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 :: RTIR Report - From Thomas Funke :: (680 Reads)

Posted by warwick on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 - 07:33 PM

This year’s Round the Island Race was a remarkable one. Sunday, the 3rd of February, dawned with not a breath of wind in the air. Amongst the 505 sailors there was some nervousness as to what the day would bring. Would it be a long day with an average speed of 2 knots…. or a day with record breaking conditions as experienced in 2007? Once out on the start line the wind seemed to fill in from the North West and there was a bit of hope that the “tour de Island” could in fact be completed in under 3 hours. The start of the dinghy fleet was very tight with the 505’s of Kyle / Rob (BRT) and Peter / Thomas (the Gus) breaking away first. The rest of the fleet went higher, towards the dam wall, hoping for more wind. This tactic seemed to pay off as Hans/Alan (Flying Freddie), Albrecht/Warwick (Aitsa) and Dirk/Eddie managed to break away form the fleet leaving both the Gus and BRT in their dust (spray) with Tony /Dillan (FAL), Kobus / Heiko (Laat waai), Grant / Michael (Mrs Appleby) and Tilja / Pieter (Ramkat) following close behind.

As the Island drew nearer it became clear that Albrecht/Warwick’s long distance speed tactics would perhaps pay off and help them to take the lead. Shortly before the Island the pair on Aitsa overtook the team on Flying Freddie to head around the Island first. Dirk and Eddie were coming in close behind them while the team on BRT overtook the Gus and rounded the mark in 4th. Kyle on board BRT did however decide that the weather was not suiting him and took two separate swims in the waters of the Vaal to cool down?! This opened the door for the Gus who then moved into fourth position closely behind Dirk/Eddie. The tactics around the Island proved challenging as one did not want to fall into its shadow but at the same time there proved to be a slight lift coming of its shore. Once around the Island the lead had changed hands again with Flying Freddie first, team Aitsa 2nd with Dirk still in third the Gus in 4th, BRT 5th, Laat waai 6th, F.A.L 7th, Mrs A in 8th, Ramkat in 9th and Slow Dipper in 10th.

A tight reach, with only the two leaders opting to fly spinnakers for a short while, proved to be challenging as a few gusts provided trapezing conditions. Halfway down the leg the Gus overtook Dirk and Eddie by sailing slightly lower than them. As the fleet came closer to the dam wall the wind got extremely light and the tight battle for the lead continued. In the end it was the team on Flying Freddie that took first place followed closely by Aitsa (2nd), the Gus (3rd), Dirk and Eddie (4th) and BRT (5th). Laat waai, F.A.L., Mrs A, Ramkat and Slow Dipper brought up the 2nd half of the fleet. All in all, the regatta was very successful with 7 of the top 14 positions, on handicap, being dominated by the 505s. Thank you to SANLAM and the organisers for making the event a great success. Perhaps the 505s can claim 7 of the top 10 positions in next year’s event!

Thomas

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