June 12, 1997 | Kiwi's successes overseas, Aaron McIntosh reports |
June 10, 1997 | Mistral World Championship Qualifying Tour |
June 09, 1997 | Matthew Wood completes double Cook Strait crossing |
June 08, 1997 | PWA Fiji Wave Classic |
June 08, 1997 | PWA LYON indoor - Scott Fenton again |
June 08, 1997 | Western Australian Circuit calendar |
June 07, 1997 |
June 07, 1997 |
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June 12, 1997 Kiwi's successes overseas, Aaron McIntosh reports Regatta Reports from Aaron McIntosh, check out the following events, all part of Aaron's build up. The other kiwis are also doing well, Bruce and Barbara kendal, Julie Worth and Jon-Paul Tobin ... Merit Cup Windsurf World Festival , Sicily May 26-June 1 1997 SPA Regatta - Medimblick Holland 21-26th May. UK Windsurfing Nationals - Weymouth 3-5 May The French Olympic Sailing Week - Hyeres 17-25 April Regatta Reports from Aaron McIntosh - <aaronmc@xtra.co.nz>[ back to INDEX ] |
June 10, 1997 Mistral World Championship Qualifying Tour SPA'97 Medemblik, The Netherlands; 9 June -- The next stop on the Mistral World Championship Qualifying Tour (6th Round) was at the SPA Regatta in the Netherlands held between May 21 and 25th. 101 men (18 Nations)& 38 women (20 Nations) competed in the highest quality event on the tour so far. Amit Inbar (ISR) was a clear winner in the men's fleet. He is a changed man; He has lost weight and how; set his goals for the next four years; and is very focused on Sydney 2000. Joao Rodrigues (POR) sailed consistently to take second from Marcos Galvan (ARG) who started the week at a blistering pace before relaxing somewhat towards the end to only just beat Martijn van Geemen (NED) and Gal Fridman (ISR) on the basis of having more first places. In the women's fleet, 4 of the top 6 competitors were Polish so they are definitely in the form country. That's as may be but Jorunn Horgen (NOR) was certainly the outstanding individual, proving again what a remarkable competitor, she really is to win from Justine Gardahaut (FRA) by 2 points who in turn beat Marzena Okonska (POL) comfortably. The regatta also doubled as Round 3 in the qualifications for the Mistral European Championship to be held at La CAR, Murcia Spain from Sept 27th.-Oct.5th. END. IMCO International - <100307.1410@CompuServe.COM>[ back to INDEX ] |
June 09, 1997 Matthew Wood completes double Cook Strait crossing Matthew Wood completed a double Cook Strait crossing on Saturday in 24 hours on an IMCO, completing the trip in light winds and pumping. According to national newspapers and TV he set off about 8.30am for the South Island and was going ok until he became becalmed for an hour while still about 30 minutes from the South Island. Finally a breeze kicked in and he touched land before starting the reurn in the dark. He lost contact with his support boat half way back and was surrounded by dolphins - "it was quite frightening because it was so dark". He arrived back about 9am the next morning, and raised about $1000 in sponsorship. He now wants to sail from Auckland to Wellington! I hope to get a full account soon wiNZurf - <webmaster@winzurf.co.nz>[ back to INDEX ] |
June 08, 1997 PWA Fiji Wave Classic PWA Fiji Wave Classic PWA PRESS RELEASE Namotu - The O'Neill Fiji Wave Classic 10 - 19th May 1997 On May 9th, 1997, 60 of the world's top wave sailors arrived on the island of Nadi, Fiji. It took a convoy of trucks and buses to carry the sailors and their equipment from the airport to the port. At the port the sailors and crew were met by a 110ft cabin cruiser which transported them to the event site, NAMOTU. Namotu, which translates as 'magic island', is surrounded by a flat coral reef which contains some of the most spectacular sealife to be found anywhere in the world. The island is tiny, barely the size of a soccer pitch, with accommodation for only 10 people. The sailors were forced to live on the nearby Plantation Island, and used the cruiser to ferry them to and