Geralda the giant slayer!

This is my new boat and i did a 2 handed race on the weekend a 42 mile boost around the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland. We were the smallest boat in the fleet and notched up a 2nd on corected time!

A few little modifications and we hope to take out the next race.

Thanks to SSANZ for putting on a great race and to Andrew Clouston for a fantastic job as my crew and co helmsman.

leg 2 rajamuda pangkor to penang

Leg 2 rajamuda pangkor to penang.
We started the race well winning the favoured pin end of the line, we timed our start to perfection and were the second boat to tack off and cross the fleet and start heading for the first headland. The wind was very light and the boat was doing a mere 3knots through the water.
We managed to keep her rolling and got into some nice wind a little further offshore.
We decided to stick to the rhumb line as the wind was building we thought that we could get to the next headland in time for the inevitable nighttime shut down of wind and switch to the land breeze where being stuck offshore doesn't pay.
A serious thunder cloud started to build up and we began to be affected earlier than we had anticipated, the wind increased and clocked around 360 degrees the rain came down in truck loads and the thunder heads crackled overhead.
As the storm passed over we were left with no wind and stuck a little too far out to see, one competitor the 2 foot longer super duper slipped through us but we were soon in hot pursuit. We chased them down under gennaaker and had a kids torch fight with them as we trained the beams on our gennaker to trim it to perfection trying to ease out every inch of speed from our boat. We managed to pull up behind them and started a luffing duel which they responded well to.
We cam back down onto course then went high again, once more super duper was up to defending her slim lead. So we came back to course this time only 5 meters from her stern. Without saying a word we gave each the crew the sign to roll over them one more time and this attempt was successful. Super duper was caught unaware. From here to the finish they sat on our windward hip not letting up an inch. The breeze softened and we were lifted as we came closer to the island of penang. This meant one more gybe into the finish line and a good result for the team. 3rd place on corrected time.

leg 1 rajamuda cup

port klang to pangkor

We started the race in very light winds and alot of tide thankfully the 3 knots of tide was taking us in the right direction off the start line. it was a tricky start as if you were early you would have had little chance of returning to the line.

we had a really good start right on the pin thanks to blackies magic (nick blackman) on the bow we were heading our division up the coast not a great position to be in since it is our first time here and we were ussure about the famous fishing fleet here and how far their nets extend.

so within the first hour we witnessed 1st hand one of these nets. it got well caught around our keel and rudder and we were forced to use our newly crafted net cutter!!!

this proved valuable however i still had to divve in to chop the remaining clump free of the bulb. once this was done we got underway again.

the night was hard work as we changed between our jib and masthead gennaker, in the dieing breeze. untill 3 in the morning when things really shut down for the night.

we ghosted along doing between 0 and 2 knots through the water as the tide was against us for a long time.

as the sun started to shine through the haze of the malaysian coastline the wind picked up and we started to move in a nice little 10 knot breeze. as things started to heat up the wind died again leaving us 2 miles from the finish in a tide that was sweaping us right to left past the finish. we decided to head away from the finish line in order to stay uptide and give ourselves a better chance when the wind picked up. this tacktick worked out well and we picked off 5 places in the last hour off the 23 hour race.

our result for the hard nights work was 6th on corrected time, had we not had the issue with the fishing net we think the leg could have been ours for the taking. good local knowledge for next year.

keep posted for the next leg results. (should be a good opportunity for me as the owner stu has some work to do and the helm has been passed over to me.)

Rajamuda cup port klang (Kuala Lumpuar) to lankawi.

( the boys doing the painting)

( the pile of rubbish that washes up at high tide unreal)

(But you can always find a good angle)

On the road again
I arrived in malaysia on the 8th of november was a clasic arrival to a new city.
My taxi got lost on the way to the hotel and It took 3 hours to get to my hotel. Oh the joys of travelling.
I got to the boat with my job list and started adding to it.
We are working on repainting the bottom as it was scarred from growth over the last yeear sitting in the very dirty klang harbour.
Its a very industrial area one of the main ports for malaysia and you should see the number of ships and crains on the water front.
The smells the heat, stray dogs walking around in packs thumderstorms downpours sunburn. This place has it all.
I have a great little room on the 12 floor of the crystal crown hotel great view I can see forever.
So its back to the boat in the morning I will be looking over our route plan for the race to lankawieand getting the boat ready for the crane as we get ready to measure the boat for our new irc certificate.
Will keep you posted.

