Port Vincent Mosquitos

Well, we had our first race last Sunday, in a gusty 12-18kn. 'Stubbhorn' got the early lead to the windward and held it until the bottom mark. They got into trouble and 'First Try' overtook him! For about 1 minute. A slip and a capsize meant 'First Try' went for its first swim at Pt Vinnie and when we got back upright (after a few subsequent flips) 15 minutes later, the race was all but over and I was all but completely rooted! First Blood to 'Stubbhorn'. I will be back...

Round 2 saw us head out onto the course with once again, about 12-18 gusty knots of breeze. We were joined by our latest Mozzie, 1728 - 'To Be Sure'. Shaun and his son followed us around the course, not racing, just getting used the boat.
It was a one leg beat to the windward mark, which saw 'First Try' overpower the 5o5's and 'Stubbhorn', to be first around and head off on a shy reach. 'Stubbhorn caught me napping and overtook to windward to just round the next mark in front. I went for the kite, but capsized on the gybe. With some ground to make up, I re-focussed and upon round the bottom mark was not too far behind still, until the tiller extension knob came off, and I once again, went swimming! Getting better at the righting the boat quickly, I was back in the race pretty quickly, and was catching all boats upwind at a steady clip! It was as I was approaching the top mark again that my traveller rope let go. I had to stop to repair that, but still wasn't out of the race! Upon rounding the top mark, I promptly fell off the boat,but remained hooked on trapeze, unable to reach the tiller or mainsheet or anything to hold on to! Following this capsize, then another, then mast stuck in mud, I was definately no longer in the race, but in a pile of other stuff! 'Stubbhorn' definately sailed well in the conditions and despite having a few spinnaker issues and 1 stuffed tack, only lost to the winning 5o5 by 1.5 seconds!
I am quickly learning that smooth boat handling is a key factor to success in these craft. I am enjoying my steep learning curve, and am very happy with the boat when I can keep it upright!

HI all,

Well round three has been and gone and while it took me three attmepts I finally managed to:
a) Not break anything
b) finish the race
c) actually finally beat Stubbhorn!
Once again we had blustery 18-22 knot breeze from the south with a slight chop on the outer of the bay. 'First Try' got the best of the start and led around the first big triangle of the course, probably opening up a 90 second lead on 'Stubbhorn'. On returning to the Southerly mark after short running and upwind legs, 'First Try' went for the bear away onto the next reach and promptly pitchpoled when overpowered by a gust, sending yours truly flying ahead of the boat about 2m past the masthead. It took some frantic swimming to catch the tip of the mast before the boat was blown down course! By the time I had recovered, Stubbhorn had a 100m lead down the reach, which became only 30 by the gybe mark. On the return gybe, I managed to hold him off and lead by 10m with a 400m upwind leg to the finish. I managed to hold him off for about a 10 second win. It was a most satisfying day!
Badluck to 'To Be Sure' on damaging the deck during a slip and fall and misplaced trapeze harnass hook!
It now looks like there will be some closer Mozzy racing here at PVSC, now that I have a bit better handle on it!

sounds like you are having fun which all sailing should be about
keep up the good work
brett
1756

keep practicing as we might have nationals in qld.

Matt

that would be good but having the nationals in QLD
but would not be practical as so many of the mosquitos are in SA or VIC
i like your idear
the southport yacht club is hosting the 2013 NARCA F18 WORLD TITLE
they would have the resources

G'day all,

We are in the middle of a few weeks off of club sailing due to hosting the 2013 5O5 National Titles.
We will be back on deck next weekend (Australia Day Long Weekend) during our annual Gala event the 'Port Vincent Open Classic'. It is an event open to any class, consisting of 7 Races over 3 days! Should be heaps of fun. Will let you know how the Mozzies go...

hi Hack,

good to hear you guys are keen as. Are you all planning on coming up to the states in Wallaroo on the 2nd and 3rd of Feb. like the nationals the states are a non-spinnaker event. Be good for you guys to come up and get known to everyone and gives you a chance to learn some stuff off the rest of us. Hope to see you there.

Cheer Peter

Cheers Peter,
At this stage I think I'll be there. Stubbhorn may not make it as Brett may have to work, but they are keen. Shaun, on 'To be Sure' is still easing his way into it, but will be competing in our 'Vincet Open Classic' this weekend with his son. Hopefully he'll be a regular soon!
We are also making plans for next years nationals!!

