- 2004 SIRs Report from the Road
- Here is a brief rundown of SIRs
We all arrived on Friday and put boats together. Jonny and Marcus had much more to do, and didnÕt get sailing that day. John and Matt went out and learned they needed to make lots of boat adjustments and figure out the new sails.
The venue at Woollhara is wonderful. Julian has a shot overlooking the Harbor and the launch area. They launch 200+ boats off of a 25 foot wide ramp, by staggering starts. They sailed 3 courses with a variety of boats on each. I know very few names of the Aussies, so IÕll leave out some of their names. There were 17 entries.
Saturday: Northeast wind at 12 to 15 knots, sharing a course with 49ers, but sharing the Harbor with everything from ancient 18s, to 90 ft maxis with canting keels, not to mention cruise ships and the fast moving and unyielding ferries. There were some close interactions, but no collisions. John and Matt started well with a 3rd in the first race. In the second, they held a solid second when they capsized when Matt lost the mainsheet, and dropped to 4th. In the last race of the day they finished 4th again. Jonny and Marcus were in 4-7 place, I think. Two Aussie boats and the Finnish girl, Silia were in the top 3 slots, Silia sailed with an Aussie, Scott Babbage, who crewed for David, who was third in last yearÕs WorldÕs, but was unable to sail due to a sprained ankle.
Sunday: Charter boat problems. Wind started in the northeast at 15 and steadily dropped. John and Matt got to the first windward mark in 2nd place, Matt hopped onto the trapeze, only to have the whole wire land on his lap, as the bolt had pulled out of the mast. They hiked one leg and dropped to 8th, so they stopped to fix it prior to the next race. They werenÕt successful, so they got 2 DNFs for the day. Marcus and Jonny were 6th in the first race, then had their mainhalyard break and had to drop out. The wind dropped and shifted, so fortunately the day was called after 2 races. We all then went to Freshwater Beach, at Manley for some surfing, and after Heineken called the Australian roadside assistance to break into his rental car and retrieve the keys, we all went to JulianÕs for a great international sailing barbecue.
Monday: South at 18, bright sunshine. John and Matt had a 9th (broken hiking strap causing a broken tiller extension), then a 1st (horizon job), and a 6th. Jonny and Marcus had a 7, 6, 4. The last race saw many close crossings between the two. Final results: Jonny and Marcus 6th, Johnny and Matt 8th, keeping a DNF.
1st Ian Jensen
2nd Silia and Scott Babbage
3rd Clint and Ty Marshall (I think).
Conclusion: The Aussies are consistent and donÕt make many mistakes, but they are beatable. More from Wangi Wangi.
-Paul Heineken
