Added by Ollie: 28th Feb 2010

The Saturday began with very light conditions so the fleet waited around for a couple of hours before the wind decided to come in steady from the north. The course was set up with a boat start just out from Tikao Bay and top marks set up towards Onawe Peninsula.

The first race was in building conditions and by race two the wind was getting up near twenty knots and swinging a bit more to the NW. There was some great close racing with the battle being fought up front between "Head Office" skippered by Barry Dacombe and "Astruso" skippered by Ross Millar, whose team showed some very fast downwind speed and took line honours in all three races.

Sunday started with a tsunami warning caused by the big earthquakes in Chile and meant there would be no racing for the day. A few skippers took their yachts out to deeper water to avoid the sudden surges in tide, that were clearly visible from the shore with rocks covering and uncovering in a matter of minutes. Otherwise Akaroa Harbour was basically deserted which was an eerie feeling for a Sunday in the middle of summer!

It was a good effort by Colin Lock who was keen enough to sail "Legacy 2" single-handed around from Lyttelton on the Friday evening and give the local Akaroa fleet some outside competition!

Thanks to the Akaroa Cuising Club, Race Officer Mark Quail and Barry for letting me crew on "Head Office".