from the event site daily. The waves on Namotu originate from extremely low pressure systems which run across the Antarctic from between Australia and New Zealand. These waves travel thousands of miles un-obstructed before hitting the circular reef surrounding Namotu. When the waves break on this reef, perfect sailing conditions are created with the waves wrapping all the way around the island. This break gives the best conditions for windsurfing anywhere in the world. A tropical cyclone swept across Fiji and directly over Namotu shortly before the event, temporarily knocking out the swell. The winds remained light initially and the sailors filled their time surfing and fishing, but the swell gradually built again every day, and by the 12th and 13th the waves were between logo and mast high. Expectations were high... Friday 16th May, the forecasted 15-25 knot trade winds arrived, allowing the first half of a wave performance elimination to be completed in logo to mast high waves. Saturday saw a return of the South westerly trade winds and a building swell with waves approaching mast and a half in height for the final heats. The conditions for the contest can only be described as epic. Eight sailors progressed to two 4 man semi finals. The first semi consisted of S 10 Anders Bringdal, KA 1111 Jason Polakow, KZ 1 Scott Fenton and US 12 Scott Carvill. Carvill entered the O'Neill Fiji Wave Classic as a wild card and blitzed his way past names like Robby Seeger and Kevin Pritchard on the way to his place in the semi's. The standard of sailing throughout the entire contest was so high that sailors were forced to push themselves to the limit to be in contention. Anders Bringdal pushed his equipment a little hard, wrecking two rigs in his semi-final, a mistake which ended his progress. KZ 1 Scott Fenton, who had some of the longest rides in the entire competition, lost his rig in the same semi-final and went over the falls after a mistimed aerial. He spent most of the heat swimming. The second semi final was equally strong, consisting of US 6 Josh Stone, K 77 Ant Baker, US 1111 Robby Naish and E 11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck. Ant Baker was having a fantastic contest, drawn in the same heats and sailing an identical board as his mentor and team-mate Robby Naish. However, Baker was kept out of the final by Josh Stone who was having the competition of his life in the huge waves and perfect cross-offshore port tack conditions. Stone finally achieved his aim of defeating Dunkerbeck in his semi-final with arguably the most stunning display of wave sailing ever seen in a PWA competition. Naish also progressed to the final to meet up with Stone, Carvill and Polakow for the ultimate showdown. Head Wave Judge, Klaus Michel, increased the heat duration to 30 minutes for the final, with the best three wave rides counting. This format allowed sailors to really push the limits of their sailing and equipment in the knowledge that they could easily have replacement equipment rushed out to them if necessary. With the swell continuing to build and waves now approaching twice mast height, two different styles of wave riding prevailed in the final; the consistent and solid waveriding style of Naish and Polakow, and the almost unbelievable aerials performed by Carvill and Stone. After a riveting 30 minute heat sailed in the ultimate conditions, the five judges awarded 1st place to the master himself, Robby Naish, ahead of Scott Carvill, Jason Polakow and Josh Stone. In the women's contest, KZ 15 Barbara Kendall returned to PWA competition and snatched a victory from US 6 Kelly Moore and KA 191 Jane Seman with G 680 Jutta Mueller 4th. All the sailors were stoked with the contest; from those who were eliminated in the first round right through to those who made the final. The shared opinion was that the PWA O'Neill Fiji Wave Classic had brought the highest standard wave fleet together for the highest calibre wave contest ever held in the