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Aussie Open 2018 Day 1

Wind was up and weather good for the first day of racing. After all the briefings we were underway sailing around 12:00. There were only 3 groups racing with Production grouped together, heavy weight and then all other performance divisions in one group.

Most sailed on 3m sails all day although there were a few who switch to 4m at stages. Speeds were around 50-60kph on the fast legs. The surface was hard and rough with soft patches which made for teeth shaking racing.

Terry Helm was sailing well and managed a 1^st over the 6 rounds. He was running first in one race and spun and missed the mark dropping back through the fleet. He also got a flat tyre from one of the thorn plants so was out of another race.

David Tillman was sailing well and took out a couple of 1^st but dropped back in a few races.

The heavy’s was very competitive the Barry and Bruce from Auckland taking out the top 3 places with Michael Denton. Barry had a bad race where he ran into Bruce on the dialup and managed to bend his front fork badly. Michael was sailing well taking out the first 5 races and just getting piped by Barry in the last race.

Wind is forecast to be a little lighter tomorrow so it may be 4m sailing.

Aussie Open 2018 Day 2

Racing took a while to get started as the Fremantle doctor was late arriving. There were a couple of failed attempts to get some racing in but in the end we waited till 1:30 and the wind hit. Heavies were up and were all on 5.5m sails so were way over powered and had to do big S’s around the makes just to stay upright. On the rough course tyre were well lacerated and most were having to change wheels during the day. We sailed through till 6:30 so manage 7 rounds in after yesterday’s 6.

Canterbury are doing well with David Tillman leading Performance Middle and Michael Denton leading Performance Heavy. Terry Helm is 2^nd or 3^rd as his results were not correct as have been having some issues with the timing system. Barry Cole and Bruce Hales are 2^nd and 3^rd on the heavy’s so the Kiwi’s are 123.

Winds are forecast to arrive late again with similar strength today so we should be in for some good racing. Although Team New Zealand is a little slow this morning after a successful night on the town last night…..

Aussie Open 2018 Day 3

Day three started with the Fremantle Doctor coming in a little earlier than yesterday. Racing got underway around 11:00am. A course was set up with a gate in the middle of the dry lake to force more tacking. 5.5m sails were the go for the light winds although there were patches on the course where the 5.5s were well loaded.

Later in the day the course was reversed making for some interesting tacking up through the gate. Speeds were fast and there were a few hang on moments at times. Terry Helm enjoyed the lighter winds and won some early races but both Tim and Andy came back as the doctor picked up during the day. David Tillman also did well in the lighter winds but he was having mixed results later in the day with 1^sts and 4^ths. David and Terry also had a coming together in one race were Dave came up quickly and Terry slid into to him as he was trying to avoid. Both ended up just about stopped, not ideal. Barry Cole also had some more back luck with his mast crane shackle falling off during a race dropping him back. Michael Denton was having another good day with a string of 1^st places.

The wind started to drop off and racing was called just after 5pm with 7 rounds completed. Light winds are predicted early in the day tomorrow so we may only get limited races in before close off at 3:00pm.

Aussie Open 2018 Final Day

The last day started off as a repeat of the previous days although there was an attempt to get some racing underway only for the wind to die out. The Fremantle Doctor arrived in just after 12:00 and racing got underway not long after. The points were tight in Middle weights with David Tillman only sitting 2 points behind 1^st place, Terry Helm was also tied for second place in Super Heavy. Michael Denton had a good hold in Heavy weights with a 20 plus points ahead of Barry Cole in 2^nd.

First races started on 5.5m sails and was very tight. Team Kiwi were back on form and Barry Cole managed to take a race off Michael. Racing was tight all day with most dropping down to 4m rigs. Terry was sailing well early on but dropped off later in the day. David started well also but dropped back as well. Michael was consistently up the front although Barry did take a couple on wins, one when Michael hit Bruce on the start line and had to do a 360, although starting way back he managed to get back up to third. Office  Racing closed at 3:30.

There was then and unofficial race of all in including the that race course plus a head to the head of the lake and up around an Island. The wind was up and we were all over powered on 4m sails. A super-fast race with lots of smiles. Michael Denton lead for the first 2 laps buts was over taken by Andy Bates and he held on for the wind. Team Kiwi did well.
1^st Andy Bates – Super Heavy AUS
2^nd Michael Denton – Heavy NZ
3^rd Barry Cole – Heavy NZ
4^th Tim Vance – Super Heavy AUS
5^th Terry Helm – Super Heavy NZ
6^th Bruce Hale – Heavy NZ

It’s been a great event and thanks to the Perth Blokart club. Team Kiwi did well with all managing the podium.

Australian Open 2018 Team Kiwi Placings

Performance Middle
2^nd David Tillman

Performance Heavy
1^st Michael Denton
2^nd Barry Cole
3^rd Bruce Hales

Super Heavy
2^nd Terry Helm

Winds are blasting.
There were a couple of stupid or was that keen members that headed to the beach for them. While the rest of the country was being smashed by storms, torrential rain and flooding, Christchurch was sweltering in 36° and gale winds from the North. What does a good keen blokarter have to do. Head to the beach and see if any speed records could be broken. Wind was awesome but was down the beach. Not the best for speed. Conditions were shocking with sandstorms that made your kart vanish. Wind so strong that when you tried to tack it put you in irons with sail flapping and sending you off backwards. Some fun was had, speeds set, skin defoliated and showers afterward to get sand out of everywhere….

Michael Denton

Velocity Track Day

What a fantastic day for racing at the Velocity Track. Sun was out, warm day with a steady 5.5m breeze from the East.

Members just kept rolling in the gate and it was good to see so many people supporting something different. Everyone was quickly into setting up while keeping one eye on the action on the track with a lot of sliding going on around the marks. The Velocity area quickly became like a mini regatta. During the setup I think we need to have a “Forgetful Award”. Vaughan Lucking for forgetting all his mast sections, Davie Norris for forgetting his transponder, Les Bearman for forgetting the whole front of his kart and having to drive home to get it.

The track came available at 3:30 and we already had the timing trailer set up ready to run. After a quick briefing on the does and don’ts by Chris things were underway. With 27 sailors it was decided to split into the two groups of production and performance. The first course of the day was laid out by Chris and Terry and after a few practice laps by everyone, racing was underway.

