A very Kiwi sailing weekend for the Javelins

by Antje Muller on 22 Nov 2010
A dozen Javelin enthusiasts came together this weekend at a small bach in Rotoiti for an extraordinary little event bringing together competitive racing and relaxed socialising.

This number was made up by the crews of the five Javelins plus that of the little Whiting 16, which consisted of Race Officer Peter Millar and the official photographer. The fleet came together from as far as Palmerston North, Gisborne, Auckland, and Northland. Special guests were Nadine and Thure from Germany, who are spending six months in New Zealand to travel, and to work as sailing coaches.

What makes this event so special is the exceptional setting: a little bach on the lakeside with its own ramp and enough space to put up the complete fleet. The familiar environment makes it easy to share memories of the past and visions for the future of the class.

For example, Peter is a passionate Javelin sailor and supporter from way back, who designed probably the first asymmetric spinnaker in the class. He proudly displayed the sail to his rapt audience, sharing how he found it again, and how he managed to design the sail many years ago to fit in the rules for the 1995 South Pacific championships. His boat had the spinnaker pole attached to the mast and fixed on the bow, allowing for a (albeit somewhat short) bowsprit.

Because the luff had to be very long, the leech and the foot were rather short, in order to comply with the circumfence rule. This version did not win much acclaim, but shows how Peter was ahead of his time with regard to a desirable development for the class. Two years later, the Australians presented a lager gennaker for the class to consider at the South Pacifics in Auckland. This finally led to the new sail plan, which has been implemented in 2000 and ensured that the Javelins still are a spectacular class to sail and watch now.

The condition and surrounding could hardly have been better. After carefully assessing the space available, it was decided to rigg on the lawn and use the bach’s own tiny slipway, instead of the reserve at Gisborne Point, where the boats were left last year. Trying to rigg the Javelins that have to lie on their sides to put up the sails was a rather cosy affair, but the fleet was up to the task. Even the Whiting 16 made it down the slippery wooden ramp, and the start line was set just a stone throw away from there. .

Lake Rotoiti put on a fabulous display on Saturday with clouds rolling over the hills, and rain curtains clothing the bush-clad mountain sides. The wind varied from 5 to 12 knots with significant wind shifts that made for very tactical racing. To start the day, the race officer sent the fleet up to the top mark and back as a practice race. Everyone got used to the 3-minute start sequence, and that the start followed very shortly after the finish of the last boat.

Antje had not recovered from the previous night in time for the first race, but managed to bring Full Frontal on the water and join in for the second one - after making everyone wait a little longer while she was fixing some minor oversights (Should the tiller go over or under the bridle?) after launching. The skill and camaraderie of the participants was demonstrated when everyone swapped crews and boats to share impressions and recommendation afterwards.

A world class Europe sailor herself, Nadine had offered for this weekend to assist the race officer and take photos, because her partner Thure was crewing for Ben on Bay Nissan. However, she got her chance to show her skill as well. After only a short ride on a Javelin at the Bay of Islands Labour Weekend Regatta, where she won her division against Europes and Lasers, she got bold and hopped on Riders on the Storm to skipper for Colin Shanks in the first race following the lunch break. After a little excursion to windward before the start - from which the race officer thought they might not return in time - they sailed a good race. The real wake-up call for the fleet came when Nadine joined forces with Thure, who usually races 420s and 29ers, on Bay Nissan. The German couple proceeded to win the last two races of the day by a comfortable margin.

On Sunday, the men were sorted from the boys as the wind came up to 25 knots. Riders on the Storm confirmed that they perform in those conditions. No-one came home without getting their sails washed in the clear waters of the lake though. The most spectacular capsize was Craig getting catapulted off Trailblazer, after a fast bear-away ended in a nose dive. White Knuckle Express showed good boat speed and great boat handling until Mike and Andrew managed to tightly tie up their jib using their gennacker and all available sheets in a capsize. After enjoying that he had a light and agile crew on Saturday, Ben soon found that he was missing some 20 kg on the wire, but his experience and skill ensured he was still mixing it up with the fleet.

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David Brown and Craig Gilberd were satisfied with the performance of Traiblazer, which will be shipped to Australia in two weeks’ time for the South Pacific Championships in Melbourne. Their win confirmed that training through winter improves your performance in spring. Full Frontal took advantage of the lessons leaned on Trailblazer and seems to be up to a good speed only two months after being launched.

Between Colin’s famous bacon and egg breakfasts and the international cooking skills present, everyone was looked after well with regard to food. Peter’s ingenious little wood burner perfectly complimented the jovial atmosphere of the regatta.

Rumour has it that there was a major increase in power demand around lunchtime on Sunday which has allegedly been traced to the connection of an inconceivable number of laptops to the power network near Gisborne Point. We could only get confirmation of the fact that a significant amount of data changed hands at Willis Shack around that time.

If you want to join the fun, or just try it out sometime, please make sure you get in touch with us! All contact details are published on the Javelin Class website www.javelins.org. Going with the times, the Javelins are now also present on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Javelin-Skiff/137474022959823.

Rotoiti Spring Sprints 2010
Overall
Sailed:11, Discards:2, To count:9, Entries:5, Scoring system:My scoring system Rank Boat SailNo Helm Crew R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 Total Nett
1st Trailblazer 524 David Brown Craig Gilberd 2.0 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 (6.0 DNC) 2.0 1.0 (4.0) 2.0 24.0 14.0
2nd Riders on the Storm 380 Ross Shanks Colin Shanks 3.0 3.0 1.0 3.0 4.0 (5.0) (6.0 DNC) 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 30.0 19.0
3rd Bay Nissan 522 Ben Bax Thure Gnadenberg 1.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 1.0 (4.0) 4.0 2.0 (6.0 DNC) 29.0 19.0
4th Full Frontal 523 Antje Muller Etienne Favre (6.0 DNC) (4.0) 4.0 4.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 DNF 3.0 3.0 39.0 29.0
5th White Knuckle Express 366 Andrew Clarke Mike Rivington 4.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 4.0 2.0 (6.0 DNC) 3.0 (6.0 DNC) 6.0 DNC 51.0 39.0


Scoring codes used
Code Description Points
DNC Did not come to the starting area 6
DNF Started but did not finish 4

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