Leander 2000 Commentary - Day 3

Saturday 26 February 2000

Leander Trophy Day 3

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO DANIEL....

Oh goodie. Looks like another light wind race. I like those. We go good. Make that a no wind race. Or rather a race to see who can get towed back to the yacht club first for lunch. MMMM lunch. An here comes the wind. Murphy's Law isn't it??

Well, it looks like Team NZ is off to another fine victory. Time to hit the water again. And now the breeze is starting to really come it. Our combined crew weight of around 100-110 kilos is going to take a bit of a hammering. After a lot of stuffing around due to a couple of premature starts (not us I might add...) an extremely conservative start saw us off and rocketing around the course. Well...that is until the top mark. Its very hard with a novice skipper to turn these boats around at the best of times, let alone in a stinking N/E wind and huge sea. Round, turn, splash, gurgle, bugger. Up, round, splash, gurgle, bugger. Times three (or more...). Yay...finally we're up and away. Damn. The spinnaker is so tangled it won't even come out of the bag. Thats it. Time to go home for a hot shower. Call me a useless piker, (I was just trying to save the boat...honest...)but some serious socialising is calling. Off the the Wunder Bar.

TIM'S BIT...for...Meridian Energy

Morning

The morning race saw the wind change four times on the way to the start line, resulting in a delay until after the start of the America's Cup.

RACE FIVE

After two false starts, the fleet charged into a 15 knot N/E with steep seas. The fleet was fairly dispersed by the top mark, with Dimension and Stagecoach well ahead of everyone, with Meridian Energy leading the rest of the fleet. Most of the fleet went round the course with fast rides and few spills. The wing mark was tight and required a short reach before setting the bag. For the final leg down to the finish, Meridian Energy rounded the top mark first with AMI then Chemical Weapon in quick procession. The positions remained unchanged over the finish, with Meridian Energy claiming their first line honours of the race.

RACE SIX

A clean start in the second race of the day gave a lot of boats good starts and a bit of congestion round the top mark. Dimension and Stagecoach led the way again. The seas were very big at the top mark, with many boats going down the mine. Meridian Energy and Sailing New Zealand Magazine to name a few. The experience of Dimension (the 'guru'), Stagecoach and Courier Post showed through, to take the top three places.