Yesterday we were all out on the bay for about 3-4 hours in 9-15kn. It was a blast. I ironed a few bugs out of my kite and only tipped once! We took our kids/wives out for a few blasts and had a great time. We are super-keen!

Hi all,
We had a fantastic 'Vincent Open Classic' last weekend. On Saturday just 'Stubbhorn' and 'First Try' sailed in the 12-15kn conditions. On Sunday 'To Be Sure' made it onto the course and proved he will be a competitor, finishing close behind us despite not having a kite to fly!
'First Try' won all 6 races for the weekend, which was nice, considering my first few weeks of poor performances. We are all learning steadily and having plenty of fun, especially with the spinnakers!
Hope to see a few SA blokes at Wallaroo this weekend!

hi Hack,
At last more mozzies on YP. Epimagic back on the water at Turton after 12 months due to repairs. Looking forward to racing at Vincent. Also another mozzie to join Turton after states.

Hi Hack,
"Epimagic" has been repaired after 12 months and returned to Pt Turton to sail. Skipper also had a swim but looks forward to meeting the Mozzie sailors at Vincent. With the new mozzie joining Turton the YP now has 5 in the fleet.

Hi Epimagic, it would be great to see you at Vincent! It now turns out I won't be able to make it up to Wallaroo this weekend (family things have cropped up!)
Will you be around our way this Sunday?? It would be fantastic to have a few more boats on the water.

hi hack,
Unable to sail until sat week. Sailing MK1 this year. Looking forward to see you with spinaker. 2-3 weeks before I can sail at Vincent.

Righto Epimagic,

See you when you get there...

Hi Hack,
Changed plans so can sail Turton Saturday 9th 1.30 start if any other mozzies would to join in and then sail Vincent Sunday on the way back to town. Any chance of leaving boat there so I can come back and sail on 17th saves me towing back to Adelaide.

Hi Epi,

This weekend there is no club racing at Pt Vincent due to us hosting the Sharpie/Fireball and something else state titles on both Saturday and Sunday.
Due to not being able to make it last weekend I am going to Wallaroo SC on Saturday for their '3 Race Day' event (Heaps of great prizes apparently).
I think that there would be a few of us likely to come to Turton on occasions to race. We actually have an 'exchange' weekend planned for later in the season too!
I know of 1 excellent place you can keep your Mozzie if you don't want to tow it too much. I think it's $1 a day for outside and a bit more if shedded. Isn't that right Steve??? I'm pretty sure we're back to club racing on the 17th though if you are able to make that one!

Hi all,

This weeks results...
1st - 'To Be Sure'. Shaun and Hamish performed brilliantly to win their first ever official club race at their first attempt, despite losing their course card and having to ask for directions!
2nd - 'Stubbhorn'. Led for most of the race, but fell at the last hurdle, running aground literally 100m from the finish line, allowing 'To Be Sure' through...
3rd - 'First Try'. A bit of bad luck while rigging resulted in me being seven minutes late for the start! Managed to fight my way back to about a 2 minute deficit when my traveller line parted! Had to stop and fix it and ended up finishing about 4.5 mins behind the top two. Lesson has been learned!

I don't intend on putting our racing history up here every week, but thought Shaun's first win was worth noting!

Hi Hack,
See you 17th. Not fit enough for 3 races at wallaroo. I did go up to watch state heats and got tired just watching the mozzies in 20 knots plus.

Awesome weekend at Wallaroo. Superb hospitality and Race organisation by the club . Fair (and Strong) breezes once the sea breeze overpowered the fickle off-shore variables. Very close racing and finishes had by all.

Hi Hack,
Left mozzie at Vincent, just going over for the day so intend to be there around 11 so I can have a sail before lunch. 470 and TS16 coming over for race from Turton.
cheers Epimagic.

G'day Philip,
Managed to get up to Wallaroo last Saturday for their sponsors 'three race day'. Awesome day, great mob and I managed to win my division!

Epi,
Look forward to seeing you Sunday! There'll be junior sailing on in the morning, and it'll be a bit busy down there. Lucky we have plenty room though! Weather could be interesting- northerlies forecast, which means anything could happen.
See you then.

Hi Hack,
A very enjoyable sail even though light winds. It was great to see four mozzies on the water especially two with spinnakers. Are you racing on the 10th of March?
cheers Epimagic.

Howdy,
Yep, it was a challenging day, but great to have another boat on the water.
At this stage March 10th is a goer...but that's a long time into the future and anything could happen...

