SLAM SAILING CENTRE
SLAM Sailing Centre
A swell weekend at the HKSF Trials 22 Turner (Nathan’s father)
Feb 2014
Words Max
On Sunday most of the team gathered early morning but there
were a couple missing due to the previous day’s exhaustive day
out. The team was divided into seven and three new joiners with
two safety boats accompanying them out from Hebe Haven. Once
the boats were ready the team gathered for a briefing from Rob—
as Alfie was basking on his sunny holiday in Kenya—noting general
points to look out for based on their performance the day before.
The GPS system fitted to the boats proved very useful, in particular
in catching those tacks!
As the day before the course had been set far out to sea, a tow
out was required. A moderate chop was forming and the wind
initially blew quite strong and cold. Once they rounded Shelter
Island the sea swell took over and the Optimists bounced around
like ducks on a crocodile pond. Eventually we reached the starting
prep area and released the hounds of war-racing. This was quite a
performance in the high swell with the boats knocking and rolling
together, making untying difficult. Some of the sail ties came adrift
and great exertion was required to attach the boom to the main
sheet in the gusts and huge swells. By this time, Bincker was
rather daunted by the size of the waves and strong gusts.
在星期日，大部份隊員一早已集合，只有部份隊員因前一天的
訓練太疲累了而缺席。隊員共分為兩隊，分別為七人一組，另
一隊則由三名新成員在兩隻安全艇護送下離開會所。當所有船
艇準備就緒後，隊員首先聽取Rob的簡介（因為Alfie正在肯尼
亞享受陽光假期），並因應他們前一天的表現作出檢討。較早
前，本會已在船隊的船上裝設全新的全球定位系統，在尋找航
行方向的效果非常顯住。
Despite the absence of Alfred, and due to the fact that the
Dragons had not had a regatta for a long time, Rob and Rex
sent them to this trial selection organised by the HKSF. Those
trial selections are used to select the best Hong Kong sailors to
join the One Hong Kong national squad and to be sent to the
Asian and World Championships.
由於前一天的賽事於距離西貢較遠的地點進行，隊員需要在安
全艇協助下出海。當天風速較急，氣溫較冷，當隊員航行至牛
尾洲附近，海面刮起大浪，Optimists小艇被巨浪拋起，就像
在鱷魚潭裡的鴨子一樣，幸好最於我們成功抵達了起點的準備
區。由於風浪太大，船隻不斷互相碰撞，船艇的繩纜又纏在一
起，很難解開，有些帆的繩索更隨大浪漂走了，我們花了很大
努力才可以把吊杆和帆布連在一起。Bincker亦好好像被大浪和
強風嚇怕了。
All the sailors were very excited to take part in this event.
Saturday was fine with nice weather, nice wind and a nice swell.
Kevin was the new coach for the weekend!
After a sudden call for a second safety boat to tow the
Oppies, the sailors arrived on the sailing area exhausted and
dizzy. A big swell and an hour-plus towing does not help
much! It was already not a very good sign. Check the map
for the location! Why was it so far away when the wind was
steady in Sai Kung’s bays? Only Arthur managed races one
and two with his 16th and 21stpositions. Emily Keg managed
to pass some older team mates leaving behind her Timothée,
Alan and Bincker. The end of the day was not the best one—
having to come back at 7.00pm at night to HHYC, very tired
after a long day on the water. Overall, as some sailors said, it
was not a good day for racing!
雖然Alfred缺席本場賽事，Dragons隊員亦久未作賽，但
Rob和Rex仍然派出選手參加由香港帆船運動總會舉辦的選拔
賽。這次選拔賽是挑選香港最佳的選手加入港隊，代表香港
參加亞洲和世界錦標賽。
24 Hebe jebes • MAY/Jun 2014
所有選手都熱切期待今次選拔賽。當天天氣良好，而Kevin是
本周末的新教練！
第二艘安全艇收到通知後，協助Oppies隊的船艇拖行至航行
區域，超過一小時的拖行時間及海上的巨浪實在令人吃不消，
隊員們抵達航行區時已非常疲累和頭暈，這絕對不是一個好