led a charmed race. Even after losing the countdown we managed to start and cross about 3rd in the fleet . Throughout the day in shifty conditions and wind ranging from 5 to maybe 12 knots for a while we made good calls and ended up finishing second Gaff rig to the big Thelma ( the save a classic boat from a few years ago) and ahead of Rainbow and Waitangi.
Great day , photos later.

[snow(Alan H)]

And 1st on handicap !!!! Found your camera John.................. ?
A great day was had. I'll post some pix later as well.

[snow(Alan H)]

A couple of pix below to show it was not all hard work

(click on the link at the bottom to view lots more pix)

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Steve Horsley on the helm & John Bertenshaw calling (suggesting) tactics

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Prize

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Waitangi




http://classicyacht.org.nz/forum/vie...hp?f=10&t=1138

Enjoy Alan H (snow)

[Hwyl]

The guy holding the whisker pole/boathook in one hand and the drink in the other is classic. Are you going to post the videos on here

[snow(Alan H)]

Here you go, vids below.
The regatta is a 3 day, 4 race event. Today (Sat) saw Ngatira finish with two third placing. I would like to think that was due to John B & myself not being on board. After we helped deliver a 1st in race one on Friday. Some might say it was that they did not have the compulsory John B rum & coke to steady the pre race nerves.......... We are back on board on Sunday (in fact in 9 hrs, better go to bed) & need another 1st to be 'in the money'.

Post start



Approaching the finish

[Gezzunder]

The guy holding the whisker pole/boathook in one hand and the drink in the other is classic. Are you going to post the videos on here

hehehe captures the true spirit of sailing

[Paul Pless]

hehehe captures the true spirit of sailing

Goblets no less. . .

[PatrickXavier]

I would like to think that was due to John B & myself not being on board.

Oi!

[John B]

You guys have done a great job on the photos ( most on the cya site), I have a few from day 2 but we missed most of the starts. We spent a nice night at Motuhuie sat night .
I have to upload the pics and I'll get them up.

[John B]

The sort of weather that favours smaller boats with large relative sail areas. I read somewhere a remark about not having any wind to sail with but this day was just fine. It became very light right after the start but we still had plenty of steerage and probably didn't go slower than 3 knots or so. that was just the first 1/2 hour and to the first mark. The rest... 10.. 12 knots and nice sailing for Ngatira and Wairiki in particular with their high SA to LWL ratios.
Wairiki



Ranger outside Rainbow.

a nice little bit of close manouvering at Motukorea between Waitangi and Thelma



Wraith of Odin, the Australian visitor. She's an Alden I believe.

[John B]

On the run down to Browns island Bhoy

Crossing with Thelma



and the lead back through to Isy bay we crossed with Waitangi ( well ahead of her at that stage)

Wairiki well up in the B div gaffers, really sailing well ahead of where you'd expect her to be.



a nice reach/ close reach back to the mysterious yellow buoy which was not actually Flax but which everyone went around after they saw Thelma do a U turn to go back for. Well , you can't help but make a gleeful remark when you see a boat make a big error and return down the track. Not quite so full of glee when we realised we didn't need to round it either. Cost us and the rest of the fleet 20 or 30 metres.Cost Thelma a hundred or two.

[John B]

Heading for our last windward mark and crossing the A div bermudans and modern classics

Ranger... the boat that ruled Auckland from 1938 to C1964, when Infidel / Ragtime came out.




Hornblower ahead of The big 50 ft Stewart ,Northerner. Hornblower is a C 1975 or so boat which has been extensively rebuilt and modified to bring her up to a modern performance level , and she's certainly playing giantkiller there.


Crossing with Achernar


and some parked dudes


The young fellas on the fishing boat were a laugh and good sorts.
"just go through here" points at stern of boat
" you mean right here?" Yup.. lots of laughs.

[John B]

Gleam slipping through so fast she's hard to get in focus ( as usual)



and a nice little run to the finish alongside Prize.
In a rush of blood to the head Stevey did attempt one wind up until the realisation dawned such competitiveness cost us a boat length against a boat in another division.


He stopped whippin his hair back and forth after that and we crossed the finish the boat length behind , leaving us with a handicap win in A div gaff. It was a very good overall race result too as far as position in the fleet, its a shame that there isn't an overall prize for all the classics , because I think Stevey would have been in the money there as well.

[Chip-skiff]

Brilliant, gorgeous, thrilling— what a fine set of photos.

You deserve a knighthood, at least. . .

[John B]

Cheers Chips.

[JayInOz]

An earl! And an OBE- then he'd be an earlobe Lovely pictures John B- as always. Many thanks. JayInOz

[Thad]

Good going!!

[Zane Lewis]

Was that this weekend just gone 12-13 feb??
I was out in my 15 from RAYC and saw a lot of the classics etc racing around but we had a lot more wind than i see in your pics.
Saw some very exciting sailing and had some great rides, great to see them all out.
My weekend was not so great. Boats booked in to the insurance assor.
Zane

[John B]

Thanks Jay and Thad. ( did you see Imogen.. I intended to get some close shots of her for you but she had a jib issue and I think she pulled out)

Yes Zane, friday was light , saturday was 18 through maybe ooo 22 ish or so( conservatively) and quite challenging for the smaller boats . Sunday we motored through the fleet at about 11.45 or so and it was fairly light again. I backed off and altered course to let the FF's fleet through in clean air when they rounded a mark close to the classics start.

[Zane Lewis]

I couldn't sail the Sunday due to damage.