The starts were interesting with lots of different access points to use on entry and exit during dialup. A wall was put in place to protect the line and it was a busy time on the start. A number of people were over the line during the days racing so there were frantic return loops going on.

There was also a fair bit action all round. Justin Annan was the first victim getting caught up on mark 5 and going over for all to watch to great applause. We all appreciated the bow after you exited your kart Justin. Terry Helm was next to come to a screeching halt all by himself while his wheel and axle carried on racing down the track. Terry you need to clip those axel’s in…. Punchers were also very regular and long list with Alan Wylie, Justin Annan, Dee McCrea, Burnie McGillen and a few others suffering. Terry Helm managed two punchers but Vaughan Lucking takes the award for most miss shaped tyre. There were a number of Oh SH….. moments as people drifted off line and hit the loose metal and become guided missiles. Trevor French had a white knuckle moment as he could see a fence looming quickly after going wide around mark two but managed to gather it up at the last minute and stay on the track.

It was also great to see some of our newer members nailing the starts and having their turn out front at times. Occasionally Michael Brown and Kevin McKay were seen leading the group in production after some well-timed starts and overzealous fast boys being early and having to loop around. Paul Talarico was taking advantage of some extra room he was been given as someone had placed a “Child on Board” hanger on the back of his kart. Also a welcome to John Petch out from the USA who had driven up from Wanaka to enjoy some racing. A good result by him as well.

There was a real mixture of place getters with some of our top sailors seen at the front and often at the back as well. The course was changed three or four times during the afternoon to keep mixing it up and to give opportunities of different lines and passing areas. The Denton boys obviously enjoyed the sideways action from there beach days with the results of the day.

Ian Brown and the boys from Velocity joined in the racing later on after they had packed up some gear. By the smiles on their faces I think they enjoyed some completive sailing. Even sailing rules were starting to be discussed which is always good. As their placings moved up things started getting more competitive, even Ian was seen with his game face on.

As numbers started to drop off due to tyre fatigue and the late time, racing was called around 6:30. Sausages and drinks were on hand to round out a fun afternoon. There wasn’t a face without a smile on. A big thanks to Ian Brown at Velocity for allowing the club access to the track. After such a big turn out and the width of the smiles from the fun factor I’m sure we will be back at some stage soon.

Michael Denton

After the call went out on Monday a number of club members headed to the beach meeting up at the South Brighton Surf Club. Ivan was there first as usual. Although the wind was not perfect direction there was enough to head down to Sumner and have a blast around on the spit end. 7 members turned up in the end although a couple didn’t make it down to the end. Tommy started off having to chase his kart down the beach and was finding it hard to sail into the wind to get to Sumner.

Once we arrive at the end of the peninsular it was all go with a good cross wind and plenty of speed. Lots of fun sliding around. Mitchell Denton was back to his free styling best and was putting a show on for the cameras although did manage to overcooked it. Amanda Norris was also seen sampling the sand with “windercator” thrown across the beach.

Davie Norris also getting some sideways sliding corner practice in for his next beach competition. Michael Denton and Ivan Purtle enjoyed the speed with power sides and gybes.

A great day down the beach with us all scampering back home down the beach before a predicted hail storm was due to hit.

Michael Denton

NZO 2017 Wigram Canterbury

After a few very wet days in Nelson at the SIO with no wind the NZO at Wigram started off in the same vain with Wednesday dawning very wet. Luckily things cleared and by mid-day the rain held off for the rest of the Open. Most got scrutineering and registration underway on Wednesday and a good number of our visitors from the north were out enjoying strong winds from the south on their 4m sails in the afternoon. The track was damp but that didn’t stop some fast runs and having to take to the grass at the top to get around the mark.
There was also a film crew on track from CTV doing a story on our oldest member Jim Gordon. There is an article and video on the Star/CTV site.

Thursday dawned a beautiful day with wind and there were a number out early practicing on the smooth Wigram track. PRO David Tillman did a comprehensive briefing for the Open and things were underway, but by the time briefing was complete the wind had become unstable. Performance Lightweights were first up and although there were many attempts to get some racing underway, they were all abandoned with the wind disappearing halfway through the races. Racing (well lack of) was abandoned late in the day.

Friday was a better day with wind although it was a little up and down and went around the compass over the day.
Again Performance Lights were up first and there was no clear leader during the day with Amanda Norris, Justin Annan and Debs Davidson all taking wins. The day ended with Amanda and Justin tied for first. Robert Deighton was enjoying the smooth surface of Wigram and was picking up the odd 4^th place.
Performance Middle Weights was very similar with Mark Hursthouse and Kurt Smith trading first places but they were also getting 8^th and 10^th placings so by the end of the day there was only 1 point between 2nd to 4th placings with Bob Louden and David Tillman right up there. Both Mark and Kurt had knock downs on the apron part of the track with Mark taking the prize for doing it twice. Now named “Mark’s Corner”
Performance Heavy was a bit of a two way battle with Russell Harray and Alex Morris trading wins with Russell coming out on top at the end of the day. A good 10 points and more back was Barry Cole and Michael Denton battling it out for third. Bob Jelley was also up there but had a DSQ earlier in the day so he was looking forward to a drop.
Performance Supers were also close although Wayne Osbourne in typical style was dominant and took the lion’s share of wins. Terry Helm was keeping Wayne honest while Peter McCrea and Theo Vandervoort ended up third equal at the end of the day. New to the game Steve Fox was sailing well and at times was up in the lead group.
Production all sailed together but it was split into two divisions due to the large weight range.
Production lights we saw the match up of the brothers with Mitchell Denton made to work hard for his wins from his younger brother Matthew Denton although taking out a clean sweep in the end. Derek Miles and Peter Johnson were also in a close battle for 3^rd place. Derek blowing a tire at the top mark in race 4.
Production Heavy was a dominant performance from Alex Morris although Michael Denton did keep him honest at times with Alex having to do a comeback. In one race Alex broke his mast in the dialup. John Guard and Bernard McGillen were also having a tussle.

We managed to get 7 rounds in with an extension to the day to race through to 6:00pm. There were a number of sail changes up, down and up again between the 4 and 5.5m sails. The last race of the day was the most exciting for the Performance Heavies as the southerly hit just on race start and all were carrying 5.5 meter rigs. With wind was more suited to a 3 meter so there were some very fast and over powered runs with lots of grass taken to slow down. Big smiles by all at the end of the race though.
Pack up was late and there were many tired bodies after a long days racing. A few refreshments at the Harvard bar soon had everyone relaxed.

