OHOPE BEACH SAND SAILORS
Guy Fawkes - 10th March 2008

Friday 6th.

Arrived at the Ohiwa camp at mid-day to a pure blue sky an a gentle seabreeze starting to flow in from the north. By 1.00pm the Auckland guys were arriving. We all headed down to the beach soon after to get rigged up and ready to sail. I recorded a steady 10knt NNW breeze, perfect conditions for day one, Class IV Friday. All yachts on the starting grid by 3pm, the big wing masted class 4s from Ork-Land verses the nimble OBSS Class 5s.

First race I got sandwiched between Bill Nairn and Phil Augnstin at the start. There was no wind left for me between those two big mothers! I got left floundering in their wake searching for air. Fortunately Roger got some clean air and managed a close second behind Phil with Bill taking 3rd spot. This trend continued throughout the day with Phil and Bill swapping for 1st and 3rd and Roger the meat in the Ork sandwich. Later in the day the wind suddenly switched 90 degrees around to NNE and picked up a knot or two. We decided the next race was to the eastern spit and back. I followed the fleet down in the 4x4 taking photos along the way. Got some great shots and the guys had a fast run downwind back to the start line. They liked that so much I sent them back for another lap. Unfortunately the wind died and it was half an hour and two beers later before they came in to view pushing and coasting their yachts back to base. A good workout for the guys and a pleasant day at the beach for me. We all slept well that nite!

Saturday 7th.

Another beautiful cloudless day at Ohiwa Beach. Class5 and Class3 to race separately today. The White Island Doctor kicked in on schedule. Roger blitzed Antony and me in class 5. Man have I got some catching up to do! The class 3s had some amazing close racing, with Phil coming out on top. Class 3R is the way to go on our east coast beaches.

Saturday night we had our annual Guy Fawkes Bonfire on the beach with a brilliant display of fireworks from John and the kids, followed by toasted mashmellows and drinks till late.

A great weekend! Thank you guys for coming down to our world.

Clem.

NZ701