The waters of San Francisco may be at boiling point this week, but the heat will be on in Sunshine bay too this Saturday with the start of our own ‘Little Americas Cup’ series.

Just a reminder that the first of the joint SLMASC / MPASC double header yacht race days will be held this SATURDAY at SLMASC. This will see 2 back to back short races using the course and the club yellow inflatable marks as outlined in Appendix A of the SLMASC Sailing Instructions (so make sure you have the latest SLMACS SI’s with you, and even more importantly, make sure that you have read them ;-). The first race is designed to be about half the length of the second race to minimise the delay between races while all boats finish.

Note that both of these races are Water Based Scratch starts, with the warning signal for the first race to be given at approximately 1410 hours (for a 1415 hours start). All yachts will start at the same time as one division using the SLMASC club flag (blue and yellow) as the division flag and the second race will follow shortly after the finish of the last boat in race 1. The postponement flag will be flown briefly between the races and will then be removed (with a sound signal) to draw attention to the imminent Warning signal for the second race which will follow 1 minute after the postponement flag is removed.

TCF’s for SLMASC yachts have been posted on the Yacht page of the cliub website, and results will be calculated back at the club straight after the conclusion of race 2. All crews are welcome to come back to the club straight after racing for a drink and to review the results of both races before they are published online.

As more boats are getting cleaned up and back in the water ready for action, we hope to see a good roll up for this new format of racing at SLMASC which is guaranteed to get the pulse racing …… so chase up your crew and join in our own ‘Little Americas Cup’ on Sunshine Bay this coming SATURDAY.

If you have any questions about Saturdays’ racing you can email racing@slmasc.org …. but please don’t leave it until the day of the race to email if you need a reply before the race. The club start boat will also be contactable by radio before, during, and after the race on the day.

We may yet still need 1 more volunteer to assist with running this Saturday’s race, so if you aren’t sailing, you have a boat licence (not absolutely essential), and you wish to assist and learn how to conduct yacht races, please email us ASAP at   racing@slmasc.org   or you can call 0438 724599.

Bring it on …. it should be a great day so we hope to see you there!

Smooth Sailing

Team SLMASC

In another day of high tension in San Francisco, Oracle Team Not USA won the first race after causing Team NZ to incur a double penalty at the start, giving Oracle a massive jump which they didn’t surrender for the rest of the race. That result took the number of race wins to Oracle 9 and Team NZ 8, but the series score to Team NZ 8 Oracle 7 after deducting Oracles 2 race scoring penalty. Who would have thought a week ago when Team NZ’s lead was 8-1 that such a close finish was possible!

In Race 2 of the day, Team NZ had the favoured port entry at the start and did a great job to win the start and lead at the first 2 marks, but Oracle then fought back in a tactical battle, broke through and then took total control upwind and marched away for the most unlikely of wins when you recall where the series stood just a week ago.

So now after more than 2 weeks of head to racing, the official scoreboard stands at 8 points all, taking us to match point for both teams with the next race being the ultimate decider with the winner taking all in the 34th Americas Cup …. reminicent of that day 30 years ago (yesterday actually) when Australia II won in an ultimate decider to win the 1983 Americas’ Cup.

The two boats are evenly matched and while Oracle have all the momentum at the moment, Team NZ with Adam Beashel aboard have the speed to finish the job and they get another chance to make sailing history tomorrow. Send Adam and Team NZ your message of support by emailing Adam at  adam.beashel@slmasc.org .

Smooth Sailing Adam and Team NZ ….. bring it on home!

Team SLMASC

Race 16 of the Americas Cup final has just finished with Oracle ‘Team Not USA’ continuing to climb the mountain and claw their way back into the series with their 5th straight win (also 7 of the last 9 race wins). While the race wins now stands at an amazing 8 all, once Oracle’s 2 point penalty is deducted they now trail Team NZ in the first to 9 series by just 2 points and need 3 more wins compared to Team NZ’s 1 win to take the cup. The odds are still with TNZ but the momentum seems to be with Oracle, so it’s going to be a dream finish to the 34th Americas Cup.

Race 17 which was also scheduled for today has been postponed due to the daily time limit for racing after a delayed start to Race 16, and with stronger winds forecast for tomorrow (not too strong we hope), 2 more races are scheduled.

While we all want the show to go on (with an ultimate Team NZ/Adam Beashel victory of course), spare a thought for the tension and pressure on the crews as the series goes right down to the wire. The drama and suspense is incredible, with any small mistake or tactical advantage possibly being the difference in the series.

You can send SLMASC’s Adam Beashel and Team NZ your message of support and help bring them home to victory by emailing directly to adam.beashel@slmasc.org

Don’t miss any of the amazing action tomorrow morning from 6am live on Foxtel and You Tube. It’s definitely worth getting up early for each day.

Smooth Sailing Adam and TNZ ….. you can do it.

Team SLMASC