Issue date
On Tuesday December 11th the national staff of Halberg Disability Sports Foundation took to the Waitemata Harbour on two keelboats for a bit of a duel.
The boats had some slight modifications made to become fully inclusive for all staff to take part. One boat, Brian Trubovich's Higher Ground was fitted with a boarding ramp for one staff member to come on board with wheelchair and all. The other, Mark and Kevin Mulcare's Fun n Games had a race car seat fastned to the rear pushpit to provide a stable seat for the champion helmsperson.
After a quick group activity for the new sailors to learn rigging of the boats, the group took to the water for a race start at 6:20pm. The wind and water brought perfect conditions for a first timers sail, 10 knots with gusts up to 15 kn for a bit of excitement in the mix. Fun n Games led from the start off the westhaven marina nearly 3/4 down the first leg towards devonport, when Higher Ground got a good burst of speed near the navy boats. At the turning point, Higher Ground was off and away in the lead, only to be slightly cheated while at the top mark near Chelsea Sugarworks when Fun n Games took the opportunity to turn around too, so the race was back on again. Clearly the best boat won, with Fun n Games winning the race back to the bar (no bias from the author...)
Pictures from the day can be viewed on the YNZ Flickr Photostream
Thanks to the Ponsonby Cruising Club volunteers for running a start sequence for us- and of course the boat owners who generously made their boats available for this to happen: Brian Trubovich, Kevin Mulcare and Mark Mulcare!