On the saturday I had forgoten just how chopped up that harbour gets, it's been a while since I last sailed inside Rangitoto. That breeze gave us a work out thats for sure. I can see that it would give the smaller boats a hard time. We are luck to be so fine in the bow that we don'd get stopped to much but we sure do get wet. That water would come over the bow and hit the splash rail and go straight up then be blowen back into the crew. Kept the venturi drains open.

They would have apprechiated the space on the sunday.
Zane

[Thad]

Didn't pick IMOGEN out, but appreciate your looking out for her John. Cheers!!

[Larks]

Looks like you've had that typically miserable NZ weather for the regatta, I just don't know how you guys cope over there!!!

Thanks for the photos guys, will have to check the vid's at home tonight.

[John B]

I saw that damage reference earlier Zane. I hope its not too bad ... maybe you should just come on out with it and give us the gory details so we can sit back and make ooo ,ahh , nooo, really? noises accompanied by shaking of heads and statements about things that could have been worse and how lucky you were really.

[John B]

Did you see Tropic Bird Larks, aprt from her oversize dodger ( which she needed that day) she's a delight to see .Going well too. She made a tack away from the fleet that I thought was wrong but looks like it payed dividends for her. I think she came 1st or 2nd that day.

[John B]

A lot more photos loaded on our club CYA thread Here including on board Waitangi shots,for those who are interested.

[Gerarddm]

Looks like a fabulous time.

Was Rona there?

[John B]

No Gerard, Rona is based in Wellington about 500 miles south. She was shipped up here for a classics regatta once circa 2002 or so.

I can't put my hand on the photos of when she was up here.. just this one when we were tied up post race around 2002

[Larks]

Did you see Tropic Bird Larks.

I couldn't pick her, but I assume you mean from the link to the Classic Yacht site?

[Thad]

JohnB, found IMOGEN in the CYA lot. Thanks.

[John B]

Hmm, I see the problem ( Thad and Larks). It appears I have failed to, in fact, post those photos here.
A simple oversight brought on from drinking mercury flavoured tincture of red lead paint from aluminium cups whilst sanding the antifouling with 80 grit and no mask.

[John B]

day 2 was a long booked family day out on Riada and meet up on sat night with our friends.
Running late for the start , we came across Wairiki with Thomas' Mullety in tow doing oo .. looked like 2 knots into about 18 or 20. So we picked up the tow ourselves .



Jasons good nature made him (cough) very late for the start.




[img]http://i227.photobucket.com/album
s/dd48/Waione_photos/classic%20regatta%2011/IMG_8996_7.jpg[/img]

[John B]

And we stooged around the start line to see the boats we don't usually see in other divisions.

The late Des Townsons own boat, Talent

and the Townson 25 ,Crimson Dynamo


The start of the regatta would have to go to the H28's.
Very exciting to watch from our side, it must have been fantastic on the start boat. ( recomendation to future regattas.. get a dinghy hanging off that stern

[John B]

Tropic Bird powered up and flying along. I've long admired this boat as the best of the production glass H28's manufactured here in NZ.





She won that particular race.

[John B]

Imogen appeared to have an issue with her jib so we stayed well clear.. I didn't see her after . Imogen is an Albert Strange Yawl. I think I heard she's for sale but I don't know for certain.





great to see Gloriana out. Gloriana is a 1892 ( circa) Logan Brothers 2 1/12 rater. She's significant as the first of the Logan Brothers own boats , up until then you'd see the older style Robert Logan snr boats . The brothers went on soon after her to boats like Moana and Rainbow... Rainbow in particular being the new generation spoon bow, powerful midsection boats of the late 1890's and on.


not the ideal conditions for her

[John B]

The square top lads seemed to be well in control in Vamarie, the mullet boat we towed up to the start in Riada. Do you call that sail a squaretop.. maybe a fathead would be better.
Mulleties fill the same position in NZ as Couta boats do in Melbourne and Catboats do in the US, smacks in the UK. Originally working fishing boats they needed competent sailing qualities to get to market and that often lead to giant sail areas and racing. Vamarie has been altered to a cruiser as you see.







and further up the course approching motuihe green, Frances was loving the breeze.

[John B]

A few more from around Motuihe


The lovely Townson 25 again

Spray, the last of or one of the last of the Logans....

One of the K class boats



Spray again

[John B]

And last but...




Ngatira , playing with those fishing boats again,



and the Townson chasing the modern and more common version of the Mullet boat ( Skullet) with big fractional bermudan rig they run in the racing class...... doing very well to be there with the mullety I would have thought. Chopped em back on the wind maybe.

[Larks]

Great photo's as usual John, thanks for adding the Tropic Bird pic's, she does look great!! Always nice to see pics of Ngatira under sail as well, and such nice looking sails!!!

I hadn't noticed your track on the rail before, how well does that work for you? Is it secure/strong enough? I take it by the way it is shaped that it drops down.

[John B]

Hell yeah.( since 1975 anyways) see the oblique cuts?... thats the gate. Pull the pin and it drops down so you can use the boarding ladder.( you have to slide the traveller stop over to do it as you see.)


Thats the fish cutting board holding it away from hanging vertical.

[Thad]

Thanks again. I was looking at Maurice Griffith's book DREAM SHIPS today and in a section on running rigs for the trades he discusses the double jib/spinnaker used on IMOGEN by Cpt Otway Waller single handing to the Canaries -- was that on the way to NZ? I also saw on the CYA site that they say she is for sale.

[John B]

Ah! I knew I'd seen it somewhere.

She was restored in 2000 and imported here in 2001 it says. Our newsletter in pdf form so I can't copy the text here.

http://www.classicyacht.org.nz/sites...ebruary_11.pdf