Saturday again was back to light winds but we managed to get another 3-4 rounds in depending on different classes.
Performance Super Heavy were first up and they are always hard to get off the mark in the light winds. Eventually things were under way and the light winds mixed things up with Peter McCrea and Steve Fox taking wins. This closed up the field and with the drops coming in people were changing places.
Production Lights were up next and hello, Matthew Denton gave his brother Mitchell a lesson in light wind sailing winning the first two races and the last of the day, closing the points up and Mitchell was starting to look worried. Derek and Peter were still in their own battle.
Production Heavy was still a dominant result with Alex leading Michael.
Performance Light was a change up with Debs Davidson sailing well as she does in the lighter winds taking a couple of wins. Also Shannon Fox had a blinder in one race and came through for a third place. Again it was very tight and the likes of John Paverd was always ready to pounce and was often in the top 4.
Performance Middle weight had Mark Hursthouse back in his dominant mode. David Tillman also was sailing fast taking out a race win. Kurt Smith was having a shocker and fell down the leader board. Graham Ingal “Mister Consistent” came to the fore in the lighter weather and jumped up the leader board. Dee McCrea also started to shine in the lighter winds with some close finishes.
Performance Heavy was a dominant performance from Alex Morris taking 2 wins. Michael Denton and Russell Harray were unlucky in the last race with the wind dropping on the last lap leaving them stranded in 2^nd and 3^rd before the fleet from half a lap back sailed through them on the new breeze mixing up the results for that race. The heavy’s class was very competitive with a hand full of people looking for the podium.

The day closed at 4:30 allowing everyone to head away for the event dinner where there were lots of laughs and an enjoyable meal. There were a few announcements from our recently elected NZBAI President Barry Cole on future events and updates from around the world. Canterbury had also organised some great raffles with impressive prizes and there plenty of smiles with the winning tickets.

Sunday was another slow start and we only managed to get one Performance Heavy race completed. The race had a slow start but then wind came in only to soften just as the leaders finished. Jonathon Burke was unlucky enough to explode his tire in the last race.
After a long wait to see if the wind was going to preform, eventually the event was called early due to the lack of wind.

Prize giving followed with Canterbury doing extremely well at their home track winning all but two of the divisions and having multiple people on the podium in every division. Well done Canterbury.

Mark Hursthouse burst into speech on the winning of the Performance Middle Weights. Finally he was dragged off the podium. There was a cool family moment on the podium with the Denton Boys taking 1^st and 2^nd in Production Lights.

Overall the entire event went well with no real major incidents, great weather (although not as much wind as was ordered), a good social time and Blokart competitive spirit. Thanks to PRO David Tillman for running the event and making the calls when required.

On behalf of the Canterbury Blokart Club I would like to thank all that travelled to the 2017 NZO event and made it the competition it was.

Michael Denton

Brass Monkey 2017

Well it took a while to start with delays two weeks in a row due to weather but we finally got a start to the inaugural “Brass Monkey” event and was just that with real brass monkey temperatures.

Winds were predicted to be light but on arrival they were stronger than expected and did build for a while. Terry Helm had got the tent setup and BBQ ready for some warm up food and drinks during the contest. Thanks to Justin Annan for providing the BBQ and helping set up.

There was a small turnout to start with but they slowly rolled in dressed in their beach attire supporting the event rules. Peter Richardson even turned up wearing a pair of budgie smugglers. Les Bearman and John Guard turned up wearing matching top and bottom outfits. They took out the prize for sharing an outfit. Chris Gant took out a prize for his Hi-waii Vis Shirt. Well done Chris. Other spot prizes went to Jacky Sargent for cross dressing in her husband’s shorts, Dan Meehan and Terry Helm for racing with shorts only on the lower half. Dan in production must have been real Brass Monkey.

A simple course was set out for the lighter winds and after a number of questions clarifying the rules and an enlargement of the pit stop box, racing got underway slightly early to make the most of the wind, which Alex Morris was protesting as he had timed is run as usual to arrive just to have enough time to throw his kart together and start racing so joined the race a little late to the start.

So just to visit the rules, the first race was a 20 minute race that had to include a pit stop where the rear wheels were swapped (marked with chalk to track), this had to be done before the end of the race and you had to complete a lap after the change before race end.

Race One got underway and very quickly everyone discovered it was very tactical on when to pit or hold onto the good gust of wind. The first rounds of pit stops were hilarious with a range of techniques for changing the wheels. Graeme Gordon commented that some rolled their karts over to change wheels while others because of the light winds were able to do the changeover while the kart was upright. When discussed, upright seemed faster until one or two of our newer or slower moving members dashed that theory. Michael Denton and Amanda Norris had some of the fastest pit stops using the upright technique. Terry Helm had one of the worst with his kart sail still powered up while he was trying to change his wheel causing great grief. Our Honourable President was the only racer who did his tyre change outside the designated pit change area – he was later told this was not on by race officials but I don’t recollect if he was penalized? The seat belt rules had to be reinforced because race officials observed a trend whereby competitors were leaving the seat belt undone (and sometimes nearly forgotten about) until they had taken off in an attempt to stream-line their return to the kart to hold track and race position. We lost Justin Annan early as he had to pull out with the cold affecting an old injurie. In the end it was entertaining racing and hard to keep track of with all the pit stops.

After all the action of the first race and with the cold temperatures it was decided to break for the much enjoyed hot sausages with tea and coffee. Thanks to Jenny for cooking during the race. A good catch up and laughs mixed with a few tactical discussions for the next race.

After a quick Photo shoot of the motley crew, Race Two was underway. This time it was a 40 minute race so there was a real range of pit stop tactics going on. Was it better to do on the up wind or down wind, early or late were the big decisions. Some pit stops where a lot slicker this time although some made it even worse in the rush to be faster. Mitchell Denton standing on his main sheet wondered why he couldn’t push his kart onto the track. He was under pressure from his dad Michael who had pitted after him but was pushing back out at the same time after a faster stop.

