Pictures from the Fizz Cup 2012

We had some good racing going on this last weekend. I wasn't there to watch group 1 & 2 on saturday, but I understand the saturday races were very good too. These shots are from the group 3 races on sunday.

Coasties, balloons and Flying Fizzes...

Here we're getting ready for the first race; The coastie is en route to the top mark. In the back there's a handfull of Fizzies waiting to start, and further in the back the balloon show is hovering over Tradewinds YC.

Waiting...

Here's a closer look at the racers. Still one missing; Not sure what happened, since the racers are required to register a half hour in advance. However, being late is in the RD department, which was being taken care of by Liv. I was there to sort matters in case of rules drama; Judge.

Bang and away

Anyway, we finally got off to a good start, - or at least a spectacular start. Two boats capsized right before the gun, so the crowd had fun too. As there was only five racers in this group, the other three easily managed to avoid the capsizers. Above you see most of the fleet away on the first leg.

Top mark rounding

It turned out that the sailors in group 3 of the Fizz Cup 2012 qualification were on very different levels, so after the exciting start, there was little action; It looked like - as a judge - I was gonna have an easy day with the boats spread out, minutes apart. Only rarely did they meet...

Todays fastest was Ronin Zane

The fastest sailor today was Ronin Zane; Here he is in his black boat, completely controlling the fleet from a windward position. However, Ronin had gear problems in the first race, so there was room for a nice surprise.

Kris Hollysharp going for the kill

Kris Hollysharp produced the surprise by taking first place in the first race; It is always nice to see new faces at the top of the fleet, and while Kris couldn't keep Ronin behind her in the next two races, she sailed very consistently and ended up with a series of 1-2-2. Nice work there.

Most consistent sailor: Colin Nemeth

The most consistent sailor of the day was Colin Nemeth who was very happy about his three thirds; Woot woot! What a great day at sea. Not without trouble though. The course took longer than anticipated, so we used a shorter course than the one announced.

Night sailing

In fact we ended up sailing the last race in moon light. Romantic racing? I don't think so. It's even harder to keep track of the opponents and the marks in darkness. Still, the crowd seemed happy. I guess they were having a party up there on the spectator platform.

Spectator platform

Well, that's it really. Three races and I was ready for bed, but that's just my timezone. Here we are, waving goodbye to all the coasties; They're always helping to keep the race course uncluttered and that's really great. Results and finalists available on the official Fizz Cup 2012 site.

PS: Still dunno what the Flying Fizz is? Check here and here.