Raced in the Rum race today at Victor Harbour. Course consisted of a downwind start to a mark, right turn to the bluff which was a tight reach, take the mark to port and tight to broad reach back past Granite Island through a gate and across the bay, take another mark to port and beat back to the club. The wind was off shore, blowing 15 to 20 but with some lighter patches and very gusty and shifty, typical offshore.

16 cats, a good cross section of classes, two Mozzies, me on Bullet and Peter and Simon Hallsworth on The Young Mariner.

The Mozzies hung back at the start and the spinnaker boats hooned off into the distance, it was blowing, I stayed towards the front of the non spinnaker boats and rounded the mark after a short downwind just behind the slowest of the spinnaker boats. Tight reached and beat across past Granite island to the Bluff, the gusty condition was making me work hard on the mainsheet to keep the boat driving plus the Young Mariner was close behind me, good motivation. Speed was touching 14knots and it seemed to take forever to get to the mark, had a very good rounding, caught a little wave and didnt even slow down as I gybed and and got into the lower hook and footstrap for the next 15 minutes of tight to broad reaching to the next mark. Speed had come up a bit 16's now, still the Nacra 5.8s where starting to get past me, later on they told me they hit 19.2knots on that reach. Had a Ok mark rounding onto the beat, the Young Mariner right behind me and we sailed in towards the shore in full pressure, most cats had tacked immediately towards the finish line a couple of miles upwind but going inshore looked like it would pay with a lift along the shore. When we tacked the Young Mariner had managed to overtake me by a few boat lengths so it looked like a good race to the finish. As we lifted upwind towards the finish the wind lighten a little and I managed to draw away from the Young Mariner and finish 31 seconds ahead.

First across the line was an F18, Mozzys where about 5 minutes behind picking up second and third on handicap. An Yvonne won the event on handicap, results http://www.vhyc.org.au/Results/Rum_Race_08.htm

The Victor Harbour Yacht club put on a great event, I think everyone enjoyed a fast sail. Unfortunately the rum I won is already half gone, <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I will go back and try for a bigger bottle next year.
http://www.vhyc.org.au/
Darryn
Mozzie
1782

Hi Darryn,

interesting results, looks like Nacra 18square was fastest, must have been quick. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> 3 Mins ahead of Blade F18 which seems to have a odd Yardstick?

Hi Gary,

the yardsticks are wrong for 5 boats including the yardstick winner.

The first cat over the line was a Nacra Infusion, yardstick used was 73.5, should have been 70.

The yardstick winner Yvonne (from the host club) used a yardstick of 88 but that was their pre-spinnaker yardstick. SA and VYC yardstick for a Yvonne is 85.5. So they wouldn't have beat me by 2 seconds using that yardstick.

Blade F18, should have used 70 instead of 78.

Nacra 5.8 (1626 Bay Tram)with spinnaker should have used 70 instead of 72.

A class should have used 71 instead of 71.5.

These sorts of problems seem to be normal in cat sailing, perhaps that is the true reason for the decline of our sport? All I want is a fair chance at a win.


Darryn
Mozzie
1782

I don't think it's anything exclusive to cat sailing. It's sailing in general - the majority of regatta results produced these days contain mistakes.

But these results are worse than usual. You don't have to accept them as they are. If the club isn't prepared to fix up their results and publish new ones you should talk to Yachting SA. They should be right on to this as it's really bad for the sport. Hell I'm inclined to contact them myself. But best to ask the club first.

I emailed the club Monday morning, no reply yet but I dont really expect one. The full results were not available at the club so couldn't deal with it Sunday unfortunately.

Darryn
Mozzie
1782

Yes, it isn't just cat sailing, Moth foilers, IRC boats with canting keels and stripped out sports boat are all causing grief on yardstick. How do sailors enjoy the win if they know they have a bogus yardstick?

There are some classes though where the yardstick is to low, I check results from all over then calculate what the cats actually sailed against a class I consider reliable, F18 (70)and F16(71.5) seem to be a little low and I would bring them both up 1 to start with if I was doing yardsticks.

Darryn
Mozzie
1782

Well that's exactly how the yardsticks are managed. Have a chat to John Donaldson and see if you can persuade him. I can give you his contact details if you're interested.

I told him the Mozzie with spinnaker handicap should go down and it went up so don't expect miracles <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

If the results of the Rum Race didn't go up till after the event then it should be no problem for the club to correct them.

How does this set of results look? Well done. It was a close race but you won Darryn.

Rum Race - Mixed Class YS results

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Class	Skipper	YS	Elapsd	YS Cor d T
1	1782	Bullet	Mosquito	D Kopp	84.0	49:36	59:03
2	1800	The Young Mariner	Mosquito	P Hallsworth	84.0	50:07	59:40
3	515	Red Zepplin	Yvonne	P Mahoney	85.5	51:56	01:00:44
4	1684	Carmma	Arrow	C Pearsons	91.0	56:37	01:02:13
5	617	Painter and Docker	F18	S Kroon	70.0	44:01	01:02:53
6	1626	Bay Tram	Nacra5.8Spin	J Wright	70.0	44:25	01:03:27
7	2	Lone Wolf	F14	T Barrett	77.0	49:15	01:03:58
8	1633	Ten Tenths	Nacra5.8	M Vaughan	72.0	47:01	01:05:18
9	1635	Two Up	Nacra5.8	T Hollingsworth	72.0	47:51	01:06:28
10	332	Infectious	F16	D James	71.0	47:40	01:07:08
11	300	Blade Cats Aust	F18	K Hibbert	70.0	47:10	01:07:23
12	7	Might & Power	AClass	P Short	71.0	48:34	01:08:24
13	1	Blade	F16	W Kruger	71.0	49:15	01:09:22
14	405	Virtigo	F16	B Pearsons	71.0	50:43	01:11:26
15	501	Ricoshea	Yvonne	P Hawkins	85.5	01:01:08	01:11:30

