SsangYong 18's weigh in for Worlds
by Brad Marsh on 17 Feb 2006
SsangYong 18ft skiff team training in Auckland, prior to travelling to Sydney for the World Championships Richard Gladwell
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Brad Marsh reports on the weigh in and measurement day for the 18 foot skiff J.J. Giltanan Championships being held on Sydney Harbour.
The bright yellow boat of our team (Chris Skinner, Andrew Stone and Brad Marsh) was the first to weigh in and came in at 172.2kgs, just 2kgs over the minimum weight.
The next boat on the scales was the second of the New Zealand teams skippered by Graham Catley. Their SsangYong sponsored boat weighed in at 168kgs and requires 2kgs of lead to be placed in various calculated places over the hull.
This is a big confidence boost for the team as we now enter the championships with competitive boats and a chance at getting good results.
Our Fishers Fine Arts / Helly Hansen team arrived last Sunday and joint the local fleet in their afternoon race in a strong 25 - 30 knot North Easterly that blew half the fleet of the water with damage. After unloading the container very early that morning and then moving them into position in their respective rigging areas the team took to the water in the afternoon.
After a bad start we worked well to round the top mark inside the top ten showing very good pace upwind. Passing a few more boats on a blasting reach down around Shark Island the team jibed around Shark Island and set off on another reach at blistering speeds. However, a new concept to the team was the amount of traffic on the harbour and we caught ourselves under another boat and chinesed jibed the boat when the rig sat upright. After righting the boat the crew returned to the shore in an effort to preserve the gear and ourselves for the upcoming championships.
The biggest lesson of the day was how small the harbour is when sailing at such excessive speeds!!
The regatta begins tommorrow with an invitation race and then the serious racing starts on Saturday. The regatta concludes on Sunday the 26th and has two lay days during to allow for recuperation and repairs!
A big thank you goes out to our sponsors, Fishers Fine Arts, Helly Hansen, Southern Ocean Ropes, Fyfe Sails and NZ Rigging. Without their support and assistance we would not be here today.
A thank you also goes to the NZ Association and their class sponsor, SsangYong Motor Vehicles. For more information on the NZ team check out www.thedreamteam.co.nz
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