Rajamuda cup port klang (Kuala Lumpuar) to lankawi.

On the road again
I arrived in malaysia on the 8th of november was a clasic arrival to a new city.
My taxi got lost and It took 3 hours to get to my hotel. Oh the joys of travelling.

I got to the boat with my job list and started adding to it.
We are working on repainting the bottom as it was scarred from growth over the last year sitting in the very dirty klang harbour.
Its a very industrial area one of the main ports for malaysia. You should see the number of ships and crains on the water front. this is a very busy place.

The smells the heat, stray dogs walking around in packs thumderstorms downpours sunburn. This place has it all.

I have a great little room on the 12 floor of the crystal crown hotel great view I can see forever.
So its back to the boat in the morning I will be looking over our route plan for the race to lankawi and getting the boat ready for the crane as we are going to measure the boat for our new irc certificate.

Will keep you posted.

HSBC coastal classic 2008

Coastal Classic 2008

(V5 sailing up the coast "only 1 coastal to go!!")

This year i did the coastal classic on V5. This yacht is a former TP 52 that has been modified with a canting keel. This is the boat that i competed on in the Fiji race this year and i have been involved with them since sailing in the Wednesday night series in Auckland.

In the build up to labour weekend we did a bit of training on the Hauraki gulf getting ready for spinnaker peels and Jib changes. Looking at the forecast we decided it was going to be an upwind race so we got the boat ready for upwind in 25 to 30 knots.

The start of the race was true to the forecast and we started with our heavy jib. The boat was going well pre start until the keel decided to stop canting due to some pretty flat batteries. (after the race we found a faulty fuse was the cause.) so we did the entire race using the emergency keel pump to get the keel ram to pump. Luckily for us the boat loved the conditions and our competitors started to fall by the wayside.

We were looking forward to some strong competition from our rivals wired and the new challenge from living doll who was here from Aus on their shake down race. unfortunately both boats left the race near Kauwau and we were forced to race the cats and the clock to pick up the handicap and line honors.

it was a tough sail with 20-25 knots and bullets up to 30 around the hen and chicks. the wind was shifting left as the weather system passed over New Zealand meaning the whole race was sailed upwind. we did about 9 sail changes and 3 false alarm sail changes between the heavy the number 3 and 4. Finally we got a spinnaker on in the dying breeze toward the finish line.

Our main concern was sababa who performs very well on the wind especially in this much pressure. and to add to the competition my little sister Rebekka Hielkema was on board running the bow. It was a nervous wait for me when we arrived in Russel. I was hoping that Rebekka (aka BEX) was going to be far enough behind to let us win on corrected time. however wanting her to arrive soon so i could celebrate her 21st birthday (Being now after midnight on the 25th October) I already had her present sorted and i didn't plan on letting her win the trophy instead of me. Time ran out for sababa but at least they arrived in time for me to shower BEX in champaign and to kick start a long weekend of partying and celebrations.

(sababa and V5 on dock in Russell)

(BEX! 21st birthday celebrations in Russell)

Moving on to LA

I arrived in LA and was picked up by an old school mate of mine Ethan. We caught up over a quisedila in a little Mexican restaurant then headed for the Long beach yacht club. We had a training session planned with Scott Dickson.

Ethan was going to come out on the water and be our 6Th man and also take some footage of us sailing the boats. (credit goes to him for the images below.) We had a great session and were out on the water until the sun left us behind.

Ethan and i helped pack up then headed for the club house to meet Barbara and Jack (some family friends dinner. I Barb and Jack 2 years ago when i did the congressional cup and they have kindly offered to host me again during the regatta. And if you look at the image below have kindly lent me their mini which just happens to be my dream car, colour and all.

This is a pick of my wheels in LA kindly donated by Barb and Jack. (Thanks a million guys)
Practice day panama jack racing team chucks in a couple of tacks. the blond boy is our All American ring in Max Mooseman (great American name)
Great shot of the spinnaker up and set. Note how we matched our uniforms with the sails for this regatta (every little detail helps to win a race.)
Dave utilises his guns (aka muscles) to keep the big kite set "sheet on the womper!!")




Here is a good little video of a top mark rounding.

The regatta (the Ficker cup starts on Friday and finishes Sunday don't let the time difference let you miss the results.)
http://www.lbyc.org/html/content.cfm?CID=15004