It would be remiss of me not to let last weekend go by without a quick mention of our lastest sailing exploits over here on YP....
In the third consecutive week of light and fickle winds, the race began with some very close racing over the first 3 legs, with all 4 Mozzies sharing the lead stages.
The second work sorted out the fleet however, with 'Epi' streaking ahead to eventually claim a significant win! It is worth noting that both boats with kites, 'Stubbhorn' and 'First Try' came in at the back end this week! Clearly, it's not all about the Spinnaker! In my case, finishing a clear last, its was about how to make mistakes at every opportunity! With only 3 weeks left in the season, it will be a shame to have to stop, but most crew are looking forward to some maintenance and fine-tuning of boats over the Winter.

Hi Hack,
Great day worth the trip over to Pt Vincent. Look forward to the 7th of April at Pt Turton 2pm start.
Cheers Epimagic.

G'day Epi,
Looking like some good weather for this weekend at Turton. Hopefully we get a good turn-out. Do you know if any other cats will be sailing? I'm pretty sure the 3 of us are all in.

Hi Hack,
Epimagic will be there so 4 mozzies, 420,470,505,TS16 and any other boats from Vincent. Other cat sailor is in QLD. Good weather forecast at this stage should suit kites.

Our new season commences Sunday Oct 13. Looks like we have a few new boats across the club, but the multihull fleet looks good. 3xMozzies, 1xStingray, 1xSundance 14, 1x Papertiger. At least 3 blokes have been looking at Mozzies, but can't find many on the 2nd hand market! Can't wait for the States here at the end of November.
'First Try' has been rebuilt in the off season and is in the spraybooth as I type. She will be re-born with a new livery and name, and hopefully some good form on the course...
Super keen!

Hi Hack,
See you on the 13th Epimagic.

Excellent.

Phillip, did you replace the rudder boxes on your boat over winter.If so do you want to sell your old ones?

Stubborn
736

Hi S Horn
No and No.
But can bend up new ones for you and then you can assemble them.
Or wait until the States @ PV and we can discuss.
0439824580 PP

Hi all,
Just a quick note to let you all know that the Mozzies are alive and well over here at Port Vincent.
In the last two weeks we've had 3 boats racing in a mixed multihull fleet. Despite light/moderate conditions we are still (mostly) smashing the 505 boys!
In the last fortnight racing has been extremely close at the pointy end.
Epimagic has chimed in for an early win last week and Shaun and Hamish on 'To Be Sure' took the honours last week. Yours truly on the refurbished and re-named 'Goodnight Nurse'(#1769) has been second twice by an aggregate time of less than 20 seconds...some would say unlucky?
'Stubhorn' has been skippered by owner Brett this year and he is embarking on a steep learning curve...
Hopefully I can get some bugs ironed out by the states titles in a month...

'CARNAGE AT PORT VINCENT'
In a startling turn of events on Sunday last, Epimagic has put herself in doubt for State Title contention following a carbon crunching encounter with her rival. While trying to execute a bold pre-start manoeuvre, Epi gybed into the starboard stern of 'Exocet', a slightly sturdier Stingray 18. Shocked witnesses on Exocet later revealed their shock and surprise at the collision making comments to the effect that they feared imminent death, or at the very least required new undergarments.
Epi made it around the first few marks of the course before the full extent of her damage was revealed; a 20 cent piece sized chunk out her starboard bow stem. She was forced to leave the course, limping home with a hull full of water.
Exocet was able to continue her race and diced with 'Goodnight Nurse' all over the course to eventually take the race by five seconds in a nail-biting finish in the 15-18 knot Southerly.
'Goodnight Nurse' had been eagerly anticipating a keen battle with Epi following their last event at Pt Turton a few weeks ago, GN holding out the local boat for a hard-fought win in tricky conditions on that occasion.
The whole of Port Vincent is now on standby for the influx of Mosquito sailors coming in fortnight to contest for state honours. We anticipate further fair breezes and close, but not too-close, competition.

