JJ Final

After a tough week of lite big rig days for most races in this years JJ, the final race 7 proved to be one of the most unforgettable in JJ history. With the breeze constantly changeing from East to N/E the race committee had a tough choice after cruising around all points of the Harbour wondering what to do and after 30 mins they decided to set an up and down course from Taylor Bay to Watsons Bay, by this time the Harbour was a complete washing machine with very little breeze... I felt sorry for the 5 skiffs in contention for the overall JJ trophy... so as we waited and waited the pressure mounted on the leading skiffs, we took it easy by cruising around with the video camera and waving to family and friends on the ferry... the amount of spectator boats to watch the last race was truelly amazing, and to have the last race confined to one small part of the Harbour made for a great atmosphere

So the race began in very lite conditions with the fleet splitting straight away, we started at the very biased port end, but so did many others and with not much room to move we got a little buried... Woody Jnr got a nice start and was leading for the first lap and looked to have the title won and with SX guys buried well back after another bad start the scene was set for a maiden JJ win for the appliances team... but not to be... the lite conditions threw in plenty of snakes and ladders and as the appliances team went backwards the SX team went forwards, as did most boats thru the fleet... so all 5 boats probably had the title at one stage or another during the tough 4 laps

After our average start, we battled with the lite conditons and our lack of tuning time in these conditions proved to be our handbrake... we have been doing some minor rig changes all week and had a nice fast uprange set up, but with luff rounds not matching perfectly enough and our old kite we struggled to stay in touch with the close fleet so our last race was truelly our most forgettable

Overall we finished 26th... not exaclty setting the world on fire, but Sam, Bendo and me are pretty happy with our result, we know we raced hard with the mid fleet and got unlucky in some races, but thats racing... our race 1 and race 2 effort was most pleasing and without our race 6 crash that would have been our best result. Most pleasing is how young Ben and Sam performed in their first JJ together... we had one swim all series and no major stuff ups or gear failure... some great starts and perfect gybes and tacks all week, and our mid to uprange breeze speed was matching most in the fleet apart from the super fast top 6... with a little more time with our new square top rig we mite have got downrange a bit faster... but with the fleet so close in every race with only minutes separating most of the fleet there was no room for any errors and my young crew can hold their head up high and be proud of their efforts during the week... they sailed like true seasoned pros... smart, calm and with nerves 0f steel... ive sailed with many crews over the past 10 to 15 years, some that think their gods gift to sailing and couldnt sail their way around a fish tank to guys that have won world titles, and my young guys measure up to the best, and thats the most pleasing aspect for me during this JJ week

In the end SX won from the very impressive guys on Active Air who sailed most consistantly during the series and where very unlucky not to win, 3rd was the Gotta love It team and fourth went to Woody Jnr... all of these teams could have won and those that didnt are very unlucky that the last race was sailed in such tough conditions... a real lottery... but a big congrats to all the top boats... and also fantastic to see Woody Snr get a win in the last race, even he said it was a crazy race that anyone could have won, apparently he got some tune up tips from the SX guys before race 6... obviously it worked wonders

From my point of view it was a tough week... and with no small rig days I was not too happy floating around in lite conditions, and after the tough last day I was thinking this mite be my last JJ... see what happens... for now Sam and Bendo are keen to keep racing for the rest of the season and enjoy all the hard work we have done over the last 12 months... and hopefully some small rig days for me please

Race 6

Another lite big rig day again on the Harbour with breeze from the S/E made for a very snakes and ladders day of racing... add that to the congestion of satday yacht racing, it was a very churned up race track, and with the breeze shifting all over, the start boat didint know where to head
We managed a great start with clear air down near the favoured port end again, and as the JJ week has progressed, more and more teams have seen the benefit of getting away from all the mess of the boat end... so we cruised our way up the first work not far from SX and the leading pack... down the first run we passed some skiffs that where getting parked by all the racing yachts and manged to keep good speed and clear air... then came the carnage... some idiot who should know better decided they where a little confused between port and starbord, so as we gybed back to starbord to get down to the mark this other well known skiff skipper decided to just plow straight into us, then the usual locked wings and poles and parking at the mark followed... end result we loose about 10 boats and the idiot sails off into the distance without penalty circles or even a word of apology... we would have been better off bracking something in the crash and protesting to get average points... but thats not really my idea of fair sailing
In the end we held off some skiffs but couldnt undo the damage from the crash and ended up in a dissapointing 25th... the guys we where with before the crash ended up with a nice mid fleet 15th... exaclty the result we needed to keep us in the mid field... but oh no some people would rather crash into you than race fair
With todays last race and another lite day predicted its all on for the leading pack of 5 skiffs... anyone of these can win the JJ... im guessing lots of close match racing and probably some crashes and protests will help decide the winner... whoever can stay away from all that will win this very close regatta... best of luck to all 5 skiffs in contention... SX.. 7.. Appliances.. Rag and Active Air

