Leander 2020 - NPCL, Lyttelton Harbour

Day 1

Race 1 was run in a pleasant 12 Kn NE. Pre-start was somewhat fraught: L3 attacked the mark laying boat and damaged their prod while TheVirtual managed to foul Merde with a dodgy late tack which resulted in them being given a penalty which they completed immediately after the race start. Despite the penalty, TheVirtual was still able to lead the fleet round the top mark closely followed by Merde and GreyR who were fighting for second place. Merde was able to move ahead at the end of the first lap, but GreyR's superior downwind speed meant they were able come though with a safe second place.

Lunch was followed by Races 2 & 3 in a 15-18 Kn NE. Tragedy struck L3 who broke their rudder foil while checking their kite just before the race start forcing them to retire for the day.

Merde got off to a blinder in Race 2, seemingly in their own special breeze, and building a good lead by the top mark. TheVirual and GreyR closed in downwind to be closer by the bottom mark. Upwind was tight with Merde and TheVirtual rounding the top mark together, with a slight gap back to GreyR.

Race 3 was more of a procession with TheVirtual putting on the afterburners, and Merde safely ahead of GreyR. Rampant were in a great 4th place until the centreboard spectacularly disintegrated on their downwind kite run.

Day 2

Very tricky northerly conditions with 12-18Kn and swirly gusts with holes made for tricky sailing conditions for all day 2 races.

Race 4. Merde managed another of their trademark special breeze starts and worked the difficult beat really well to have a substantial lead by the top mark. TheVirtual threw caution to the wind and pushed hard downwind to be back within 30 seconds by the bottom mark. Merde managed the beat well, but TheVirtual carried massive breeze in from the channel side to just edge round the mark ahead of Merde and lead for the rest of the race. L3 and Rampant were out on spare foils and were looking good on both the up and downwind beats.

Race 5. Merde again worked the beat well. TheVirtual and GreyR took risks to try and catchup, but were instead punished with a few swims, leaving Merde to romp to a comfortable win. L3 was showing bursts of blistering foiling brilliance – but the shifty conditions and under-built gear crap-outs meant there wasn’t quite enough brilliance to stave off Rampant in the battle for last

Race 6 followed lunch. L3 was forced to revert to conventional foils as their spare rudder was dodgy. GreyR and TheVirtual opted for a port end start, which provided some excitement for the start boat with close crosses and dips, followed by a spectacular swim from GreyR when their trapeze tang let go. It wasn't the end of the bad luck for Steve and Tony, on GreyR, as their kite block failed meaning they only had to 2 sails available for the race. Rampant was doing well in the fuller breeze, to be in for 3^rd place. But alas their kite halyard sheaved at the last hoist so the bag was only about 2/3^rds up. The lads gallantly tried to defend in awkward mode, but both the GreyR foxes and L3 wound ‘em in the last couple o hundred metres – disappointment!

Definitely a hard day at the office.

Day 3

A few extra boats out, and a bit of something for everyone – varying from a light warm breeze for the 1^st race to a chilly 25 knot sou-easter in the last

Race 7. A good race for the non-foilers, with 3 – 4 knot zephyrs caressing the fleet. The Hogg boys (L2) won the start and lead at the top mark. The snot-green Massive charged hard down-hill to arguably take the lead at the first down-wind rounding – only to hit the mark, and just when TheVirtual caught a micro-puff to limpidly foil to within 50m. So Massive hit the bottom mark again for good measure. Massive and TheVirtual finally untangled and the chase was on; but the conditions stayed light, letting L2 lead from start to finish – giving the crew Kasper his first win, in his first Leander race. Nice

The course was re-set for Race 8, which started in a building SE. Merde fluked a clean and fast port entry start and sailed a blinder first leg… only to over-stand the top mark, and thus sail an expensive extra km, gifting another win to BlinkingVirtual. The top-mark was helpfully placed in the erratically shifty and gusty lee of poo-point, giving some frustration in the rounding. But the flat water and cleaner breeze thereafter let the foilers touch the best speeds of the contest

The breeze for Race 9 was now strong and gusty. The fleet clustered around the heavily biased pin, with current and swell adding to the fun. ThatFlippingVirtual least muffed the start and got away first. They were never threatened thereafter, with GreyR and Merde struggling to maintain speed in the big holes and fluky conditions. Actually there was some pretty spectacular high-speed windward dismounts. The breeze built to 25+ during the race, making the bear-aways hairy. TheVirtual bagged a comfortable win and sealed a well-deserved contest victory. Meanwhile, Merde muffed the last, no-pressure, gybe and so slow-speed crashed into the start boat and swam through the finish; and GreyR had a smoking run home. A great race and a great contest

 As always, NPCL and the amazing club volunteers ran a superb Leander Trophy and Sprints Series.

Thanks to:

• Race Officer T Taylor aboard Retriever Timer/Recorder Graeme Grant
• Rescue One Support Boat and course laying Kees Tabak, Marty Waldron, Tony Lee, Bob Gordon, Mike Bourke, Richard Matterson, Tony Carrabes and Trevor
• Bruce Hall as shore base

Special thanks for funding from Pub Charity Limited.

Leander Trophy Final Results

 Day 4 Sprints

Sprints were run in 4-6 Kn NE with a strong incoming tide.

Super Cup Sprint Results