Weta anarchy

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nzsailorchick

Member
148
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Auckland, New Zealand
Jennifer-Kroon-2.jpg


The Notice of Race for the US Weta Nationals has been released. You can check out all the info and register for the regatta on the Richmond Yacht Club website.

Roger Kitchen is going to visit on his way to the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, he'll be doing an informal Q&A on Friday night about all things Weta, this is a great opportunity to hear all the stories from the founder of the Weta himself.

Chris and Phil from West Coast Sailing will come down, they can deliver parts and help out with rigging and tuning, contact West Coast Sailing to order parts and ask about charter boats. Charters will also be available from Pierpont Performance Sailing.

ScheduleThursday 10/2 -- Weta Rigging and Sailing Clinic: Sharpen your skills on and off the water with veteran Weta sailor and San Francisco bay local, Dave Berntsen, who will offer rigging advice and some smooth water practice races inside the Richmond Harbor jetty.

Friday 10/3 -- Golden Gate Dash Hit the water, if you dare, for an informal long-distance adventure race all the way to the historic Golden Gate Bridge and back, beginning with a rabbit start in Richmond Harbor. Then it’s up through Raccoon Straits, taking in views of historic Angel Island and Tiburon. Venture into the rapid currents of the Golden Gate, where if the weather is nice, we will regroup and continue to the Marin Headlands. A second start will begin the downwind ride – through the slot between Angel Island and Alcatraz, jibing around the island to the finish at the mouth of Richmond Harbor. Support boat will be provided by Dave Berntsen. This is a hi-wind skilled sailors only event and will not count towards the Nationals trophy, but prizes will be provided for the cumulative results. Tie goes to the upwind winner!

Saturday & Sunday 10/4 & 5 One-Design Weta Racing Around the buoys courses, hosted by Richmond Yacht Club as part of their Multihull Invitational in the challenging waters of San Francisco Bay in the area of Southampton Shoal, Keller Cove, or the northern portion of the Berkeley Sailing Circle. If it’s windy, local Dave “Davo” Berntsen is the favorite to beat. If it’s light, Marc Simmel is one to bet on. How many visitors can we get to shake up the scene? Promises to show up have been made by Jim Leonard, Mike Mead, John Luzius, and the Austin crew!

The Richmond Yacht Club Multihull Regatta is a local favorite, with great race management, and casual club dinners Saturday and Sunday for reasonable prices.

Lodging optionsBerkeley is a cute town on the East Bay, about six miles from RYC, or you can cross the bridge to Marin, (Marin Valley, San Anselmo, Tiburon, Sausalito area) would be ideal for people wanting to get the most out of the area and be close enough to the sailing venue. The cheapest options are definitely found at airbnb.com from 60-150 per night.

https://www.airbnb.com/s/berkeley-CA?checkin=10%2F02%2F2014&checkout=10%2F05%2F2014&guests=2

The only drawback here is that you can't cancel out easily, so you have to be committed to the event, which is not a bad thing. But hotels are easier to check in and out of and you don't have to deal with hosts - a price to pay for that, ranging from about 150-300 per night. The good news is that this is low season, so while those prices may seem high, they are low for the area. If you want to stay in the city, there are many hotel options there. Trivago, Orbitz, Hotels.com will be your best guide.

Camping is on the other side of the bridge as well (talking the Richmond Bridge here in all cases) at China Camp State Park. You can reserve. Nice bike trails if you have the energy for that.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=466

Slumming options could include a yacht club member's boat if you can arrange that with Davo, or even Van Rental crashing. Renting an RV or van can be found online with many options with an RV had for about 200 per day.

