NS14 News - February 2012
Firstly apologies extended to the start/finish boats in questioning their skills with regard to boats over or not over the line.
Secondly if anyone is sending lawyers my way can you make sure they are single and available.
Now onto the next slanderous installation of the NS14 news.
Race 11- 4/02/2012
Results - Consistency
Powderburn
Alternative Pathway
Liquid insanity
Smoke & Mirrors
Slip Sliding Away
Sweet Little Rock n Roller
Dave and Kathryn won over the line by minutes again. Deb and I were pleased to have had a fun sail and also win a meal voucher which also means another fun outing to the club for dinner.
Race 12- 11/02/2012
Club Heat
The heat has been on between Dave & Kathryn and Adrian & Daniel for points towards the much desired club championship. With Adrian showing great style winning the few races of the year, Dave and Kathryn were forced to whip themselves into shape, purchase and fit an electronic compass and work real hard to maintain their place as Numero Uno. Their last 6 races have been faultless.
Results
Alternative Pathway
Red Joker
Powderburn
Liquid Insanity
Slip Sliding Away
DNF - Sweet Little Rock N Roller
(What happened here, you might ask? Well Bob's super-crew Christine has been on holidays taking in the sights and delights of India, Bob has had to rely on less super crews like myself and has also taken on a potential new NS14 crew - Ben - who unfamiliar with the technique of putting sand in the last layer of gel-oat on the floor of the NS to reduce slippage hadn't provided enough protection for his knees (a mistake you only make once!) - The pain in his knees (as I am sure it was not the pain of sailing with Bob) became unbearable and retirement was the only solution.
I urge Christine now on behalf of all long suffering crews to massively increase her fee as her skills to keep Bob at the pointy end of the fleet are obvious.
Race 13 -18/02/2012
Results
Alternative Pathway (I'm getting bored typing this)
Red Joker
Liquid Insanity
Powderburn
2031
Sweet Little Rock N Roller (Yes Christine still away)
This race was also a State Heat for us with the much desired ice bucket up for grabs.
A tricky race for those of us who didn't get the best start and couldn't reach to the first mark like the rest of the fleet, with finish lines being set up and also start lines for the 505's directly on our sailing lines, some confusion arose and Dave and Kathryn were questioned on their course through the finish line which turned out was still on the move to become the finish line and was not on station, I know there would have been concern for the team on Alternative Pathway because of this. It was resolved by the end of the day and the gun was theirs.
The Guru - Dave Colebatch took Deb and me out individually for extra training to hopefully improve crew skill levels.
Race 14 - 25/02/2012
No sailing - no wind
This gave me the chance to catch up on the gossip on various boats (without having to make stuff up)
Red Joker news - Adrian has superseded Daniel with Ben (An International Crew - he is from New Zealand) - Ben has been sailing with Bob the last few weeks but has signed up with Adrian for next season. The reason for this dramatic change is that Daniel needs "encouragement" to skipper for next season - he has a great boat in Bad Joker and is keen to go (well he has to be now doesn't he?) Potential crews out there? - contact me.
John Haines our renowned measurer has measured the new hat of Jake. It has come in with a measurement of 2.4 which is not bigger than his Jib so therefore legal. John advises that the colour of the hat is still in question. It just goes to show that some skippers will do anything to get their hands on these coveted prizes.
Bridget - crew on 2031 has predicted a big comeback for March - stay tuned. Jake was also spotted by my daughter at the Big Day Out concert in Adelaide - he was not at sailing the next day????
XLR8 - Mike Sharp (skipper)
Mike is gathering a crew register as it has come to light that we are quite a bit short on crews. This seems to have worked in his favour as he has picked up (perhaps I should re-phrase that) Bekka for the rest of the season. Great news!
Mike did spot a certain blue NS14 capsizing on the beach - on the dolly on the way to the shoreline (but as editor I am not going to expand on this)
Smoke and Mirrors - John and Matt
Matt has just returned from annual leave (amazing that his Dad allowed this during the warm months - perhaps next season his leave should be restricted to the winter months) - he took 2 weeks off !!!! However he has returned bright eyed, rested and re-igourated and undoubtedly pumped for the rest of the season.
Liquid Insanity - Chris Hart & Tom Vercoe - Tom has had a reply from E-Harmony but to his disappointment it was from Bob!
An upcoming social function curry night has been organised at Christine's shed (with hopefully a slide night of photos of India) - by Christine for the 24/03/2012 more details to follow.
Also I am going to include Tony and his Tazar (Option 2) in our news as although he consistently wins the Tazar race each week - I get the feeling he is sometimes lonely - welcome aboard Tony. I have been offered a crewing spot on Tony's Tazar which is quite tempting as he has advised that the Tazar is fitted with an ice-cream maker and he can make Margarita's - a great incentive for any like minded crew. Tony always comes to the club on a Saturday even if he doesn't have a crew - and he always gets one for the race.
Now finally some sad news amongst our fleet.
It is with great sadness we heard of the recent passing of local sail maker and NS14 association member Ken O'Brien. We extend our deepest sympathy for Becky and family.
Red Joker at the Cronulla Nationals
The NS14 National Championships for 2011/12 were held at the Cronulla Sailing Club in NSW with a total of 59 entrants (the largest number since the early 90's). My son Daniel and I sailed the only South Australian entry in our new Tiger, Red Joker. Read full article >
Read more about NS14's at BSYC