Safety at Sea Two Handed Series sailed in light winds, murk and rain

by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com on 13 Jul 2014 A decision to delay the start of the 2014 SSANZ Safety at Sea Triple Series Baltic 50, by two hours proved to be a mixed blessing.

The winds had been blowing at gale strength for most of the week, including until the early hours of Saturday morning, but a predicted reduction in the wind strength came in earlier than expected.

The dramatic reduction in wind strength was accompanied by heavy and miserable rain, which also cleared just before the start of racing. But black clouds and heavily overcast skies remained throughout the race, with occasional rain.

In the end the Longhaul 50 Division got underway in 5-7kts of breeze, while the final start - the Multihulls almost drifted across the startline.

Winds picked up to around 10-15kts around the courses, but meant that crews finished after night had fallen.

The multihull Charleston was the first to finish, at 1810hrs followed by the SL33, Excess (Mike Drummond) at 1815hrs and the first monohull, the 55ft Equilibrium three minutes later.

On corrected time Pretty Boy Floyd, the much upgraded Ross 12 metre, with one of the series sponsors, Rodney Keenan (Evolution Sails) crewing, won by over 35 minutes from Equilibrium. An Elliott Tourer, Elysium placed third over 20 minutes back on corrected time.

Standout in the Longhaul 50 Division 2 was the Wellington boat Crewless, a Class 950, which made the trip north especially for the Triple series. They were one of six finishers in the division, placing fifth across the line and on corrected time, with another six boats not finishing the course, and four others choosing not to start.

In the Shorthaul 50 Division 1, the Jim Young designed NZ37, Namu (Gary Lock) was first home, about the same as the first monohull at 1810hrs, but took second place on corrected time to Tickled Pink (Young 88), just over 3mins. All starters finished with five boats opting to stay home.

An SR26, Motorboat, blitzed the Shorthaul 50 Division 2- Sportsboats finishing over 90 minutes ahead of the second home, Mercenary, another SR26. A third SR 26, Rocky, sailed up from Tauranga on Monday, and finished fifth in the tricky tides and light winds. The crew have sailed together in the last two Round North Island Races. A total of 18 boats entered the division with 16 facing the starter, and only two of those electing not to finish.

The Young 88's were the only division to have their own class race, with 10 entrants and seven finishers. Sailor Moon was first home and took first place on corrected time. The Stewart 34 Pavo did the same in the combined 1020 and S34 fleet.

The next race in the Safety at Sea SSANZ Two handed Triple Series, the NZ Spars and Rigging 60 will be sailed on August 9, 2014.

For full results http://www.ssanz.co.nz/results.html!click_here