Beach Run on Almost the last day of 2022
Last of the Summer Series
It was another hot day for part Two of the Summer Series. There was a steady easterly that built during the day. It was looking if it was going to be a poor turnout but in the end there was a rush of arrivals just after 12:00. Terry Helm was OOD and was out having a sail before things started as he wasn’t sailing in the competition due to missing the first round. It was good to see Louise Meltzer back at the track although only helping out with the f...lags as still recovering from her broken foot. As usual Terry had things sorted early with a course laid out and racing was underway by 1:00. With the lighter winds to start and looking to build later Terry had set up two courses. A short course to get some rounds in quickly and then a longer course for later. The sort course were four lap races and was like a sprint track with lots of work to keep your speed up.
For the racing production and performance were split. Production got under way first and Matthew Denton was straight into his stride taking out the first three short courses, John sell had double bad luck taken out of two races with blown tyres. One went off like a shot gun echoing off the hanger doors. John Guard was having a blinder leading one of the races only to have Matthew come flying pass just before the finish line.
John Sell was always very competitive and often swapping the lead with Matthew Denton. He had the legs on Matthew and managed to hold out and take the three long course races. Frank was also sailing well in the later races and was often up in the lead group. Bernie and John Guard were often seen battling it out around the course. Les Bearman was consistent with some mid pack finishes.
Performance was just as competitive and the short course was a real sprint. Michael Denton jumped out to a big lead putting almost half a lap in the first race. The second race was very congested at the loop back mark and Chris Gant got caught up in a wall of karts coming back down at him. Bob Jelley was sailing well and took a few wins. Ivan Purtle had some great starts and jumped out to a lead but couldn’t manage to hold on for a win but got some top 3 finishes. Most where on 5.5m sails but Paul Talarico was on his 4m and later in the day on the long course when the wind had built he was fast and up at the front in most of the races with some good finishes.
Velocity Blast
A great afternoons racing at the Velocity track on Sunday. Smiles all round with a real variety of racing. Thanks to all those who showed up to try something different. I'm sure there will be more events there in the future.
Monday Funday!!!
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.
Monday Beach Funday Video; https://youtu.be/JugcytaBZX4
NZO 2017 Canterbury Success
A great event over the four days although more wind was ordered than arrived. Canterbury did well with members being on every podium and winning four of the six divisions. Well done Canterbury.
2017 SIO Washout
Well Rain, Lots of Rain and No wind was the order of the weekend at the SIO. In the end the event was canceled due to the lack of wind and very very wet track conditions. Let's hope the NZO put's on better weather for us.
2018 Manawatu Blokart Open
Dates: Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th Feb 2018 note Waitangi Day is Tuesday 6th Feb
Venue: Ohakea Air Force Base
Event Dinner & Prize Giving: Sunday Evening 4th Feb.
Australian Open 2018
For anyone interested in a trip across the ditch.
2018 Australia Open Blokart Championships are to be held at Lake Wallyungup - Western Australia From the 9th Feb - 12 Feb NOR will be released in the near future Hosted by Perth Blokart Club in conjunction with the ABA
Fantastic Fun day at the Inaugural Brass Monkey
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: 1st Alex Morris on 41 laps (1st on count back) Runner up Davie Norris on 41 laps.
Production: 1st 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 even 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.
Brass Monkey Event
Well the weather has conspired against us again and the Brass Monkey event has been pushed out to next week.