GALE FORCE

Design Elliott 1050
Sail Number  8044
Length overall  10.50m
Length waterline  9.7m
Beam  3.7m
Draft  2.3m
About the boat: Gale Force was third on elapsed time and fourth on corrected time in the #RNZ2019 and is back again for a lap of the North Island this time!

Sailed by Ken Ormandy and Sam Tucker, Gale Force is an Elliott 1050 “Family Cruiser” by legendary designer Greg Elliott.

Home base Westhaven
Facebook Gale Force Racing

KENNETH ORMANDY

Name Kenneth Ormandy
Age 40
Relationship to Co – Skipper Friend
Has anyone in your family ever done the race? Dad (David) is racing on Arbitare, he also did the 2017 RNI on Rigmarole. We both did the 2019 RNZ
Yacht Club SSANZ
Tell us a little about your sailing history/ background I sailed dinghies as a kid. When living in Wellington, I got into offshore/coastal racing on a big Davidson (Andiamo). I’ve since then raced on keelboats and multihulls, and have raced offshore a number of times on various boats. I owned a GBE (Voom) for 7 years, until the family came along and my wife said we need a bigger boat, go and buy a bigger boat. So we found a sedate family cruiser called Gale Force and have been enjoying cruising and shorthanded racing on her for the last 2 years.
What appeals most about doing the RNI Such a big number of boats of similar performance to us, racing for an extended period of time.
What will your meals be like during the race? Hopefully some meals cooked at home and frozen, that just need reheating in the pot. A few bags of freeze dried for back up meals. Highlights are usually a thai green chicken curry, homemade creamy pumpkin soup, pork and chorizo stew and some bacon and egg pie.
What do you like most about the boat you are sailing on? Being just a family cruiser, she is pretty comfortable to sail on, and pretty dry down below.
Describe your skipper/co-skipper in 5 words Fun, Competitive, Calm, Tolerant, Hangry
Tell us about the training and buildup that you have been doing for this race both on and off the water? We did a quick lap of the country 2 handed as a big part of our build up! We have also done the last 2 years Triple Series and Coastal Classics, we did the Akarana 350 last year and plan to do the White Island race this year.

Off the water is just about fitness, so some gym work and some running.

What’s your favourite drink and why? Coffee? Beer? Rum? Coffee? Yup, coffee.
Will you be taking any luxury items on the race? – If so, what is it and why? Crackers and cheese for 5pm happy hour. Hopefully enough beer for 1 a day, but our planning on that has let us down in the past.
What’s your biggest fear when you think about the RNI? Not performing well against the other 1050s. Or maybe being beaten by Dad.
Who’s your biggest opposition and why? Kick – She is another 1050 with a bigger rig and has been well prepped in terms of new sails and gear.
Tell us about your biggest supporters We both have young kids, so need very supportive wives to let us head away for such long periods. My primary job is caring for our kids, so I need a lot of support from my parents and in-laws to help out when I am away. Dad was supposed to help look after them, but figured if he was going to be sleep deprived and exhausted for 2 weeks he may as well be doing the race.
What’s most exciting/challenging about this race for you? Four other 1050s to race.

SAM TUCKER

Name Sam Tucker
Age 36
Relationship to Co – Skipper Friend
Have you done an RNI before? I did the RNZ 2019 on Gale Force with Ken but never a RNI.
Is anyone in your family doing the race? Yes- My big (older) brother.
Yacht Club RNZYS
Tell us a little about your sailing history/ background My youngest memories involve my families cruising ketch, getting a backyard refit near Hastings. Many ocean adventures followed while growing up with Mum, Dad and four brothers. Ocean race from Napier to Chatham Islands in primary school, later I joined the RNZYS YTP, then in my late teens and early 20’s I did yacht racing mostly around Australia, UK, USA, Ireland, Russia and France. Transitioning into getting a land based job and designing and building my own Trimaran with my wife has been another journey filled with satisfaction and great results. RNZ and now RNI are another adventure for me.
What appeals most about doing the RNI The Hobbit in the Lord of the Rings has a good point, a dry comfy bed is so much better after an adventure… Also sending it downwind at 3am in the pitch dark completely exhausted is a lot of fun as well… and the challenge of just getting there.
What’s your favourite point of sail and why? 3 knots in any direction, I love the very light tactical racing, and Gale Force goes well in the light stuff plus its fun laughing at typical kiwi yachties who can’t cope with soft breeze.
What’s your favourite drink and why? Beer because I get less hungover than when I drink rum.