Round two of the KA Sails Victorian Grand Prix was held at Mornington YC, location for the upcoming nationals. Unfortunately numbers were down a bit with many away, injured or with broken boats. Never the less the days racing was particularly eventful.
In a similar fashion to round one we picked a day with plenty of rain and some very fickle winds, at least until we went sailing. On a personal note as I went to put my foils in I noticed that my push rod had snapped off at the base. I showed Amac and he said 'you'll be right it just means your flap won't go up so just avoid the big waves'. I looked at at the building south westerly and thought of the forecast which was 'squalls in excess of 30 knots with the thunderstorms' and thought yeah right, shouldn't be too hard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7nv9DWZvts
Footage from Richards Go Pro, having trouble linking it properly, but this should work
We all went out, sailed past the pier and out of the protection of the harbour and got smashed! The combination of the wind strength, which was above twenty and the waves, meant it was too dangerous downwind. The race committee was then kind enough to set us another course much closer to shore, where we were able to seek the protection of the harbour. The conditions were still bumpy in certain areas of the course, but very sailable.
Race one saw Amac take the win with Leigh (me) taking second and Richard in third. Race two was a bit more eventful with Richard rounding the top mark in first with Amac close behind in second. After Richard parked not far past the top mark Amac had to crash to miss him, causing damage to his boat and finishing his day. I managed to find the passing lane on the final run and finished just ahead of Richard on the line (much to Richard disgust, as seen in the footage). Kohie came through to take third.
We then had to sail back in in what was now gusting to 30 knots, which made for a tough sail in. A special mention has to go to Kohie who sailed well in the very difficult conditions. Thanks also to KA Sails and Racer X Marine for their support of the event.
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