It was good to see Dan Meehan back at the track and he was racing well in the light airs. He must enjoy the endurance events after all his windsurfing he does. David Tillman was also doing well in the light winds and was up the front at times. Les Bearman got some good starts but not sure where he went to during the racing.

Racing was tight with lead changes and passing going on. The wind got light at stages which made for difficult sailing around the hanger mark. The 40 minutes were up and some had relief on their faces.

After another break for more hot refreshments to warm ourselves up and another round of sausages and even fried bread for Frank Csizmarik we were back underway for race 3.

This was meant to be a 20 minute race but with the wind starting to drop it was shortened to 10 minutes. From a pit stop point of view this was very tactical now as you only had a few laps to get it done in. The pits were very busy at times with karts heading in all directions. With the lighter winds the lighter weights were doing well and tended to have an edge.

At the end of racing the total distances for all races where calculated as the event was based on distance not just first across the line. We had a dead lock in performance so we then went back to race win count back.

Prize giving took place at the track with the cool new Brass Monkey trophy’s put together by Michael Denton and Davie Norris.

Brass Monkey Results:

Performance: 1^st Alex Morris on 41 laps (1^st on count back) Runner up Davie Norris on 41 laps.

Production: 1^st Mitchell Denton on 34 Laps, Runner up Michael Denton 33 laps.

Over all it was a great event with many laughs, smiling faces and full belly’s, not bad for the middle of winter and rather cool temperatures. Special thanks to all for making this event happen and also Peter McCrea for setting out the rules.

It’s now in the calendar to be an annual event so plan for it next year.

Michael Denton

North Island Open 2017

The weekend started out well with competitors arriving to the Sanson tack to find things set up and a steady breeze. The bulk of Team Canterbury arrived early afternoon in their truck after flying into Palmerston North. Karts were assembled and once registered and weighed in it was time for some practice on the extended Sanson track. The wind was from the South East with strong gusts at time which made for some exciting sailing on the fresh seal with the loose metal on top. Lots of sideways action on some of the marks and corners. There had been plenty of rain in the Manawatu and the out fields where very wet. Colin Davidson made the mistake of listening to Paul Beckett’s advice and ended up with his truck up to its axles in mud on the infield of the lawn mower track requiring a tow out. The day was topped out with the obligatory social meal at the Rat Hole in Bulls with lots of laughs.

Day 1 Saturday

With the numbers entered, competitors were split into 3 groups of Lights, Middles and Heavy’s as well as a Cruiser class. The goal was to get more races through. This made for some big weight bands where in the Middle class we had sailors normally in Lights and Heavy’s competing against each other so some challenges ahead.

The wind had been blowing all night and was still there from the South East in the morning and built steadily during the day for some exciting racing. Peter McCrea was Principle Race Officer for the event and after briefing things got underway just after 9:30 and we raced till 4:30 so manage 8 rounds of racing for the day. 4m & 5.5m sails where the main sails with the odd 3m with people changing back and forth as the gusts increased and faded in and out during the day. Deb Davidson would take the award for most sail changes during the day. Three track layouts where used changing it up with different tactics required. The last “W” layout was quite technical and races were won and lost on tactical lines taken. There were a number of brain fades with people going around the wrong marks and being DSQ. Paul Becket even forgot where he was in one lap and did an endless loop on the middle of the course for a while before carrying on.

Dee McCrea was sailing well and was at the front of the Light Weights most of the day battling it out with David Heilbron and finished the day only 2 points behind. Paul Thomas and Elizabeth Martin from the Manawatu also took some wins. Michael Denton started well in Middle class with a couple of top 4 placings and then won the remaining races for the rest of the day so was out in a good position. Graham Ingall was “Mr Consistent” and was always there in the top placings so was holding 2^nd in the end. David Tillman was enjoying the performance racing and was placing well mostly in the top 5 with one race where he was in second behind Michael only to get piped on the line by 100^th of a second by Alex Stol from Auckland. Chris Gant was a little further back but enjoying the sailing. He was finding the slop of the track a challenge at one mark. There’s a 2m climb from one corner to the other across the track so makes for some interesting wind angles.  Bob Louden would take the award for most nailed starts in this division with more often than not hitting the line on the hooter. Trevor Registor was also sailing well in the lighter conditions and once he got going was always in the top 4. Peter McCrea was on fire having some big battles with Paul Becket and Collin Davidson. He came out on top leading the Heavy weights at the end of the day. Paul was sailing well but was DSQ on the first race by sailing through the start line brick wall. John Marshall as usual was in the lead group and well placed at the end of the day. There was also some fierce battles from Mark Stuhlmann and Steve Fox mixing it up with the lead boys. The wind started  to soften by the last race but It was a good days sailing and there were plenty of Blokart grins by the end of the day.

Day 2 Sunday

The forecast for Sunday was not so good wind wise and we arrive at the track to find little or no wind. After briefing things were on hold till the wind came in with a target start at 11:00 if the forecast held true. Photo shoot was set up and possibly the first Blokart Mexican Wave. Video to come. Almost on target the wind filled in and racing got underway just before 12:00.

Racing started off using the “W” track layout from the day before. Wind was light but built quickly. 5.5m sails were the choice for the day. There was a real mix in the light weight division with Dee and David not having it all their way with Deb Davidson getting out in front. Dee still placed well and was still in contention for the overall win.  There was a big crash involving Shannon Fox one of the youngest in the field but no injuries so hope to see him back in the next events. In Middle weight Michael Denton started off how he had finished Day 1 with a win and then another win and 2 seconds for the day so held a good lead. David Tillman had some mixed results with some good starts and was in a good battle with Ray Kelley and Alex Stol from Auckland. The rest of the middle weight field was mixed up as well so final results were going to be interesting. Chris Gant had a couple of good starts but couldn’t manage to hold his position in the lighter winds  but did better as the wind picked up later in the day. Peter McCrea had a shocker with a DSQ and then a crash so in the competitive heavy weight field fell down the order quickly. He did sail well in other races but it was too much of a climb to get back on the podium. Canterbury couldn’t quite make the podium in each division. There was some good sailing in Cruiser class throughout the weekend with Cecilia Dalrymple taking a number of wins and having a good fight with Rose Salmon and Jo Cook. It was great to see Rose Salmon being so competitive in a production rig over the performance karts and she was sailing well all weekend to be only 3 points behind the winner at race closing.