most incredible conditions ever seen. Comments; US 93 Matt Pritchard - Plantation Island "It was unbelievable. I've never seen a wave, sailed a wave, or witnessed a competition that was more unbelievable. So I think the sailors, the PWA and O'Neill scored big!" USA 6 Josh Stone - Namotu "The best contest in the history of windsurfing." O'Neill Joost Bellaart - Behind his desk, Holland "The Fiji Wave Classic is a great opportunity for O'Neill to stay in the water with the PWA and where windsurfing finds it's roots, this is a fantastic result for all of us." Final Results Men 1 US 1111 Robby Naish 2 US 12 Scott Carvill 3 KA 1111 Jason Polakow 4 USA 6 Josh Stone 5= S 10 Anders Bringdal KZ 1 Scott Fenton K 77 Ant Baker E 11 Bjorn Dunkerbeck Women 1 KZ 15 Barbara Kendall 2 US 6 Kelly Moore 3 KA 191 Jane Seman 4 G 680 Jutta Mueller 5= Z 14 Karin Jaggi B90 Sigrid Rondelez Z 3 Sandra Gubelmann H 444 Lucienne Ernst (C)ssm1997 For further information contact SSM Freesports tel. 44 (0) 171 376 7446 fax. 44 (0) 171 376 7786 wiNZurf - <webmaster@winzurf.co.nz>[ back to INDEX ] |
June 08, 1997 PWA LYON indoor - Scott Fenton again THE FUNDOLE PWA 1997 LYON INDOOR 27-28th March 1997 For the first time since the Indoor began 8 years ago, the event did not occur in the Palais D'omnisport at Bercy, Paris but moved instead to the Halle Tony Garnier in the spectacular city of Lyon. The stadium is instantly recognisable by it's distinctive stepped roof. The relatively low roof of the Lyon stadium makes a different arrangement for the stadium than normal. The main seating is located at either end of the pool, with an additional all standing area , filled with 1500 raging fans, along the pool opposite the turbines. The Barcelona indoor event saw a bigger pool and more powerful fans. The Lyon event sees the same, more powerful fans with a pool which is even bigger still. The rolling start, debuted in Barcelona also returns. Competitors are given a 15 second countdown, shown on large displays at either end of the pool. At 6" prior to the start 5 red lights are illuminated and 1 is extinguished each second prior to the start. Competitors may leave the beach at any time the wish during the 15 second start sequence. There are two penalties built into the starting sequence, a 30" penalty for competitors who leave their assigned lane during the start sequence and a variable penalty for being over early. The timing trial prior to the show saw French, indoor specialist, Yann Bouvier take the 1# seed position from Scott Fenton and Eric Thieme. The quarter finals saw some big names fall. 2# seed, Scott Fenton mis-timed his start and was left floundering as he suffered the wind shadow of the three sailors above him. Heat 2 saw a storming performance from Robert Teriitehau who literally flew out of the blocks and built up such a commanding lead that he was able to aerial gybe the last two buoys, much to the amusement of the capacity crowd. Naish and Baker both progressed from heat 3. The men's semi's saw local hero, Teriitehau in commanding form again, finishing ahead of Z-62 Jerome Bouldoire. The upset of the second semi was the elimination of Robby Naish, kept out of the final by US-93, Matt Pritchard. The final format was also the same as that introduced Barcelona. A four man final is held and positions 3 & 4 are decided. The first 2 sailors then sail off in a best of three final. The man-on-man final saw Baker, sailing with a radical custom indoor version of the Total Flow F-1, up against Teriitehau. Teriitehau fumbled the start in the first round, giving Baker a vital 3-4 board length start, allowing him to choose his line into the first gybe and control the race. In the second final, Teriitehau timed the start to perfection, leaving the beach at the same instant as Baker and covering his wind. Teriitehau, pulled out a 1-2 board length lead into the first gybe. The dual that ensued was riveting, as Baker attempted to find a way through at either gybe mark. On the