Of course, if you drive from Texas or Florida in an RV or Van you will have your digs right there or in your toy trailer. The parking lot at the YC is gated and seems very secure. While Richmond is no sight to see, the YC itself is on the other side of the mountain bay side in a beautiful harbor, which leads out onto a great harbor to sail flat water in, which leads out to SF Bay and the best racing site for sailing Weta's this side of Alabama.

 
eric e

eric e

Super Anarchist
6,396
9
nz.akl
nzsailorchick said:
I'm pretty keen to do the Coastal Classic (unofficially) on a Weta it's about 120 miles, on the 24th of October from Auckland to Russel, anyone want to come down and join me??
Click to expand...
i'd be interested

crewing with you

or in a rental boat

last time i did that route

was over 3 days with the military

in a fleet of montague whalers

montague whaler.jpg

 
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N

nzsailorchick

Member
148
0
Auckland, New Zealand
eric e said:
nzsailorchick said:
I'm pretty keen to do the Coastal Classic (unofficially) on a Weta it's about 120 miles, on the 24th of October from Auckland to Russel, anyone want to come down and join me??
Click to expand...
i'd be interested

crewing with you

or in a rental boat

last time i did that route

was over 3 days with the military

in a fleet of montague whalers

attachicon.gif
montague whaler.jpg
Click to expand...
Cool! I've gota convince Roger or someone to drive chase boat and someone else to drive the road trailer and dolly's up the coast. If we have two boats it would be better to have one each, bit faster if it's off the wind. PM me your email and I can keep you in the loop

 
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DaveK

DaveK

Super Anarchist
7,279
62
Austin, TX
The DJI Phantom drone has a rep for fly aways. Actually all drones have fly away problems but DJI gets the brunt of the reputation. I own one and have about $2000 into it so I pay attention to these issues. The DFW drone guy had mechanical failure at Wetafest, not fly away. I think in large part fly away problems are caused by everything being on one frequency now. 2.4Ghz. I'm adding a LRS system (long range system) to mine which switches it to 400Mhz and nothing lives there. Anyways, I hope his bird was repairable. At least it was fresh water.

 
Tom Kirkman

Tom Kirkman

Anarchist
619
60
North Carolina
Dave,

Nice job on the tillers. Your brackets are a nice touch - able to keep the tillers out of the water when the boat is well heeled but still allow you to move them up and forward when sitting further towards the bow. Nicely done.

What is your impression after having sailed the boat with twin tillers?

 
DaveK

DaveK

Super Anarchist
7,279
62
Austin, TX
Tom Kirkman said:
Dave,

Nice job on the tillers. Your brackets are a nice touch - able to keep the tillers out of the water when the boat is well heeled but still allow you to move them up and forward when sitting further towards the bow. Nicely done.

What is your impression after having sailed the boat with twin tillers?
Click to expand...
My first reaction was forgetting I had 2 tillers but once I got over that, they seem great. The main reason for me having 2 is that my boat handling skills suffer in high winds and it's mostly due to tiller f'k ups. It gets stuck under hiking strap, tramp or wrapped around kite sheet. The support brakets worked fine. There was no real added friction. But the thing is that I haven't tested it yet in wind conditons I want. I'm also worried that those supports are looking to snag a kite sheet as well. so we will see.

 
Tom Kirkman

Tom Kirkman

Anarchist
619
60
North Carolina
They might, or might not. I just went with short rope leashes for simplicity. They don't offer a "snag point" and you can simply toss one tiller away and pick up the other. You don't have to carefully set it in anything. I briefly thought about using a bungee, but quickly reasoned that if you heeled enough and got the end of one in the water, it might stretch the bungee and then slingshot it back at the rear aka... or yourself.

I'll be interested to see how you like yours after a few more outings. Good luck.

 
P

Pete Pollard

Super Anarchist
12,184
0
You have to admire a man who is sufficiently self confident to fly a pink reacher!

 
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timw@customusic.com

[email protected]

New member
18
0
Great Lakes
I represent that remark. A) I'm Dutch, and if was free. B) . It's all about bringing attention to the brand, trying to find enough sailors in the frozen north to do some OD racing on the Weta.

 
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