FLYING FIFTEENS
A
s any accountant will tell you: “the numbers don’t lie”. So, after 53 club races plus regattas pre-season, in January, the State Championships and the Tally Hobbs Regatta, you would have to say there’s been a few miles under the keel in the last 8 months. Add into this equation an average fleet size of 14 boats and the recipe for some great one design racing is complete. By now, the brains of the more mathematically focused will be grinding out the rest of the vital information like the amount of tacks per race and if the number of times a kite sheet goes under the boat is proportional to the quantity of shiraz splashed around the night before. Lockdowns have wreaked havoc on the social program with, at the time of writing, the curry night being a casualty from mid-April and has now been re-scheduled to late May. The end of the summer season allows us to pause and consider how blessed we are to be sailing on this side of our island with the isolation it affords. The recent State Championships held in Geraldton assembled the largest fleet of Flying Fifteens in the southern hemisphere this year with the regatta finishing just a couple of days before Cyclone Seroja whistled through the region. Our thanks go to all the race officers and officials who make our racing possible and run a great program. Considering the race numbers quoted above, the amount of work they do in pulling flags, keeping times and moving marks is obvious and much appreciated by all sailors. The winter series ( Applecross Cup ) starts on the 23rd of May. Images courtesy of Des from Wind Passion
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SOUNDINGS | May 2021 ~ July 2021