final gybe on the outside, Baker found a gap of barely 1 board width and took the initiative and the slalom title for the night with a 2 - 0 victory. In the jumping, Teriitehau, Thieme, Bouldiore, Baker and Naish all competed in the Jump final. Nik Baker, showed tremendous courage by competing and then winning the jump contest after sustaining a serious ankle injury on the Barcelona ramp last year. In the women's contest. the no.1 and no.2 seeds LeLievre and Ghibaudo both progressed through their heats to the slalom final. THURSDAY NIGHT RESULTS JUMP RACE 1 K-66 Nik Baker 1 K-66 Nik Baker 2 US-1111 Robby Naish 2 F-35 Robert Teriitehau 3 Z-62 Jerome Bouldiore 3 US-93 Matt Pritchard 1 F-12 Nathalie LeLievre 1 F-12 Nathalie LeLievre 2 I-25 Alessandra Sensini 2 F-44 Valerie Ghibaudo 3 E-77 Nicole Boronat 3 H-444 Lucienne Ernst FRIDAY NIGHT Friday night saw top outdoor race seeds, Dunkerbeck, Bringdal, Buzianis and Belbeoc'h all fall in the first round. KZ-1, Scott Fenton had a blinding first heat to finish ahead of Baker. Fenton and Baker both progressed to the semi-finals, to sail against F-13, Yann Bouvier and Robby Naish. In the four man final, Teriitehau was first to the upwind mark, closely followed by the chasing pack, headed up by Naish. On the second outside gybe Baker attempted to gybe inside Naish who had priority at the mark. Naish gybed tightly to the mark and was totally 'nailed' by Baker attempting to force his way around the inside ( a manoeuvre for which Baker was disqualified). Robert was also penalised for being over-early an dropped to 3rd position, leaving Naish and Pritchard to compete in the man-on-man finals. Robby took the first round of the final by 3-4 board lengths after an excellent start. On the second round, it was Pritchard who timed the start to perfection and led all the way to penultimate gybe. Kevin fumbled the boom as he sheeted in on the gybe exit and dropped the rig. The drama increased when he was able to catch the mast before the rig hit the water and began to recover. His recovery was a second too late and Naish gybed inside to take the lead an the slalom win for the evening. LeLievre again dominated the women's racing by winning both rounds and the final in a repeat performance of the LeLievre vs Ghibaudo showdown from Thursday night. Josh Stone very nearly missed his opportunity to compete in the Friday night jump contest. He was so disappointed with his performance in the pre-show qualification that he neglected to check the results sheet. When Josh arrived to watch the show that evening he was adamant that people telling him to 'get his suit on quickly' were winding him up! The women's jump was first-up in the Friday night show. Nicole Boronat was in contention to make the final after a dry-landed donkey kick. However, her second jump almost ended in disaster, she missed the fin-slot on the ramp and went 'over the bars', fortunately she avoided injury when her mast quite literally broke her fall, snapping just above the mast base. LeLievre completed her domination of the entire event by winning the Ladies jump with two tidy forward loops. The men's jump contest was spectacular to say the least. Josh Stone, was first over the ramp and pulled off a huge forward, complete with a dry landing. Stone did not reach the jump final however after being marked down for repetition on his second forward loop. Robby Naish failed to make the jump final, quite possibly for the first time in the 8 year history of the indoor. Robert Teriitehau suffered the 'feet-out' phenomenon on his third jump. He and his rig executed a perfect back loop, unfortunately, he wasn't strapped-in and the board didn't accompany him! KZ-1, Scott Fenton, undoubtedly the fastest sailor onto the ramp, opened the jump final with a very high, tweaked table top which he landed on the plane and almost out of the pool. Fenton finished in 2nd position. F-808 Erik Thieme, dressed in a yellow wetsuit with big black leopard spots, executed the highest