Long and short distance races on Sydney Harbour over the Queens Birthday Long Weekend. Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June. Starting from Wooloarah Sailing Club in Rose Bay. Group dinner nearby on Saturday evening.
 Sydney-based Superyacht, The Southern Cloud, took delivery of a new 2015 Weta 4.4 Trimaran this week. The Weta will provide the owners and guests the chance to enjoy fast, fun, easy sailing with the speed, safety and stability of the Weta trimaran - while the Superyacht takes guests on luxury cruises around the waters of Sydney Harbour, the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef.
"We're really excited to receive the Weta to our fleet of "toys" for our guests and our crew are looking forward to testing her out" Said Tim De Jager, Captain of the Southern Cloud. Glenn Marney of Weta NSW commented: "We're delighted that the Southern Cloud has chosen the 2015 Weta. The small storage footprint makes the Weta ideal for use on a Superyacht - or for anyone that wants fun sailing with a boat that doesn't take up space or time to rig. Expertly made for maximum enjoyment and minimum fuss - whether you’re sailing all out and solo, mixing it up with the family or teaching the novices to sail, the Weta is simple to sail, surprisingly quick and an absolute tonne of fun." The Southern Cloud, a 130ft triple-masted yacht, is Australia’s largest privately-owned sailing yacht. Originally built in Denmark, its now available for charter after a luxurious refit. More about the Southern Cloud Superyacht at southerncloud.com.au  Roger Kitchen, Managing Director of Weta Marine will be helping to launch the new and improved 2015 Weta at the Sydney Sailboat Expo from 18-19 April - the first small-boat sailing show of its kind in Sydney.
The switch to manufacturing by Singapore based dinghy specialists, Xtreme Sailing Products, has enabled Weta to revise the product to produce a more consistent, higher quality construction while maintaining the one-design philosophy. Read the review here and then inspect the boat and get your questions answered by Roger at the Sydney Sailboat Expo on 18-19 April. Close call with a 18ft Skiff on Sydney Harbour! Another camera angle below  Four Wetas in various states of Christmas decoration made it for the PBSC Three Islands Race(*) yesterday (* = Island content of race may be fewer than advertised!). The Wetas made up the largest single class at this fun event amongst assorted Hobies and other catamarans, and all competitors had been encouraged to wear Christmas costumes (Santa hats abounded) and decorate their boat accordingly. However, given that the Weta is a wet boat in the forecast 16 knot winds, most of the owners struggling to find places to put decorations that would still be there after 5 minutes of racing – Peter's boat had tinsel wind indicators attached to the shrouds which looked great except that he was showered with bits of tinsel throughout the race! After taking multiple photos of the assembled group of sailors in the sunshine, with much hat swapping required, and a course briefing which only the locals could interpret, we set off for a race start. The four minute start caught out the visitors as it wasn't clear (except to Peter Duross, the local) that the Wetas would depart on the 4 minute flag. Peter Duross was off on a flyer in the 15 knot breeze which was patchy as the wind funnelled through the surrounding hills. It was so variable that at times Wetas separated by 10 metres were tacking into the wind or on a screaming spinnaker reach. Peter seemed to have his own personal wind god and shot off again while Pete, crewed by his son Toby, were gradually hauling him in. After rounding a windward and reaching mark (which we all had difficulty finding) we headed off around Scotland Island – this had some good breeze funnelling into the Eastern side but by this time the Wetas had formed two groups with the Pete(er)s in the lead and Paul and Geoff chasing after them – the second group were held up by a large refuse collection barge which crossed the narrow channel around the island right in front of them - and then they made the mistake of getting too close to the Island and were becalmed as a result. Meanwhile Peter had caught an almighty gust as he cleared the island and he flung his weight backwards with the sails horizontal to the water as he teetered on the edge of capsizing before finally landing right way up. This show of daring-do allowed an awe-struck Pete to pass him while Peter collected his thoughts but they managed to create a substantial lead as they both cleared the island and they headed off back towards Palm Beach.
After gybing away from the beach and heading towards the open water they eventually found the large channel navigation pole which was being used as a turning mark. Paul had caught up with the leading two on the offwind leg – despite a "submarine" moment when he ploughed into the back of a wake wave but approaching the mark, he managed to get completely wrapped in the spinnaker sheet in a hasty gybe. After untangling this he set off again and was closing on the leading two as first Pete (and son) arrived at the beach with Peter close behind. Paul arrived soon after followed by Geoff. After quickly putting boats back on trailers they headed to the clubhouse for a well-earned beer, barbecue, prizes and Christmas cheer. RaceQs Tracking & Replay Paul (Tryster) & Peter (Auweta 845) Photo: Upu Kila, Palm Beach Sailing Club  By Paul White Five Wetas arrived on a warm but windless Saturday morning but by the time all the boats were heading out, following the 40ft trimaran start boat to the start area, a light North Easterly had set in. A course was laid across Pittwater from Mackerel Beach to Barrenjoey (becoming increasingly flukey near the windward mark as the day wore on) consisting of an offset triangle with a tight reach to a turning mark near the shore. The wind stayed light (7-9 knots) until after the finish. The Wetas had their own start after a gaggle of Maricats, Hobies and others. In the first race, Peter Graham followed his form from Canberra and led by 10 boat lengths at the windward mark, hoisted his kite and set off for the leward mark, followed a short time later by Paul White and then the rest of the fleet. Then Paul recalled that there was a turning mark and headed back after seeing the others heading for it - but when Peter realised he had missed the mark it was too late to go back. Paul rounded the turning mark which put him just behind the rest of the fleet and as he did so the tiller extension came detached from the tiller – he made a temporary fix and set off in pursuit. He passed Geoff Waldon and Peter Duross on the upwind leg. He closed on Dylon Bailey and his son who were struggling for speed downwind in the light wind and after a short tussle he managed to pass them to windward and gybe for the line – only to find the tiller extension had come off again and Dylon and son crept ahead as they crossed together. The second race followed shortly after with a little more breeze and this time Peter Graham and Dylon Bailey crossed the fleet on Port to lead at the windward mark. Peter made no more mistakes and headed into the distance while the rest of the fleet tried to catch up, and he kept position to the end. At the start of race three, Paul decided to join Peter Graham for the port start and they both crossed the fleet and it was then that Paul noticed Peter was sitting much further forward on the tramps and hiking from in front of the shroud – which made a huge difference in the light winds and flat water. On the last lap, with nothing to loose, Paul went further instead of gybing at the turning mark and had more pressure which allowed him to catch up by the time they both got to the finish – but not enough to prevent Peter winning. The final race was a one lap dash and Peter had seen the wind had shifted and started on the committee boat end. Most of the fleet went left but Paul thought he had spotted a shift to go right – and found himself in a hole trying to get back to the windward mark. Peter Graham was never headed and Peter Duross came through to take second place. With Dylon and son retiring before the last race – it had been a long day. The overall winner in the Weta division was Peter Graham, 2nd place was Geoff Waldon and third Peter DuRoss, Paul White came fourth and Dylon and crew retired early. Both Dylon and Paul could only attend the Saturday’s racing. Thanks to Peter Duross for promoting the event and the Weta at PBSC. Paul #325 Sydney Video of Day 1, Race 1 |
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