PARUA BAY/BAY OF ISLAND REGATTA REPORT

PARUA BAY/BAY OF ISLAND REGATTA REPORT

Parua Bay Feeder Race 17 January 2009

What a great week of sailing and racing.

The entries for the feeder race were This Way Up, Pulse, Catabatic, Frantic Drift and Exodus. It was great to see Pulse sail down from Matakana especially to join the fleet leaving Auckland. The forecast was for moderate westerlies which are of course ideal for a trip to Parua Bay. The fleet, using the informal “lets start when everyone is ready” system, got away at 10:15am off Orakei Wharf.

Condition were ideal and the fleet kept close on the first reach up towards Kawau. Frantic Drift established a jump on the rest of the fleet and was soon seen heading over the horizon just off Kawau towards Whangarei Head. The conditions were perfect and a steady breeze prevailed. That is until just off Langs Beach, while close in shore there was a very strange wind separation. Everyone sailed into it at some point. At one stage This Way Up was sailing on port directly up the Coast with Exodus sailing on starboard on a parallel course less than half a mile away. This proved a rather frustrating period for most boats and it was difficult to predict which way the wind was going next. Once past the Point however, a very strong fresh afternoon westerly set in out of Waipu and everyone took off at high speed towards Whangarei. The conditions were perfect for some very fast reaching with the last couple of hours into Whangarei seeing consistently high speeds. Some people even got wet. The arrival into Whangarei was spectacular and it was well worth the sail up the harbour entrance into Parua Bay, avoiding the sandbars as you go.

On arrival, everyone anchored close to the shore, with Pulse and Catabatic showing in particular the merits of shallow draft by parking literally on the doorsteps of the Parua Bay Tavern. Everyone convened for informal prizegiving and took advantage of the deal going on a certain brand of beer available in large jugs. The important prize, namely the first crew into the pub was a fine bottle of red wine won by the Frantic Drift crew, no doubt being most in need of a drink , followed by a bottle of rum to Frantic Drift for first on line, a bottle of rum to This Way Up for first on handicap, and a bottle of wine to both Exodus, second on handicap and Frantic Drift, third on handicap. For great sailing, and participation, a bottle of wine was also awarded to Pulse for having first sailed down from Sandspit (just to join the race) and to Catabatic for their spirit of participation. What an event, everyone got a prize. Unfortunately Capricorn and Drumbeat could not join us. They had both intended to race with the fleet, but in view of the forecast had elected not to race. Capricorn decided to wait untill the next day before making their way north for the BOI regatta. .

Parua Bay is a great place to finish the race, and with the refreshment facility so close by the anchorage makes for a first rate passage race destination.

PS – Most boats continued on up to the Bay of Islands the following Sunday, but Frantic Drift made the trip back to Auckland. The entire crew was seen gearing up in all their wet weather gear, masks and snorkels and apparently covered the distance back to North Head in four hours, which is not bad for a 6Onm delivery?

Bay of Islands Regatta Report

For the first time the multi-hulls had a division in this prestigious regatta. It is well worth making the trip north to participate in what is a truly spectacular race area. A special mention is made of the effort by Sam and Steve in getting Capricorn up the coast in some strong westerlies conditions, showing that although small, the little Crowther is perfectly formed. Once in the bay, boats were kept at Russell, Paihia and Opua. For those keen on some larte night apre- sailing action, paihia has the advantage of being very close to the backpack action, as the crews of some boats quickly realised. The race organisation is first class and the programme of racing on the three days allows for some really tight and interesting multi-hull racing. Ray Haslar said it was great to have a multi-hull division which added “glamour” to the event. He was probably talking about the boats, not the dress state of most crews. We must make sure that there is a continuing multi-hull division in the Regattas to come.

The club handicaps were given based on recent RNZYS racing and the regatta committee used their own programme to adjust the handicaps of each race, as they do for all the divisions. This made for very close handicap outcomes, with three boats going into the last race all tied on first equal for handicap positions.

Each day comprised of one or two windward/ leeward races in the later morning, followed by a day race in the afternoon. W/L races quickly sort out boat speed, tactics and crew work, and we saw some very close racing between all of the boats.

The participants were FusionX, Catabatic, Capricorn, Exodus, This Way Up, and Razzle an 11m cat based in the Bay of Islands. All of the boats showed excellent form over the three days, and there were a good mixture of handicap outcomes. FusionX proved to be the boat to beat on line although Exodus was hot on the heels on a number of occasions. This Way Up also showed excellent form in the line honours. Multi-hulls raced with the 50 footers and the B division on the outer course. The multi-hulls started the w/l courses first, which is always good as this allows for a fairly clear area. In view of the light conditions however the 50 footers were often mingling with the multi-hulls and made for some very spectacular roundings and added to the spectacle of the racing.

The longer Bay courses used the reverse starting order, so the multi-hull fleet started last, but given the longer races, with some quite spectacular tight reaching gave the fleet a chance to carve its way through the B division in particular. This always feels most rewarding.

The regatta organisers had put on a new event on the Thursday afternoon which was a beach party at Roberton Island. The racing finished just off the island, and all boats made their way in and anchored with the multi-hulls all rafted up in close proximity to the beach. This made for a truly spectacular sight and a great opportunity for everyone to exchange views on each others boats over a cold beer or two.

The organisers took us all ashore where there was a bar and b-b-q facilities. With over 80 yachts participating, this party was a massive success. We all sailed off at 7 pm in various states back to Russell/Opua.

The final race results saw FusionX the overall line winner with Exodus, Capricorn and Catabatic taking the first, second and third trophy prizes. Fine trophies were donated by a local company. No prize was awarded for first on Line, but the club will be arranging a trophy and this will be presented as a first on line prize for the regatta, and awarded to Fusion X at the end of summer prizegiving.

The festivities took place in a large tent in Opua, which is a great place to meet after the racing where there is a well organised system with the food and drink for everyone. Thanks were given to the organisers on behalf of the Multi-hull fleet, and they really hope to see us back again next year. Thanks also to the sponsors of this event.

We cannot commend this regatta more highly and although there were only six boats for this first regatta, it saw some of the closest fleet racing. With the combination of the feeder race to Parua Bay followed by the regatta, it really is worth trying to find time to do this regatta if at all possible.

Thanks to all those who competed, and lets hope to see an even bigger fleet there next year.

Final results;
Line Winner : Fusion X
Handicap results were:
1st Exodus
2nd Capricorn
3rd Catabatic
4th Fusion X
5th Razzel
6th This Way Up