Race 5

Another race for the JJ and another winner, at least the leading bunch of 6 skiffs are sharing the glory around... well done to Woody Jnr and his crew on appliances on line for a nice win on a day when the sun and warm weather finally returned to the Harbour... a shifty 10knt N/E breeze and a quiet harbour greated our skiff, but we somehow managed to miss our prefered port end start position...seems as though a few more of the fleet have discovered the uncrouded port end... also forgetting the start watch doesnt help, neither does getting to the start line 2 mins before the gun... so we crossed plenty of transoms up the first leg to Beashal bouy and managed to gain a few down around Shark Is, by the second upwind we where back in mid fleet fighting with the CST guys and the usuall mid fleeters and feeling quick... then a small disaster at the second time to Clarke Is... we got a huge gust out of the east and overshot the bottom mark then somehow managed to wrap the tack line around the end of the pole on the kite drop... my young guys didnt panic and got it all sorted without a swim or hitting the rocks on the island... so by the last kite set at Beashal again, we had to park and untie and also managed to wine glass the kite for a few hundred metres... so there goes 8 or 10 skiffs cruising by... basically in this tite fleet, one stuff up and your gone... so a tough 28th for the team and a hard lesson for my young team, but nice to see we can get out of bad starts and gain some ground thru the fleet... ye we are not threatening the top ten or the top 15 for that matter, but that was never going to be a reallity in this super fast fleet... me and my guys are just happy to be in there racing and doing ok against some of the fast guys
With 2 races to go its anyones JJ to take, all the top guys are fast enough to win, its just down to who can keep there cool and not stuff up.... and with more mid range big rig days forecast... its turning into an all big rig regatta... shame, I was looking forward to some No2 rig days of jumping and crashing
My young team has sailed very well over the last 5 races and exceeded my expectations by far, with 2 more to go, and if we can get off the line cleanly and fight hard, we mite get that nice mid fleet result we have been so close to all week, maybe even stay in front of Woody for more than a lap or 2
Hopefully some interesting video to be shown soon, we have had the camera in a few different spots so should be able to get a short highlites package together
See what the weekend brings us... no doubt a congested Harbour but hopefully enough breeze for some nice rides

Race 3 & 4

After a nice rest on monday for lay day race 3 started under very strange circumstances... but very unique Harbour conditions... the Manly Ferry decided to charge down the start line about 1 min after the start and with all skiffs on starbord tack from the line not one skiff or the start committee boat really noticed till it was too late... my guys starting in our usuall port end position had early vision and set off fast well behind the oncoming ferry and cleared without too much ferry parking... then we all looked back to all the starbord boats stiil heading acrooss the bow of the charging ferry, the horn sounded and sounded and sounded, stil some guys tried to cross... then we see the ferry in full reverse with white water churning from its props... meanwhile we where happily sailing up the first leg thinking ah well some guys got whipped out by the ferry some guys got lucky and crossed ahead, we got lucky with a few others and crossed clear behind... the usuall Harbour ferry dodging... but then the strange part... fast ribs came up the course and said abandon start... I guess its fair to restart under those extreme conditions, but also a very dangerous position for some guys to ignore all the Harbour rules of keeping clear of the Manly Ferry, let alone to see the ferry come to a complete stop to avoid collision... ah the joy of Sydney Harbour

Anyway we raced hard after the second start in a fading S/E breeze with the fleet seemingly glued together for the entire race, with only minutes seperating more than 10 boats at a time... if you even blinked you loose a boat or 3, then gain then loose then gain... in the end a close fought 25th position... our worst result by far but one which my guys sailed the asses off... so ye we are heaps faster but so is the fleet... but to be battling it out with some fast guys like Woody and the CST we are happy with our sailing so far in the JJ series