'GROWING PORT VINCENT MOZZIE FLEET'
Andy, having picked up '17XX', now to be known as 'Red Mist' from Kingston SE is the latest addition to our fleet here at Pt Vincent. Andy doesn't have much small boat racing experience, but is a competitive sportsman and has plenty of big-cat racing and cruising hours behind him.
...And so we had a 5 boat fleet in last weeks race, which saw us begin in fickle NW and finish in strong but shifty SSE breezes. Again there were many lead and positional changes as all boats had a chance at the pointy end. Eventually 'To Be Sure' took the race from 'Goodnight Nurse' , closely followed 'Stubbhorn' and 'Epi'. 'Red Mist' retired as the wind increased due to steering issues.
Yesterday, in a growing seabreeze, TBS, GN and RM went for a brief but entertaining practice sail. GN suffered a few injuries that need to be fixed before nationals, and we all has a few thrill rides in the flat water.
There are now AT LEAST 3 folk around our way seeking mozzies in the new year or for next season. If you want to sell a boat, let us know, and your more than half a chance!

Happy new year to all, see you at the Nats!

I have another one with all the bits, no trailer, was rebeamed painted last year, needs work to repair where the bow tangs pulled out $250

Well Dave (and anyone else who cares...) you missed a 'textbook' perfect day on the water today. We had a southerly at about 12-16kn. Four boats started with 'To Be Sure' and 'Goodnight Nurse' leading for most of the first few legs in a very tight race. 'Stubbhorn' pulled out the kite and smoked us downwind, but couldn't hold us off upwind. Andy (Red Mist) is improving steadily, but got a bad start and fell off the pace. On the last main windward leg 'To Be Sure' got into some drama. The rotator rope slipped out of the cleat while they were both on trapeze, over rotating the mast, and popping the diamond wires off of the spreader, resulting in an forward bend in the mast. They retired and manged to get it straighted luckily. It was going to be a very tight finish, but that left me and Steve to fight it out. I was pointing a fair bit higher than him, and managed to get in front at the last mark, and beat him by about 20 seconds.
I certainly enjoyed the conditions after the state drifting titles a fortnight ago! Hope the leg is on the mend.
Take it easy.

G'day once again sportsfans!

Last Sunday's racing saw the emergence of our latest Mozzie, the unofficially named 'Ilman Express' (Owned by Greg Illman). The 'sometime' 505 sailor recently purchased the slightly refurbished boat from Simon Hallsworth, and slipped straight into gear, leading out fleet of 5 around the course for about three quarters of the race. Greg thrived in the variable and shifty conditions, and put the wind up all of us, who didn't like the look of this at all. As with 'To be Sure' and 'Goodnight Nurse' battling it out for second, and 'Stubbhorn' and 'Red Mist' dicing for 4th, it was a great race with many positional changes. As the wind picked up on the 2nd windward leg, us heavyweights began to reel him in; his 60kg frame now having to work extra hard. At the beginning of the last small triangle (the approach to the clubhouse finish line) 'To be Sure' and 'Goodnight Nurse' were seconds apart, having overhauled 'That annoying new bloke in the blue boat' and were powering to the finish. The last 3 minutes of the racing were extremely intense at the pointy end, with us literally metres apart the whole way. after getting the second last starboard cross, I cracked under pressure, stuffing the last tack, and handing the well deserved win to 'To be Sure'.

When Dave 'Swear-jar' Heynemann returns next season, and if we can continue to sweet-talk some young lads, who've been showing great interest, we'll have a regular fleet of up to 7 boats on the water.

I know it's off-thread, but for what it's worth, the PVSC guys reckon that the 'square-top' argument should not take precedence over the 'Mosquito' lettering on the sail. We reiterate that the beauty of this class is the low cost, versatility, ease of rigging/sailing etc. The immediate and relatively low cost impact of the lettering would attract more new sailors than a new sail/mast etc which will inevitably lead to increased set up and replacement costs...

I'll also reiterate that the further great strength of this class is the people within it, who are friendly, enthusiastic and willing to assist newcomers. I think that this is the biggest selling point that needs to be exploited. Recent comments about the 65+ division also has merit, so that older boats will be dragged out of the sheds...

All the best.

WE ARE BACK!!

Five local Mozzies made it around the course in 5-8kn breezes to kick off the season! It was awesome to welcome Steve Launer to the fleet sailing a very nicely repaired 'Endaka'.
Close racing saw the fleet within a few minutes of each other all the way around the course throughout the hour long race.
A productive winter saw Greg Illman's shiny bright machine take out the race ahead of Shaun and Hamish (9 Lives), Steve Launer, yours truly and Andy 'Catman' Van Arend. In the coming weeks we could see a 6th boat join the fleet, with Hamish and brother Max taking on 'To Be Sure'.
We're all anticipating some great racing for the season and everyone is pumped for the first leg of the state titles here in a few weeks. I'll be praying for 20Kn for that one!