The wind fell away quickly later in the day and racing was halted just after 3pm with inconsistent winds. We still managed to get 4 completed rounds in so had 12 for the competition allowing a dropped result for all the competitors. Overall it was great sailing through the weekend with some technical racing on the extended Sanson track.

Dinner and Awards were held at the Rat Hole on Sunday night with great socialising and lots of laughs. For Canterbury Dee McCrea placed 2nd in Light weights and Michael Denton placed 1st in Middle Weights.
Many thanks to Manawatu for hosting the event, especially the ladies with the hot soup and pies that kept us going through the cold weather and also Robert, Aaron on the organising and timing.

Look forward to seeing every one down south for the SIO and NZO in October.

Well done Team Canterbury.

Michael Denton

2017 Masters Games, 4^th-5^th Feb

The Masters games is based in Wanganui and held every two years. The Manawatu host this event as they are based in the right area, this year we were fortunate to be sailing at the number one Blokart venue, Ohakea Air Force base. We used a portion of one runway and a slip road and even that amount of seal is awesome.

The event was very well represented with excellent support from every New Zealand club. Manawatu member Gary Clarke liaises with the Airforce and has decided that it would be good idea to become a policeman (how could he do this to us?). Leaving the Air Force may end their clubs ability to access the venue for future events, a sad day indeed.

Attached is a Ohakea Course Sketch (pdf), early on Saturday we just used the markers one, two and three but as the wind came up we started using the narrow slip road as well. The corner marked Z was rough and in the direction we were sailing sloped away as well making high speed cornering a bit hair-raising. A few couldn’t handle the corner and ended up in the grass on the far side or bumping along in the gutter at the edge of the seal.

As he tends to do the Race Officer Terry Helm tried to add variety into the circuit hence the cones marked with an X. As wind speed increased he also instigated the grass short cut as an alternative, the rough corner was scaring the pants off many. The short cut was really bumpy and to regain the seal one needed to pass through a stone ridden gutter first. I found it was best to turn slightly on the grass and drive through the gutter on an angle. Sailors needed to have a heap of speed on to use the grass otherwise they were slower than those who stayed on the seal.

On Saturday most started on 5.5 M sails and as the wind built dropped down to 4 M then to 3 M. Barry Emms’ maximum speed Production rigged was 63.5 km/h. Terry in Performance managed 71.7 km/h and he covered 54 K’s during the day.

Masters games entrants compete on age rather than weight and it was not unusual to hear sailors talking about how enjoyable it was to sail against others who they would normally never meet on the track. Because some age groups were small several were combined, this to produce larger fields and complete more races during the event.

As there were only three Production entries they sailed with the 55 and 65 plus groups. One group started on a two minute dial up and the second group started using a three or four minute dial up depending on track layout. During dial up the two minute sailors could cross the line but the second group needed to stay behind the line because the decoder was now in a live state and crossing the line would record before start hits and increase the time keepers work load.

There were a few on course bloopers, sometimes a few would miss the correct turn marker and keep going, in one race the fleet all rounded a mark in the wrong direction and were disqualified. Now and again an individual sailor would miss a marker. So by the end of day one the mob were well worked over and probably relieved that there gear had survived the rough treatment offered up by the grass short cut.

On Saturday night many entrants retired to the Rat Hole where you can get a large top class meal that’s not over the top for price, then it was back to our motel for a bit of maintenance and a good sleep. Sunday morning we were trackside at eight am to a light wind that gradually built enough to run a 4 M sail. Unfortunately it wouldn’t stick around long enough to get a race in. We did use the slip road but anyone trying the short cut would be dreaming. As an example Barry Emms’ maximum speed for the day was 42.4 km/h and distance covered 27.81 k.

Over the two days sailing, on course incidents were minimal and that is always a relief. However off the track there were plenty of incidents. Several rear wheels let go, one was of particular interest, the sailor reckoned that he was running about 45 PSI and there were minimal stress witness marks on the broken surface. What was showing were at least six holes in the exposed casting, each a bit smaller than a borer hole? I have never seen a broken wheel like this before.

On Saturday Terry returned to the pits complaining of a lack of speed. Cause, his big foot was using a wheel fitted with a Deestone tyre and it was rubbing on the fork. A Deli replacement solved the issue.  Paul Beckett, (the one we all rush to about anything Blokart) had his own issue with a pulley whip problem. The short rope locating the pulley to the whip frayed through. The pulley had been adjusted slightly ending up with a sharp edge which nibbled away at the rope. Barry Cole split a fibreglass axle and Michael Denton lost his sheet as he crossed the finish line, this due to the boom knot undoing. There were a few capsizes, at least one during dial up. The timing team also had an issue, during a race a rouge transponder starting triggering every few seconds. This can happen when someone carries a transponder near the timing loop; in this case a spare was positioned too close to the decoder.

As Sunday progressed quite a few tried dropping down to a 4 M sail, but some came unstuck when the wind dropped away during their race. Not so Paul Beckett, in one race his 4 M sail worked really well and he built up a good lead, maintaining it to the end.

As to actually sailing the course I can only comment on my own experience. My first time out on the track (race one) and with good speed downwind  for the gybe turn at the end of the runway trouble struck. Having rounded the first mark and rapidly closing on the second I realised that the marker was much closer to the grass than I had anticipated and ended up in the grass. Naturally the other two Production competitors sailed past. In our second race, approaching the same first mark a gust of wind spun me around; fortunately I managed to remain on three wheels, sail backwards and get going again. Too late the competition passed me again.

The rest of my races were fine, however I did learn a very important lesson that I would like to pass on. On Sunday with the wind up and down I finally decided to change down to a 4 M sail, I wasn’t going that quick on my 5.5 M anyway. As our race got underway the wind dropped away and the fleet sailed up the runway and left me way behind. At that point I decided that my race was over and if the race wasn’t finished when my first lap was completed I would just circle around then cross the finish line when the flag came out.

However when I finally got going and around to the slip road I had gathered some  speed and as I neared the runway I realised that the fleet ahead had nearly come to a standstill and I was rapidly catching up. The result being that I cruised past most of the fleet and managed to hold on and be near the front when we crossed the finish line. The lesson, one should always remember, is that a race is not over until it’s actually finished and it’s wise to keep making the best possible effort at all times, regardless of one’s position.