F16's have yardstick of 71.5

Hi Darryn all the rum races I have sailed have resulted in a Yvonne winning due to wrong course sailed or wrong yardstick being applied. As you no I had no chance of winning was just happy to be first F16 over the line. Race was fun wish there was more down wind rather than the two super long reaches we had but maybe next year.

I just got an email back from Yachting SA who have discussed the situation with VHYC. YSA outlined my options and advised I ring the Commodore. After talking to Robert the results are going to be redone and corrected. The club used the old Yvonne yardstick which was reprinted in our current YSA book, VHYC tell me they didn't get the email sent by YSA on 4th Dec 2007 advising the updated yardsticks where available on the website.

Tim, it looks like the results you have calculated will end up being the final result. Thanks for urging me to contact YSA, they are very helpful, and I have learnt good stuff today.

Darryn

Are they going to give you your bottle of RUM?

Great result Darryn, you didn't happen to hear any whispers regarding a Goolwa to Milang race this year or have they given up on the lake.
regards

F16's have yardstick of 71.5

Damn! That's how the mistakes happen! You're right of course. I've re-calculated and the places stay the same. Sorry you didn't catch the Nacra :)

Rum Run YS results

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Class	Skipper	YS	Elapsd	YS Cor d T
1	1782	Bullet	Mosquito	D Kopp	84.0	49:36	59:03
2	1800	The Young Mariner	Mosquito	P Hallsworth	84.0	50:07	59:40
3	515	Red Zepplin	Yvonne	P Mahoney	85.5	51:56	01:00:44
4	1684	Carmma	Arrow	C Pearsons	91.0	56:37	01:02:13
5	617	Painter and Docker	F18	S Kroon	70.0	44:01	01:02:53
6	1626	Bay Tram	Nacra5.8Spin	J Wright	70.0	44:25	01:03:27
7	2	Lone Wolf	F14	T Barrett	77.0	49:15	01:03:58
8	1633	Ten Tenths	Nacra5.8	M Vaughan	72.0	47:01	01:05:18
9	1635	Two Up	Nacra5.8	T Hollingsworth	72.0	47:51	01:06:28
10	332	Infectious	F16	D James	71.5	47:40	01:06:40
11	300	Blade Cats Aust	F18	K Hibbert	70.0	47:10	01:07:23
12	7	Might & Power	AClass	P Short	71.0	48:34	01:08:24
13	1	Blade	F16	W Kruger	71.5	49:15	01:08:53
14	405	Virtigo	F16	B Pearsons	71.5	50:43	01:10:56
15	501	Ricoshea	Yvonne	P Hawkins	85.5	01:01:08	01:11:30

No Goolwa to Milang race. VHYC ran a simulated Goolwa to Milang on the ocean earlier in the year. I hope they run it again next year with a longer course. Milang Regatta Club was running races up to close of the season, I hear they have been moving the race course further out into the lake. I dont think they have given up on the lake, lets just hope we get some rain and some of it makes it to lake Alexandrina. Your on the coast aren't you Jeff?

Darryn

No more Rum, I dont see why the club should be out of pocket, mistakes happen, besides, the smaller bottle is mostly gone and my head is saying no more <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Darryn

I'm at Kingston SE, I was going to the Milang Easter regatta with the Nacra but the organisers basically said there wasn't enough water. You made me jealous with your Rum race write up because I was gardening and thats crap.
I'm planning to do some of Adelaide Sailing clubs winter series, are there any other regattas planned during winter that you know of
regards

No Regattas this time of year in SA, the next racing I can find is,

1st June, Adelaide Sailing Club, 1pm start.

8th June, Christies Sailing Club, midday start, racing against Trailer Sailers, I have sailed in there winter series for the last couple of years, its good practice, I will probably be the only cat.

22nd June, Christies Sailing Club, midday start.

1st July, Adelaide Sailing Club, 1pm start.

20th July, Christies Sailing Club, midday start.

3rd August, ASC, 1pm start.

6th September, ASC Hot up Series, 1pm start.

Sailing continues until winter 09.

If your up for a drive the Sauna Sail at Latrobe Valley is a big event, 7th-9th June.

Darryn

G'day Darryn,

Would the race in July be on the 6th at Adelaide? 1st is a Tuesday. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Depending on rosters I may be over in S.A. the weekend of the 5th and 6th July. Might bring Now What? for a mid winter freeze. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I'm also after a new mast, and could pick up one from S.A. while I'm there.

We'll see how the roster works out. If not it'll be August when I come over.

Thanks for the extra dates Darryn. How do you race against trailer sailers, are they the course markers <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.