jump of the entire contest, a late forward. Thieme went on to win the jump contest with another very high jump, a table-top. This discipline winning jump was completed in the full leopard suit with the hat and tail attached ! Robert Teriitehau, also a crowd pleaser, lived up to his full-on image. After his final jump, he sailed the length of the pool and jumped out of the pool, over cameramen, and onto a stage located at the bottom of he pool. OVERALL Nik Baker's two discipline wins on Thursday and 4th position in both Slalom and Jump on Friday night were enough to secure the Overall event win ahead of US-1111, Robby Naish with Robert Teriitehau in 3rd. In the women's contest, Nathalie LeLievre was the clear event winner after winning both disciplines on both nights. Alessandra Sensini finished in 2nd overall after consistent results in both slalom and wave. FRIDAY NIGHT RESULTS JUMP RACE 1 F-808 Eric Thieme 1 US-1111 Robby Naish 2 KZ-1 Scott Fenton 2 US-933 Kevin Pritchard 3 E-66 Stephane Etienne 3 F-35 Robert Teriitehau 1 F-12 Nathalie LeLievre 1 F-12 Nathalie LeLievre 2 I-25 Alessandra Sensini 2 F-44 Valerie Ghibaudo 3 E-77 Nicole Boronat 3 I-25 Alessandra Sensini OVERALL RESULTS MEN WOMEN 1 K-66 Nik Baker 1 F-12 Nathalie LeLievre 2 US-1111 Robby Naish 2 I-25 Alessandra Sensini 3 F-35 Robert Teriitehau 3 F-44 Valerie Ghibaudo wiNZurf - <webmaster@winzurf.co.nz>[ back to INDEX ] |
June 08, 1997 Western Australian Circuit calendar G'day from WA, Please find below the Western Australian Circuit calendar which includes the ISAF World Windsurfing Championship. The 72 page 1997/8 Circuit Guide will be available in mid-September. If you would like a copy posted to you please send me your postal address to Quentin Little at quentin2@ozemail.com.au. The Circuit Home Page is best reached through the 'Worlds' home page at www.worldwindsurfing.com.au Businesses interested in advertising in the Circuit Guide should contact the Publishing Director, Alene Ivey, at wink@iinet.net.au Regards, Quentin Little, Honorary Chairperson, Australian Affiliation of Windusrfing Events Inc. WESTERN AUSTRALIAN WINDSURFING CIRCUIT SUMMER CALENDAR '97/8 October 25/26 GERALDTON WAVESAILING CLASSIC Oakajee - Waves - Elite & Am WAWSA - John Koch ph: 618 (08) 9332 5268 fax: 618 (08) 9316 5167 email: john.koch@alcoa.com.au November 15-16 SOUTH WEST CLASSIC Australind - Slalom, Marathon - Open entry Mark Locker mobile: 015 98 0387 November 22-23 WABSA STATE SLALOM South Beach, Fremantle Slalom - Open entry WABSA - Hayden Law ph: 618 (08) 9386 4053 fax: 618 (08) 9481 8142 email: jwlivi@isc.gov.au November 29 - December 4 CERVANTES ASIA CUP Slalom - Open entry Shortboard & Longboard - Open entry including: IMCO Oceania Championship IFCA Australian Selection Trials Sailboard Promotions ph: 618 (08) 9314 2995 fax: 618 (08) 9314 6787 email:quentin2@ozemail.com.au December 8-23 ISAF WORLD WINDSURFING CHAMPIONSHIP South beach, Fremantle - Shortboard & Longboard Open entry events IBSA F42 World Championships Mistral Open Racing Fleet & Classic Racing Fleet IWCA World Championships National selection only required for IMCO World Championships & IFCA World Championships Eventscorp WA ph: 618 (08) 9270 3311 fax: 618 (08) 9270 3399 email: qlittle@tourism.wa.gov.au December 30 - January 4 ESPERANCE CLASSIC Marathon, Shortboard Longboard, Waves Elite & Amateur Classes Esperance Bay Yacht Club Jerry Maguire mobile: 018 935 228 fax: 618 (08) 9071 5868 January 8-12 LANCELIN OCEAN CLASSIC Marathon, Slalom, Waves - Elite & Amateur Classes Nola Woodhead ph: 618 (08) 9655 1817 fax: 618 (08) 9655 1375 email: nola@echidna.id.au January 16-18 SNAG ISLAND CLASSIC Leeman - Slalom, Marathon, Waves - Open entry Roy Bell ph: 618 (08) 9953 1076, 618 (08) 9953 1179 fax: 618 (08) 9953 1075 January 24-25 GERALDTON CLASSIC Course Slalom, Marathon - Open entry Greg Burrows ph/fax: 618 (08) 9938 2030 January 30 - February 5 AUSTRALIAN WAVESAILING TITLES Margaret River - Waves - Open entry WAWSA - Mike Galvin ph:618 (08) 9384 3462 fax: 618 (08) 9316 5167 email: john.koch@alcoa.com.au STATE WAVE ROUNDS Elite & Amateur - to confirm venues & times contact: Aug 2/3 Mandurah Roger Goodwin ph 9339 5195 Nov 1/2 Scarborough Blair Simpson ph 9384 8266 Dec 6/7 Cottesloe John Geyer ph 9430 7050 November 14-17 AUSTRALIAN SLALOM CHAMPIONSHIP Largs Bay Sailing Club, ADELAIDE Chris Dimond ph: 08 8359 2617 fax: 08 8232 7244 'Worlds' home page - <quentin2@ozemail.com.au>[ back to INDEX ] |