As there were only three Production entries and Louise Meltzer doesn’t enjoy sailing in strong winds Robert Deighton was my main competition and all weekend he gave me nothing but grief, he was like a dog with a bone. As I went about changing a sail he came across to see what I was up to and in the small talk mentioned that when he changed down to a 4 M sail he just removed his top mast section slipping the sail sock over the number two section. Now for Production this is illegal and in a friendly manner I pointed this out, I also indicated that I wouldn’t be protesting. Later it came to light that Robert, being the true and honest competitor that he is decided to DSQ himself from a number of Saturdays races.

Looking at the way he was sailing over the weekend it is quite likely that this action cost him a gold medal. The only times I really felt I had him under my thumb was when I sailed on a 4 or 3 M sail. Our best race of the weekend, from my point of view, was the final race on Sunday. Louise Meltzer took the lead, Robert was putting pressure on in second place and I followed behind in 3^rd. On our last lap as we came off the slip road and onto the runway both Louise and Robert tacked to make the runway mark. I felt there was sufficient wind to avoid at least one tack and kept sailing straight ahead. The result was that using my shorter route I passed Robert and nearly caught Louise. It was then just a matter of holding on up the runway to the finish line and this was achieved with Louise taking out a worthy 1^st place and  Robert breathing done my neck.   We were soon packed up and ready for the medals.

50+; 1^st place gold medal winner Barry Cole with 21 points. Disqualified for missing a mark in the first race and coming in 8^th in another, the rest were all 1^st placings and as we have come to expect Barry sailed like a champion that he is.  In 2^nd place Michael Denton with 25 points. In a way his overall ability to finish at the front end (worst finish 4^th) was superior. In this age group to win required a bunch of 1^st placings and Barry delivered.

55+; With 34 points David Heilbron just sneaked in to take a well-deserved 1^st place and the gold medal. In 2^nd place Terry Helm on 35 points (I didn’t realise that he is still just a youngster) Like Michael Denton he was at the front end in all races. If Terry hadn’t insisted on using his big foot as a speed limiter the results might have been different but that’s history now.

60+; On 27 points and taking out 1^st place, gold medal winner Wayne Osborne. As we have come to expect Wayne sailed well all weekend only slowing down in the last race with a 7^th placing. In 2^nd place Peter McCrea excelled, finishing on 41 points. This was a very good result for Peter in a strong field. His undoing was being unable to gain enough 1^{st and, 2nd} placings. You can blame Alex Stol and Paul Beckett for that.

75+; There were not many sailors in this age group and Rudolph Meltzer needed to keep the pressure on to secure a well-deserved 1^st place and the gold medal with 20 points. Colin Cook was a real threat finishing in 2^nd place with 22 points.

Production; this class has been mentioned earlier. If Robert Deighton hadn’t DQed himself the results would have been different. On his 5.5 M sail he is very quick and I look forward to sailing against him again one day without any DQs. Louise Meltzer sailed with skill over the two days. Louise doesn’t like strong wind and I suspect that she pulled out of two races on the first day when the wind was really pumping.

The New Zealand Masters Games CEO Kathy Cunningham was on hand to award the medals and this was soon underway. Official and unofficial photos were then taken with the winner standing on a bale of straw. Unfortunately Peter McCrae had disappeared before we were able to assemble for a Canterbury medal photo.   Next an emu parade to check that no Blokart bits had been left on the runway, there to be ingested by a jet engine. We were also on the lookout for a stray pod upper section which had taken off across the grass when the wind came up Saturday. It was found near the fence line.

Then it was off to the motels for a shower and scrub up for the official meal. This year it was held at the local hall, walking distance from the Manawatu track and our motels. The Manawatu club really put an effort in, all the tables were set with a kind of floral arrangement, the Manawatu council mayor Helen Worboys was on hand to enjoy a meal, give a speech and generally support the Manawatu club. I believe the local council are quite enthusiastic about the Manawatu blokart club and give them as much support as they can.

On behalf of team Canterbury our thanks to the Manawatu club for selecting a top venue, a windy weekend and a well organised event.

Barry Emms

Australian Open 2017 Kingston Adelaide

 Iarene Jelley;
Good morning all,
We had a good flight to Melbourne and our first test was getting all our gear into the Holden red station wagon but with a bit of shoving, it did fit in, and the doors even closed lol.  We travelled well and took the high road through The Grampions, stopping at Halls Gap for lunch.
Our accommodation in Kingston is ok but not glamorous. The website looks great but the reality is we are in older rooms out the back.  However, there is space undercover for assembling the karts so there is redemption. Five minutes’ walk to the town with shops, cafes, pubs, good food, good company, all good.  Last night our Canterbury contingent ate at the Old Woolstore, yummy food and the owner and chef is Bekky from Riversdale.  So good we may go back again on Friday night.

 Day 1

Bob Jelley;
After getting the registration and scrutineering completed at a park in the town by the beach, it was time to then pack up and move our karts to another section of beach about 2 kms out of town. Wind about 25 to 30 kms on shore from about 30 degrees from the beach line. A tight beat with a few tacks up wind, then a fast downwind with karts getting up around 50 -55 kms. Not a lot of tactics involved, excepting the bottom mark gybe with not a lot of room to grow apex the mark, and a wide area of soft rough sand to slow the kart to a standstill. Even the top sailors had spin-outs and tip ups!

We got thru three races for each of the divisions. No results posted, but Michael Denton would be our top performer for the day with wins and high places. We are finding the blowing sand is a pain, and really makes us appreciate what a good venue we have for our club racing at Wigram! Today is Australia day and we will be celebrating beside the pool with a bbq and a few bevies.

Michael Denton;
The beach is a bit like Brighton with grey sand, it’s about as wide at half tide as Brighton for most of the day. It tends to get softer up the top as per normal and there is also a lot of weed along the high tide mark that we sail through. Rough ruts when the tide moves out a bit of real axle breaking stuff.

