Looks like the drought is over in Northland!
I arrived Thursday night in fine weather which lasted about 2 hours. Met Stu and John (hired karts off Todd) and arranged for early morning sail as wind was rising. Rained all night, still raining in the morning with 20+ knts at the camp but offshore. Stu and I rigged 3 metres but on the beach the wind was up and down, really 4 metre weather. Sailed a couple of hours then back to dry off. Everyone arrived over the morning with the rain staying around. Meeting at 1.30 to give directions and briefing and then headed for 90 mle beach with a steady 20–30 knts at the camp but up and down on the beach because of sandhills etc. The BBC bus arrived when we were heading away so they followed 20 minutes later. Peter and Leanne from the UK (a blokart distributor) also arrived to join the fun. The wind was blowing between 10 and 30+ knts in the gusts so sail choice was difficult but still steady rain. Started some races and then reverse order starts, some self handicapping. Luckily the rain changed, went from steady to heavy and the sand was under water all down the beach, and then back to steady. Some great sailing as everyone fought the gusts and tried to get around the course in one piece. Orca set the tone but taking out the first race (was he over the line??) and managed to miss the bus of Japanese tourists in a gust when it stopped to watch the action. A few tips, a couple of spin outs, self handicapping didn't really work because you couldn't see the leaders in the rain. Headed back to camp about 5 to dry out and get ready for the barbeque. Managed to arrange the restaurant to eat in and the usual high standard of food appeared for a good night of food, drink and the usual "discussion" of the days racing. There was a recorded gust at Cape Reinga of about 120 Km/hr, so yes it was windy. Rained most of the night and only a couple of keen ones headed for the beach early morning for a sail. The wind had dropped, the rain was still coming through and it looked dubious for sailing. Spent some time at Kauri Kingdom then back to camp for the rest of last night dinner for lunch. Plenty of food. After a few delays and calls to Orca at the east coast Tokerau we finally got some sun and started drying gear. The call came just after 2 that the easterly had arrived at Tokerau so packed and headed to the other coast. 15 knts but huge seas and lots of rubbish on the beach but a good sailable area as long as you dodged everything. Set up the course, most with 4 metres and a couple of 3's and commenced the sailing. Short races, long races, good speed most of time until wind dropped slightly and went NE wich meant hard on up the beach and a broad reach coming back. Speed around mid 50s most of time coming back. Finally packed up about 6 after some fun times, lots of cheating and abuse. Back to camp for a quick clean up and the lamb on a spit meal in the restaurant, followed by a prizegiving where I managed to get rid of most of the prizes with some innovative ideas from everyone. A few speeches, heard from Peter about the UK and European scene which sounds great, some photo opportunities. Good time had by all. Floods in the area with total paddocks under water tells the story of the weekend. Lots of rain but everyone enjoyed the tight racing. Sunday, no early wind so most packed and headed for home to be greeted by mid afternoon sun to clean and dry everything off. The roads had opened so no delays for the return trip luckily but plenty of signs showing the height the water had come to in places. Overall, another great weekend, even with the rain. A total of 37 made the trip with 26 sailing. No one went hungry! The sailing was good, just wet. Again the advantage of this venue is the wide smooth beach at 90 mile beach, right next to the camp with the option of a half hour drive to hit the east coast if the wind goes around. As long as we stay within the "rules" the camp is great and not too many broke the OSH requirements at the meal. She got over it! If anyone forgot to pay can you let me know so we can send through the balance as apparently we were a couple short. We have tentatively put down a date in early November for the next visit. Details to come. Results as best I could sort them from my soggy log book
wins to:
Orca
Graham I
Graham L
Russell
Stu
Don
Jon
Nicko
with most getting placings over the weekend and therefore a prize.
Top woman: Jenny
Greatest distance travelled: Peter
Oldest: Brian just pipped Ted

Overall best performance: Barry

Other comments on how you saw the weekend welcome.

Russell

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