Sunday, June 08, 1997 THE ARUBA HI-WINDS 1997 PWA WORLD CUP 6th June, the fifth and final day of the Aruba Hi-Winds 1997 PWA World Cup. The results were tight coming into the last two races of this, the second PWA Race World Cup event of 1997. The 1,2,3 at the end of day 4 was Buzianis, McGain, Pedersen. At the 9:30 skipper's meeting, the wind had failed to build as forecast and remained between 11-17kts. Race Director Klaus Michel chose to postpone racing and re-set the downwind slalom course in favour of the upwind course race format used in races #8 and #9 yesterday. Race #10 eventually started, 30 minutes later than scheduled at 10:30am. A small pack chose to head off on port tack, including G-307 Robby Seeger, and J-25 Norio Asano. For the first time in two Aruba events, KV-11 Finian Maynard chose to start on starboard! First to the windward mark was the young Canadian sailor KC-1 Sam Ireland, followed by KA-7 Phil McGain, with Jimmy Diaz and Antione Albeau rounding neck and neck for third and fourth position. US-34 Micah Buzianis rounded the upwind mark way down in 8th position. The pressure of leading obviously effected Sam Ireland and he lost two places by sailing toward the wrong buoy. As the sailors rounded mark 5 for their second upwind leg it was McGain from Albeau from Ireland with Jimmy Diaz, from the US Virgin Islands, in 4th. KA-7 McGain tacked off early to take the right hand side of the beat and paid dearly when a cruel header left him well downwind of the buoy. F-192 Albeau appeared to have gone way too far out to the left hand side of the course and came steaming into the upwind buoy on a close reach. However, it was VI-11 Jimmy Diaz who came from 4th position to take the lead, judging his beat perfectly to reach the upwind mark ahead of Albeau and McGain who was forced to tack 4 times to lay the upwind mark. Sam Ireland rounded the upwind mark in 4th position ahead of KV-11 Finian Maynard and Micah Buzianis who had fought his way to 6th. The first three positions remained unchanged to the finish, VI-11 Diaz, F-192 Albeau and KA-7 McGain. Going into the final race results were so tight, the atmosphere on the beach was buzzing. Micah Buzianis was still leading the event but Phil McGain had closed the gap significantly. Phil needed to beat Micah by just 2 places to snatch victory. Positions 3rd through 7th were even tighter, separated by less than three points! At the early afternoon skippers meeting, the wind had built significantly to revert back to downwind slalom with 8 man heats. The top 8 ranked sailors all qualified for the semi finals without difficulty. Buzianis won the first semi ahead of Seeger, McGain and I-33 Matteo Bof. In the second semi-final, Finian Maynard charged to victory by almost an entire leg ahead of I-31 Paolo Ianetti, KC-1 Sam Ireland and VI-11 Jimmy Diaz. The start of race #11, the final was classic, 8 sailors all bearing down on the first gybe mark at over 30 knots with only 4 board lengths separating the entire fleet. All 8 sailors rounded the first mark without incident. G-307 Robby Seeger came out on top from KV-11 Maynard, KA-7 McGain and US-34 Buzianis. McGain pulled out all the stops trying to catch and pass Maynard, a move which would have won him the event. His challenge was resisted as he could only match Maynard's straight line speed and the 4 board length gap remained stubbornly constant. Buzianis was also matching Maynard and McGain knot for knot and the three sailors held their positions to the finish. The