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Leander 2000 Commentary - Day 4, Action Sprints, Boat Race

by rclass — last modified 2007-06-20T16:57:29+13:00
What can one say about Sunday. The day dawned with an angry nor-west sky, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. The wind at this stage was peaking at 50kph on the harbour. Finally arriving at the harbour, mixed feelings were rife amont the crews.

27 February 2000

Leander Trophy Day 4

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO DANIEL....

Morning

What can one say about Sunday. The day dawned with an angry nor-west sky, so I rolled over and went back to sleep. The wind at this stage was peaking at 50kph on the harbour. Finally arriving at the harbour, mixed feelings were rife amont the crews. Sean knew that he had to start the race in order to protect his position, but didn't really want to go out in those conditions. I decided that the safest option was to take a ride on a rescue boat for the morning to save myself for the sprint series in the pm. Good option. The wind went from 50 to 0 in a matter of minutes, leaving the fleet to drift motionlessly. The race was eventually called off. Sean had won his first Leander. I was looking foward to lunch.

Action Sprint Series

High hopes were held for the ACTION SPRINT SERIES to be held that afternoon. However, the wind was to make it very interesting. Constantly changing from N/W to N/E, the crowd of 150 people or so was treated to some interesting sailing in the first heats. The 200 metre long course close to the shore made for some exciting, high impact sailing. Five boats from each heat went through to the final which was eventually won in fine style by Dan and Steve "Gannett" fortune on Acid Rock, taking out two of the races. However, carnage was rife, with a boom and a centreboard breaking during the racing. Thanks to Rick "Montgomery" Chapman for the expert commentry and to all the sponsors of this great high profile event.

Boat Race

There was still one race to go in the event however. The teams drinking race. Canterbury was set the task of defending their title gained in Wellington the previous year. Auckland won the right to challenge the Canterbury team over Wellington, with an emphatic win. It was then time to face the Canterbury A Team of Bevan "Bogan" Lang, Jason "Love Muscle" Russell, Steve "the Gannett" Fortune, Mr Steve Mac and Kevin the Kevin. Even after two races, the Canty boys held out in fine style, pasting the pathetic Auckland challenge. Better luck next time boys.

Daniel.