January 2000 - Akaroa New Year Regatta

The The round the harbour was especially difficult, with more than 1/3 of the fleet failing to finish. This year there was a good mix of monohulls - lasers, 470s, FFs, a Javelin, Phase IIs, Finns and Laser IIs.

VR was the only keen R on Day one with the others all turning up enmasse on 2 Jan. Dave Pairman generously let Tim helm Meridian Energy just to make things a bit more fun and hopefully slow them down a bit (didn't do any good though). Neither did Lindas request for ladies first from VR. Day 1. The Finns were out in force and always hard to beat on handicap. VR line honours Race 1 & 2 (Tikao Cup)

Day 2.Another Finn and the R fleet arrives. Nice Southerly breezes.
Race 3. Pete and Tony showed the way on Dirty Dancing and picked the first kite run just right to get a commanding lead by the second mark. They were followed in by Meridian Energy and VR. Philip and ringin crew Kent, were starting to get their act together and showed good speed.
After a quick lunch it was time to take out a few volunteer crews. Elizabeth and Tony both had good rides in the 12-15kt southerly and made it look pretty easy.
Race 4. Montana Bakery arrived thinking that it was just a normal R Class event where nothing happens before 1:30pm so missed the morning race. Meridian Energy was off from the start, with the remaining Rs clearing the fleet by the first mark. It was then a procession with Dirty Dancing, VR, Gryphon and Montana Bakery .

Day 3. The Round the Harbour Anticlockwise course using the cruising club marks.
Start Club -> Childrens Bay -> Lushingtons Bay -> Robinsons Bay -> French Farm -> Tikao -> Wainui -> Onuku -> Green Point -> Club.

Race 5. Mark Foy start in a drifter with a Southerly Gale forecast. The fleet was divided into 5 groups (based on results from the previous 4 races) with the Rs not surprisingly in group 5, starting 50 minutes after the first group and 30 minutes after group 4. The Rs were just a bit casual about the whole thing and where mucking about with lunch and getting organised when the start time passed.

Eventually we launched at 12:10pm or so. Much to the bewilderment of those at the club. After walking the boats almost to the startline we eventually made it back over the line after about 10 minutes of drifting when some breeze finally appeared. Meridian Energy was first to childrens bay and slowly edged away. The breeze built to only just single wiring downwind so Meridian Energy buggered off and left us. The R's ghosted out of the mist and caught the tail enders of the main fleet by Lushington Bay with Meridian Energy hauling in everyone else bar one by Robinsons Bay (1/4 way round the course). They made short work of them and disappeared back into the mist.

VR and Montana Bakery raced closely all the way to the French Farm mark with the lead swapping a good many times. The breeze was now building, as was the chop. Visibility worsened noticably after Tikao. The Rs were now in the first three places with only 1/3 of the race to go. Montana Bakery got blown down halfway up to Wainui so gave VR a bit of breathing space. Coming into Wainui looked a bit dodgy, but nothing prepared anyone for how bad it really was. Wind shear and 5-30kts in all directions.Meridian Energy had already swum here, though we had to beat that information out of them. VR got round the mark safely then had two big swims allowing a couple of the fleet through. Daniel and Paul on Montana Bakery thought their luck had changed seeing VR mucking about waiting for them, not realising that Wainui would make them decide they'd had enough for the day. After spending 10 minutes getting out of Wainui, VR found the breeze and chop had increased to the point where the two-sail reach across the harbour to Onuku was pretty wild @#$@%@ dodgy (fortunately Linda being an inexperienced crew did not appreciate how wild it really was, so was still enjoying herself, and proceeded to whoop with delight all the way across the harbour). Visibility was such that from the middle of the Harbour neither the Onuku nor Wainui where visible (where the hell are we?????). Round the Onuku mark and a wild kite ride down wind and we were home.
Meridian Energy won by 18 minutes, lucky they wasted quite a bit of time at Wainui, otherwise I'd hate to see what they do to our handicap next year. Their elapsed time was 3h30 mins with only 2h10mins on the water, good effort by Dave and Tim.
The Akaroa Mail reported some of the gusts were recorded at "up to 40kts" so the Weather Report was accurate for once, no wonder we felt a bit overpowered at times.

VR were second overall on handicap for the Regatta with a fine effort by Linda in her second time crewing Rs.

The Club deserves special mention for the excellent contest, facilities, and for looking after everyone so well with hot food and drinks due to the very cold conditions on day 3. A few of the younger crews in the fleet had ended up slightly the worse for the cold.

All the R guys had an excellent time and are looking forward to participating in Next Years New Years Regatta.

Photos Elizabeth Royds

Check out the Dolphin Café and Bar Sprints in December News