result of the final of race #11 was as follows: 1st G-307 Robby Seeger, 2nd KV-11 Finian Maynard, 3rd KA-7 Phil McGain and 4th US-34 Micah Buzianis. The loser's final had to be re-started after Antione Albeau crossed the start line over 2 seconds early and took all but three sailors with him! The three sailors that remained in the re-started loser's final finished in the following order: KC-1 Sam Ireland, AA-0 Jeroen Westrate and KA-6 Mark Pedersen. The final results in the Aruba Hi-Winds 1997 PWA World Cup saw US-34 Micah Buzianis take the victory by just 0.4 points ahead of KA-7 Phil McGain and KV-11 Finian Maynard. With two victories from two race events Micah Buzianis must be feeling confident. All eyes will be fixed on Micah's performance in the surf-slalom conditions of Dominican Republic which will prove to be similar to those of Gran Canaria only much less windy !Finian Maynard in third position was stoked to finish on the podium in two consecutive PWA events, second in Leucate speed, and third here. Next up...An update and results from the 1997 Aruba Hi-Winds Amateur event and a look forward to the next PWA event in the Dominican Republic. THE ARUBA 1997 PWA WORLD CUP FINAL RESULTS AFTER 11 RACES (2 DISCARDS) pos sailor sail 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 tot disc pts ovrl pts 1 BUZIANIS, Micah US-34 3.0 0.7 9.0 0.7 4.0 3.6 3.0 43.0 16.0 27.0 0 1671 North,Drops,Nifty, Tectonics,Pro-Limit 2.0 7.0 6.0 4.0 2 MCGAIN, Phil KA-7 9.0 10.0 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 2.0 46.4 19.0 27.4 0 1530 Neil Pryde, Bare, 0.7 0.7 3.0 3.0 3 MAYNARD, Finian KV-11 8.0 9.0 0.7 8.0 0.7 0.7 16.0 68.1 33.0 35.1 0 1434 Gaastra,ACE,Gulftech, SunValley,Sunfan,CNC 17.0 2.0 4.0 2.0 4 FENTON, Scott KZ-1 4.0 2.0 5.0 15.0 3.0 2.0 6.0 68.0 31.0 37.0 0 1350 Neil Pryde,ACE, DSL 55 , Dirty Dogs 6.0 4.0 16.0 5.0 5 ALBEAU, Antoine F-192 2.0 6.0 2.0 6.0 6.0 4.0 4.0 65.0 25.0 40.0 0 1276 Neil Pryde,AHD,Rusty, Neway,Select,ATAN 8.0 9.0 2.0 16.0 6 DIAZ, Jimmy VI-11 8.0 3.0 8.0 2.0 8.0 6.0 5.0 57.7 16.0 41.7 0 1209 North Sails, Visual Speed 5.0 5.0 0.7 7.0 7 PEDERSEN, Mark KA-6 0.7 4.0 6.0 7.0 2.0 3.0 9.0 78.7 36.0 42.7 0 1126 Gaastra,Gorilla Grip, Oakley 25.0 3.0 8.0 11.0 8 IRELAND, Sam KC-1 5.0 5.0 7.0 9.0 16.0 18.5 16.0 105.5 34.5 71.0 0 1090 Nifty,Fiberspar, Tectonics, Da Kine 7.0 8.0 5.0 9.0 9 SEEGER, Robby G-307 22.5 22.5 4.0 26.5 9.0 9.0 0.7 122.9 49.0 73.9 0 1044 Simmer Style,RRD,, Wash & Go 3.0 10.0 15.0 0.7 10 ASANO, Norio J-25 10.0
22.5 13.0 10.0 18.5 12.0 8.0 129.5 41.0 88.5 0 1002 , 4.0
6.0 7.0 18.5 |
Saturday, June 07, 1997 Plimmerton to Wellington Epic Plimmerton-Wellinqton sailboard trip. On Saturday April 1st at 11.00 am Steve Macris and myself set out from the main Windsurfing beach at Plimmerton with our destination being Oriental Parade Wellington. The wind on this day was 8 to 12 knots from the North Northwest and despite my earlier resolution to only attempt this trip in a Southerly the fine weather and steady wind convinced me that today was the day. From a safety point of view we had three flares, spare rope, spare UJ, food and water. I must say when Steve emerged in his lifejacket and helmet it made my solitary Wetsuit seem a little inadequate. We also were also being followed on the land (where possible) by my beloved Fiancee Carolyn Garside. So we set out from Plimmerton on a broad reach out towards the south end of Mana Island, last stop before the Cook strait. The next Hour was spent zig-zaging down the coast to our first and only meeting point with Carolyn at Makara Beach. so down the hatch went a power bar or two and it was off to the south coast. When we arrived at Makara Steve was struggling to plane, 15 minutes out of Makara the wind had increased to around 18 Knots and we were low f'lying thinking just how amazing it all was. The wind from that point steadily increased and in an hour had gone from 18 through to 30 knots, with it our thoughts went from "wow how cool is this" to "hell so