Race 4 looked to be much of the same lite big rig as the previous day but with just a little more south... actually strange to sail a southerly course that wasnt small rig and fresh... so again we started port end and got off the line fast and clear, but with the fleet so close you can go from position 10 to 20 in seconds, the first kite run saw skiffs go to every corner of the harbour to find more pressure... we rounded about mid fleet and headed back upwind to try to stay with the pack... again we lost a few then gained a few... Sam and Bendo worked hard all day in tough changing conditions with skiffs all round us... we ended up with a 23rd with more than 10 boats less than 2 mins ahead of us... so close yet so far
At least we got the head cam on today, hopefully it works, if only we had it yesterday for the ferry crash, so maybe some video coming soon

The top 6 boats are in a league of there own with speed and smarts on the rest of the fleet... the next 20 can be anywhere due to the fleet being so close... bottom line, great skiff racing... and still 3 more races to go... hopefully a small rig race in there somewhere

Race 2

Crowded start line for race 2... and this was the quiet end of the line... and the new all black sails are proving to be a nice little speed gain



Race 2 proved to be a nice test for the new rig and crew... a very gusty uprange big rig day that looked to be heading towards a very lite day with lots of rain early in the day... then just kept going uprange all day from the S/E. I was surprised to see only a few No2 rigs on the start line, and I was wishing we had gone small rig ourselves
Plenty of crashes and broken bits thru the fleet but we managed to stay away from drama pretty well, apart from the quick swim in the lee of the manly ferry on the last windward leg, lucky we only lost 1 boat, and held out 5 fast finishing boats to the line... so another mid pack 18th place... and me and the guys are pretty happy with this result... some great rides all day, if a little on the extreme side, some nice battles with the mid fleet pack including Woody and Fezz on the CST...some very close calls with all the yachts and boats all over the Harbour as well as the usual ferries crossing over in the middle of the course, but well handled by young Bendo and Sam... we arent super quick upwind in the fresh stuff, but we are holding our own on the downwind runs... and passing a few guys crashing at the top marks
So after 2 races we are equall 16th place overall from 32 starters... rite in the middle, and im happy with that so far considering our lack of sailing time over the last 3 weeks and the 2nd race with the new sails... big thanx to Neil at Barra Sails for all his help to get sails ready on time for first race
The team mite even get the head cam working over the next few races, so maybe some video to show soon... could be fun for any protest meeting needing evidence, aparently there has been a few lodged so far
and looks like some more cloudy rain days ahead... as long as there is breeze im happy... see what happens

JJ Race 1

The teams new name... SkiffSail.... and new sail updates proved to be a major advantage in race 1 of the JJ World Titles sailed today in a rather dark cloudy rainy soft easterly... all the same conditons we have been struggling with over the last few months... big thanx to Woody and the League for getting our "new" hand me down rigs... so much more grunt in the lite and wavy conditons

And the all black sails look quite striking with the paint work and red detail on the wings... at least many of the Squaddy sailors seemed impressed

We started well and had to duck about 8 transoms up the first work and rounded the first mark with the Rag and 7 guys.... something was definitley going well here we thought, and after the first lap we where holding our position well... then came the brain explosion and we headed too far left way too early and lost 6 or 7 boats up the next windward leg... not to worry we were just happy to have pace and horsepower for the first time

We held our position to the finish and crossed the line in 18th overall... me and the boys were happy to see at least 10 boats come in after us

Young Bendo and Sam sailed extremley well in the tough conditions and considering our JJ preparation of no sailing for the past 2 weekends, due to my work commitments, we as a team are very happy with our result today

I would actually be happy to see another lite and shite easterly again tomorrow... and looking at all the rain around its quite possible

See what tomorrow brings for race 2

All work no play

It doesnt happen very often, but sometimes you have to put off the leasurely weekends spent sailing around to actually do some work and pay the bills... so no sailing to report till the JJ starts in about a weeks time

Ah well cant complain... but watchiing all those perfect N/E seabreezes we have been having lately makes it tough
And not the best preparation for the JJ Worlds due to start on the 13th, but my guys are confident we have done some good quality training over the last month or so to fair well enough in the big 32 boat fleet expected to line up next week

But maybe we will have pics in the next few days of some interesting new sail updates... stay tuned
Maybe even some pics of the beautifull timber project that has kept me in the factory lately