The wind came in in the afternoon and I was doing 64 kph in the production kart into the bottom mark, not sure on performance but would say hitting 70 kph so was fast action at the bottom corner. It was the make or break as you had to get the power slide right. Mitchell broke an axle going into the corner in practice as it was quite rough. Wind was just off down the beach most of the day so it was a run down and tack up. There were a few crashes and even the master Paul Beckett went over. We managed 3 rounds of racing.
They have combined the smaller classes to get faster rounds. Bob and Ivan are sailing well and are up the front of the pack. Bob won 1 race. Davie was having a mixed day but not far off. I sailed ok in performance and managed 2 seconds and 1 first. Terry is going well and I think has had a few top 4 placings. David is sitting mid pack in production middles. Lost his down haul in one race so that pushed him back. Mitchell and I are doing well among some strong competition in production but both managed to win all 3 races. So a good day one for team Canterbury. Tomorrow is meant to be much the same so will see how it goes. Sailing starts at 11 am.

Day 2

Michael Denton;
Day two of racing started at 11 am. Wind was lighter and 5.5 sails for most of the day but came in late in the day so changed to 4 m for last 2 races although did drop off for the last race of the day in performance heavy. Managed to get another 5 rounds in so 8 rounds so far. Mitchell broke a pulley whip and Terry managed to go over. Davie also managed to flip over at the bottom mark.

Unofficial Canterbury results at the end of day 2;
Production Lights: 1^st Mitchell Denton

Production Middle: 7^th Dave Tillman

Production Heavy: 1^st Michael Denton

Performance light: 2^nd Amanda Norris

Performance Heavy: 1^st Michael Denton, 4^th Bob Jelley, 7^th Ivan Purtle, 14^th Davie Norris

Super Heavy: 3^rd Terry Helm

Sounds like Friday will be light winds so not sure when racing will be underway so will have to see. Saturday is predicted to be better winds.

Day 3

Michael Denton;
Day three was late starting due to light winds. We finally got underway after mid-day and a few course layout trials to make it more of a sail course rather than a follow the leader.

Winds were very light and if you didn’t get the start right it was hard to recover or pick up places. During the day the winds picked up a little and a couple of the light weights moved to 4 m sails but most stayed on the 5.5 m for the whole day.

Ivan sailed really well with some good starts. Also Amada sailed well on her 5.5m sail all day.  Bob got a fantastic start in one race and then after just crossing the start line his mast snapped mid-way up. There was a lot of people dipping into the water to slow the kart down to get around the bottom mark so big kart clean down at the end of the day. We sailed later so we managed to get 4 rounds completed.

 Barry Cole from Auckland was sailing extremely well on his favourite 5.5m and moved up the field in Performance Heavy. Dave Tillman also sailed well on a 4m later in the day and moved up the field.

Unofficial Canterbury results at the end of day 3;

Production Light: 1^st Mitchell Denton

Production Middle: 7^th David Tillman

Production Heavy: 1^st Michael Denton

Performance Light: 2^nd Amanda Norris

Performance Heavy: 2^nd Michael Denton, 4^th Bob Jelley, 8^th Ivan Purtle, 10^th Davie Norris

Performance Heavy: 3^rd Terry Helm

Tomorrow is forecast to be a stronger wind day with a 10 am start as the day will finish by 3 pm allowing for race results sorting and a big clean-up for the travellers.

We are all starting to feel the results of a lot of sailing and being sand blasted all day long. Also most have some sort of sunburn somewhere.

Day 4

Terry Helm;
The final results below. Cantabrians and Kiwi’s in general did very well. The day started with light winds and steadily grew until we finished at 3pm.  We completed 15 rounds in total giving us two drops in the end. It was not a good day for some with two serious crashes.

Dave Tillman was T boned by a kart not giving way and hit him at about 45kph.  Dave was stunned, has bruising and potentially cracked ribs. He did go to hospital to be checked. Now he is just very sore and is going to be struggling for a few days.  His kart chassis is bent quite badly as well.  The person that hit him faired a bit better health wise but withdrew from the racing and I think he went to hospital for a check-up as well.

During my second to last race it was called off as another crash happened behind me. There was a collision at speed between Wayne Osborne and another whose name I didn’t get.  The person tacked in front of Wayne when he was at speed and left Wayne nowhere to go. It looked serious as the person hit apparently screamed and their helmet was seen rolling along the sand.  In the end there were no major injuries, just Wayne’s big foot fork bent back.

Overall the event turned out to be way better than was anticipated considering the weather and beach reports leading up to it. Now I’m just trying to get sand out of everything.

Canterbury Final Results

Production Light: 1^st Mitchell Denton

Production Middle: 7^th David Tillman

Production Heavy: 1^st Michael Denton

Performance Light: 2^nd Amanda Norris

Performance Heavy: 2^nd Michael Denton, 5^th Bob Jelley, 9^th Ivan Purtle, 12^th Davie Norris

Performance Heavy: 3^rd Terry Helm

Iarene & Bob Jelley, Michael Denton and Terry Helm

World Championships 2016 Ivanpah Nevada USA

I’m currently in the Los Angeles airport lounge with Michael Denton waiting for our flight back to Auckland. I will talk just about the racing, and for everything else – “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

The dry lake bed blew me away, so to speak. It’s hard to imagine a better arena for blokart racing. The bed surface was very hard and the kart reached terrifyingly high speeds quite quickly. Michael recorded an impressive speed in one of the races of 83km/hr, sailing into the bottom mark next to Ray Kelly in the production karts. I don’t use a GPS so I can’t comment on my speeds, but I can say that I went pretty quick too!

The courses were nice and long and gave the sailor plenty of opportunity to go wherever they liked. The course was unfortunately a bit shorter for the World champs because of the venue change, but did offer the windward/leeward components with plenty of upwind tacking that I had been fantasizing about for months.

When the breeze was light it shifted around a lot, sometimes up to around 40 degrees. This meant that if you were on the wrong side of a large wind direction change you were instantly looking at the back end of the fleet. These changes were very irregular and hard to predict, so you had to be extremely conservative in where you placed yourself. To be on the inside of the fleet at all times was the safest bet, and you had to avoid the corners and the lay lines. The wind also varied in strength too, making it difficult to feel confident in choosing a sail size.

You had to resist the temptation to take risks when the conditions were variable. To win a leg by half a lap or by 100th of a second (which happened!) meant the same amount of points on the score board. It always paid not to separate too far from the fleet in the case that things went pear shaped, and if you had a lead, it usually paid to put a loose cover on the competition.