that's a back slam on a Mistral Imco" . At about that point Steve's number one camber popped off and my gaskets dislodged in the ever increasing sea that was building. so we met up and fixed the damage, discussed the ever deteriorating situation and then set off again. Two things had become apparent by that point, one we got separated real quick and two at the rate the wind was increasing the point at which we could no longer sail was not to far away. The coast line from Makara to Wellington was hostile and not one that you could negotiate with a few to leaving the water so from there on in it was no return. Had it not been no return then we would have returned because about 30 minutes after our talk 30 Knots had turned to 45+ with the most amazing 80 to 90 foot walls of spray barreling down on you from up wind. We were sailing one design Mistral Imco's with 7,4 meter sails and I recall vividly when the first gust hit me and 1 got cartwheeled over the front and chucked 6 or 7 meters clear of the board. From then on Steve and I Forgot about sticking together and focused only on getting to Island Bay which is the first habitable Wellington beach. Fifteen minutes or so after getting biffed over the front I witnessed Steve being subjected to a very vigorous back slam then when that gust arrived at me it lifted the board 5 or 6 feet clear of the water then in to some sort of involuntary backward loop. But don't worry because I well and truly broke the boards fall. One hour was spent in that wind and I arrived in at Island bay with no Steve. As I had not seen him for over 45 minutes and had no hesitation in alerting the Wharf Police to the situation. Upon putting the helicopter on stand by the Police rescue team headed out to find Steve. This they did and he was able to sail in unassisted. In summation we spent 4 and a half hours on the water and covered approximately 100 kilometers . spending more time on the water would have been all right but for the level of wind. This experience has proven valuable for the planning of more such adventures and help identify and quantify the level of and type off danger likely to be encountered. Although we did not make our original destination of oriental Bay we were happy to be in at Island bay having negotiated one of the worst stretches of water in the North Island and still in one piece. My earlier thoughts on not attempting to sail in a Northerly were confirmed as the wind on the south coast was offshore and more than a handful, But we live and learn. With the up and coming
solo crossing of the Cook strait one other important
lesson I learnt is the importance of having lots of time
on the water in the build up to a long distance sail. The
over all experience has definitely left us hungry for
more. |
Saturday, June 07, 1997 IMCO Racing starts in Wellington Mistral Imco Racing From the 1st of June the Titahi Bay Boating Club will be running their annual winter series. Racing will be starting at l0am every Sunday at the club situated at the northern end of the Porirua harbor, there is also an excellent grassed area for rigging adjacent to the Porirua rowing club. We are also going to be having regular training sessions to work on any areas of your windsurfing that require attention plus a few epic sails to Plimmerton to add a little adventure. The format for racing consists of having two races back to back on each Sunday throughout June, then there is a break of three weeks for the school holidays. After that the racing continues. The success of James Richardson, Karl Mygind, Stacy Cree and Gareth wood at the recent youth sail and trials has confirmed Wellington's emergence as a strong sailboarding region. So come and join in with the steadily improving fleet of sailboarders. This is an excellent chance to dramatically improve your windsurfing over winter. If you have any questions
about the racing you can give me a call on 233-1327 or
025-496-330 |
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