Young 88 Race 2 - The SSANZ PIC 100 Report by Gary Fowler - Paddy Wagon
Date: 30 July 2023
The weather forecast for the SSANZ PIC 100 was much more civilised than that for the PIC 60 on the 1 July, so we had a great fleet of 15 Young 88s. The weather was better than forecast and the showers held off and the race was shortened and delayed by 30 minutes to let the breeze to fill.
The course became:
Start at Northern Leading
Motutapu to Port
Through the Rakino Channel
To the Tiri Channel Navy Buoy (to starboard)
To the Haystack (to starboard).
Motutapu to starboard
To the finish off Northern Leading.
The off the wind start with a starboard reach to Emu Point was followed by a flat off run against the tide through the Motuhie Channel. Some boats gybed into the various bays along the Motutapu coast to avoid the tide so there was a bit of spinnaker handling training for those of us who rarely venture forward of the mast. The wind was variable in both direction and strength and positions changed several times up to Rakino.
Once clear of Motutapu the wind became slightly more consistent but still variable. A beam reach to Navy buoy again saw boats change position several times, except that Flash Gordon was already out in front. The Y88s seemed to bunch around Navy Buoy and the next leg was a close fetch to the Haystack with the fleet in close attendance.
After rounding the Haystack, it was a beat through the Motuhie Channel. Some boats stayed on starboard towards Waiheke while others favoured the Rakino and Motutapu side of the course. The tide was with us until Emu Point, but it was relatively smooth through the Motutapu Channel. After Emu Point it was a predominantly port tack through to the finish off Northern Leading.
As always, the racing was close with 8 boats in the middle of the fleet finishing within 7 minutes of each other after a 7-hour race.
Congratulations to Flash Gordon for the win and showing everybody else how it should be done. Thanks also to SSANZ for a well organised race and series. Those on the start / finish boat were great. It must have been hard work receiving all the radio check-ins and finishing notifications.
