Wild Start to Spring Pointscore

The first heats of the Spring Pointscore were quite a challenge for the 35 boats who competed on this beautify warm, sunny day. The forecast was for a strong North-westerly and Mother Nature didn’t let us down. Race one was sailed in a moderate 15 knot breeze, but things got more than a bit tricky for race two as the wind built substantially. Two 30+ knot bullets saw most of the fleet in the water. Because of the extreme conditions, more than half of the fleet retired early and did not finish the second race. The winners (after handicapping) were: Full Rigs: Michael Osborne (race 1), Matt Wenke (race 2); Radials & 4.7s (who race as one fleet in the Pointscore): Mark Crowhurst (race 1), Brooke Wilson (race 2). You can check out all the results here. Thanks to last week’s volunteers for doing a great job in some tough conditions: PRO Craig Sheers, assisted by Christine Patton, COTD Geoff Boscoe, CoCOTD Max Dzhura, and Canteen Assistant Steven London. 

Saturday’s Wild Winds.

Thanks also to Matthew Knight for assisting Geoff Boscoe in rescuing a sailor who was unable to right their boat in the huge winds. Matthew showed us the right thing to do when a fellow member is having difficulties – stop racing and help. Matthew will receive average points for the race.

It’s a good reminder that safety is the responsibility of every individual participant, and every participant is responsible for both their own safety and the safety of others.  Please be aware of your equipment and surroundings, and the associated dangers, and please be aware of the safety and wellbeing of your fellow participants. In case there is any doubt, the safety of people comes before the race or safety of property, no matter what.

If you see a capsized boat, and are the closest person to it, you must establish visually and verbally that its crew are safe, even if this means sailing out of your way. This is an obligation of every boat that sequentially becomes the closest boat to a capsized boat until that capsized boat is righted and its crew is back on board.  The fact that a capsized crew indicated to an earlier closest boat that he or she was safe, cannot be assumed to mean he or she is still safe when a later boat becomes the closest boat.

It is important to remember there is no guarantee that a club volunteer and/or response boat crew member will see an incident or be able to attend to it either in time or at all.  You cannot assume that someone else will take care of it.

Thanks, Matthew for looking out for your fellow sailor – let’s all remember this when the winds start to howl again.