Plenty of breeze for the first race of the Spring Series
Starlight Express was a welcome sight - it's a famous name in NZ yachting
The boats were blasting around the place, and Pt. Jerningham provided a perfect view. Larger (1280px) version here.
Andiamo had its usual army of rail-dwellers. Larger (1280px) version here.
The Guarantee and Flying Boat during the prestart. Larger (1280px) version here.
Starlight Express on the rampage. Larger (1280px) version here.
Tacking away from the shore. Note the spray off the main. Larger (1280px) version here.
Pretty Boy Floyd leading away from the start. Larger (1280px) version here.
A bit of a fight between these two in one of the smaller divisions - I think no.2 was trying to push no.1 over the line
Starlight Express strolled home to take line honours by miles. Particular thanks to the start box committee who invited me in out of the elements to get this shot, and the ones following...
Down the final run, Pretty Boy Floyd mounted a spirited assault on the (bigger) Andiamo. Here Andiamo is luffing as PBF steals their wind. No luck, though, as Andiamo collapsed their gennaker....
...and lost their place. PBF led around the mark...
...but coming up to the finish line, PBF was on port and couldn't cross. They tacked to leeward...
...and the two yachts were bow-to-bow across the finishing line
Andiamo took 2nd place honours by 2 seconds (they look pleased)
Some tactful comments from Andiamo's skipper (I think...)
The rest of the fleet finished - including Astruso, which had a bit of a moment before the bottom mark.