When the breeze was up it was awesome. The direction was more consistent and oscillated more regularly which meant you could sail your own race and not worry too much about the fleet. It paid to start at the favoured end of the start line with speed and stay a second or two late so that you didn’t risk being over the line early. The downwind was super-fast and I learnt quickly that it paid to do only one gybe. The downwind legs were very long, especially for the North American Champs, and to judge where to gybe so far from the bottom mark was quite difficult at first. If you gybed too early you likely had to suffer sailing low and slow to the bottom mark, or do two short gybes which is never good. If you gybed too late you were in danger of having other karts sail a shorter distance on the inside of you.

Barry Cole from Auckland was my biggest competition. After about 8-10 minutes of racing in the higher wind speeds we would still be neck and neck, and finishing within seconds of each other, sometimes even when we went with different sail sizes! It was tough work trying to stay ahead of that rascal, and in hind sight we both sailed without making major errors which made for fair and exciting (and stressful) racing. When it was that close sail selection was very important, and I was sometimes late getting on to the grid and entering the dial up because of a last minute strategic sail change.

Large gusts carrying dust often came rolling down the course. In one race, I had worked up a nice lead in the first lap and sailed right into a massive dust squall downwind. Visibility vanished and I suddenly had no idea where the mark was and which direction I should be sailing. This was quite unsettling as Wayne from ABC lost his first place in a super heavyweight race earlier by missing the mark completely because of visibility issues. I aimed my kart to roughly where I thought the mark might be, and miraculously the mark came flying out of the unknown just to windward of the line I was sailing, and I had a near perfect rounding around it! I got pretty cool video footage of these races and look forward to sharing it later.

Barry Cole and the rest of the Auckland team were often seen watching their anemometers intently, and they were always seen changing mast section configurations more often than sail sizes. Barry was noticeably faster than me with the 5.5m sail so I tend to think they have found some mast section combos that work well. This is something that I will have to think more about before the next event.

In one of the races the wind died completely as I was leading the fleet up to the top mark in our final lap. All karts on the lake stopped in the calm, and the finish flag went up soon after. Unfortunately someone at the back of the fleet crossed the finish line after the finish flag went up, which meant that the committee couldn’t abandon the race because of lack of wind – everyone had to either finish or pull out. Barry Cole who was behind me started wheeling with intensity that I have never seen. I started wheeling in an attempt to protect my position but was no match for the others who were prepared to wheel harder. It was sweaty work under the dessert sun! We wheeled all the way to the top mark and the fleet continued to wheel to the downwind mark, far away in the distance. I wasn’t prepared to work that hard, so I just wheeled myself over to the side of the course where I thought the wind would fill in from next and waited patiently. This turned out to be a mistake because I inevitably ended up wheeling all the way to the bottom mark and a chunk of the fleet had wheeled themselves past me! This took forever, and the wind finally filled in when I was about 40m from the finish line, which I crossed in almost last place. Luckily it turned out that I had done a lap more than most of the fleet so I ended up with a manageable 3rd place for that race.

I owe a big thanks to the people that helped me get to Nevada and have a great event. Terry did an incredible job of organizing the house in Las Vegas, the rental vehicle, flights and accommodation in LA and also doing the race timing for both competitions. Bob really looked after me by offering his time and famous services and advice with kart setup and maintenance. The ladies of the house: Iarene, Lynette and Raylene looked after me with their support behind the scenes, excellent home cooking and their attempts to try and get me ready to leave the house on time in the mornings. Michael for lending me a 2m sail which I unfortunately never got to use, being a good roommate and getting me into the flash airport lounges. Davie Norris for offering his 3m sail for me to use. I used it often and was very competitive with it – thanks a lot for that Davie. Thanks also to the rest of the Canterbury team who helped make it a trip that I won’t soon forget.

It was great to see Canterbury do well. Congrats to Michael and Terry. The rest of the team had some excellent races too and proved that they are indeed capable of being competitive at such a high level. That’s all from me for now, see you Sunday.

Alex Morris

Moeraki Beach Race Weekend

With such a large number of sailors going to Moeraki the accommodation was at a stretch, most were staying at the motor camp in a range of accommodation from cabins to tents. Everyone trickled in over the afternoon and evening with a few taking it easy while others enjoyed a few refreshments at the pub and then a few more back at the Denton’s Bach, 3 minutes’ walk from the camp.

The wind was up first thing Saturday and Steve Hall led the way to race beach just south of Moeraki. With big seas pushing in it is was not quite as large as Steve had last remembered.

After waiting for the tide to recede a little things were underway and Vaughan and the Denton boys proved that it could be sailed and sorted out the best area for a course. With the massive seas and surging tides it was going to provide some challenges and entertainment and it didn’t disappoint.

Racing was underway with a few scratch races to get things started until it was deemed that Michael’s many years of beach sailing came to the fore so Pete put a handicap race together with Michael starting last behind the performance karts. This mixed things up although he was not far behind the winner at the end.

After that we ran production off one minute and Performance & Michael off two minutes for the rest of the day. There was a lot of fun with a few people taking a swim in their karts and number near misses. Over all the Blokart grin was the winner of the day all be it through sand gritted teeth.

Racing concluded with the watery disappearance of the beach.

On the way back from racing Michael spotted Bob Jelley on the Moeraki Boulder beach so headed down to join while most others crashed and had a sleep after the days racing. There was good speed to be had along the beach with the wind coming from a different direction. You could sail all the way up to and around the boulders giving the tourists something different to photograph. Eventually the incoming tide took the beach and it was time to head back for some well-earned refreshments and to be able to wash the grit off the face.

The evening started well with a few pre dinner drinks before a 2 minute amble to the pub for dinner. After most meals were consumed Chris presented the awards and the inaugural Moeraki Beach Trophy. Well done to Dee, Michael and Matthew for 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd respective. There were a number of blooper awards for the entertainment during the day.

Afterwards a large number ended up back at the Denton’s Bach to finish off the evening and ensure there were a few blurry eyes in the morning.

Sunday morning was still so the chances of day two racing were looking slim. A communal bacon and egg breakfast started the day. After gathering at the camp and discussions it was decided to head to the Moeraki boulder beach and indulge in some games while waiting for the tide to go out and see if the wind was going to come in. After an hour or so of petanque and Frisbee it was deemed a lay day as wind was unlikely so most headed way with places to tricky tour back to Christchurch. A great weekend had by all.

Thanks to Steve and Peter for organising. I’m sure this will be a regular event in the future.

Michael Denton