Centerboard Sailing Report – November 8th-9th 2025
Could you feel the change in the weather? The last sailing weekend greeted us with warmer air and water. The non-existent winds helped us feel comfortable, too. Unfortunately, pleasant conditions are not always the best for sailing. A very different skill set was required. Furthermore, sailors had to get up early and our Wind-Punks had some serious competition from the Steam-Punks for Saturday sailing.
But since we are sportsmen and women and have committed club members, we pushed forward and made both scheduled sailing days happen.
Many thanks go to our sailors and to the contributing members.
In detail:
Saturday, November 8th:
Sailing techniques appear somewhat antique compared with much more recent steam technology. There are a few thousand years between their developments. Is this the reason why so many of you decided to punk with the steamers? I predict that even newer technologies will develop and draw people away from us. But I also believe that sailing will continue to appeal to many people for many centuries to come.
Our best-performing junior received a one-on-one training lesson from one of our most experienced and best senior sailors. We could feel a light south-westerly breeze standing outside the club. But this breeze did not reach out onto the water. Sailing in almost no wind is difficult. Not to upset the boat, all controls have to be well balanced, and all motions of the sailors have to be very gentle. Both of them did that very well. They were observed by a small number of club members in front of the club and by two further members drifting in their boat close by. The latter two had chosen the diesel option over the wind or steam options.
Sunday, November 9th:
We saw very similar condition to the previous day. A very light south-westerly breeze was all we had to sail with. We set up a triangle-sausage course and four Lasers and an OpenBic set out for some racing. When reaching the windward buoy for the first time,we experienced a tidal current opposed the expected incoming tide. The tactics for the first leg were wrong for some of us. For the rest of the race, it was crucial to observe a transit and compensate for the tidal current by helming. Our junior made very good use of the lessons learned the previous day. A second race followed the same format. With just a few minutes to go before the start, the wind had shifted more to the North. Adopting this into the starting tactics was a mistake. The wind fell back to the old direction just before starting. The outcome was not dissimilar to the first race.
Now the new (almost) breeze came from further north, and the course was adjusted accordingly. At the end of the race, we saw a closer finish with similar results to the earlier two races. The racing came to an end, and points were assigned for commitment and for performance. It is worth mentioning that three top sailors were not racing with us this day. A further club member performed very well with his newly acquired laser, and will possibly get much closer to them in the races to come. During a debriefing, sailors were acknowledged, then it was all over for the weekend.
Next up:
The next sailing weekend this month will be November 22nd/23rd. Please note the tides are early so there will be early starts. It is an 8.30 am start for both the Sail Training on Saturday and the Centreboard Summer Racing series on Sunday.
Then we will be back on the water only one week after that: November 29th/30th. Its a 1.30 pm start for Sail Training and a 2 pm start for the Centreboard Summer Racing series on Sunday.
From then on the tides will be at much more convenient times in the middle of the days.
Don’t forget to stay up to date : https://www.thamessailingclub.co.nz/
