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Updated 1 pm 17.4.2010
Many thanks to Asa Jamting for the following writeup of the series.
In a short summary; this is some of the best race conditions we have seen over the past few years: Excellent weather with no rain and enough wind to keep the races interesting which showed well in the results where it was unclear until the very last heat who would win the championship! It was in the end superbly won by Justine Tornai with crew Gary Willis, sailing Charlie Brown, from Drummoyne Sailing Club. Justine won the last heat by about a foot, or a mere second! Second in the series was Ally-oop skippered by Colin Hinwood and Bill Heuchmer as crew from Big River SC, third place was taken by one of the Queensland boats, Jackpot, with Robert Huckfeldt at the helm with Robert Fletcher crewing from Lake Cootharabah SC. Fourth place went to Uncle Roy, with Eric Partland and Pat McDonough from Drummoyne SC and fifth place went to Vinca (formerly Ambulance) sailed by Trevor Bell and Axel Burkert, also from Drummoyne SC. The number of competing boats was also excellent, 26 entries which completed most of the heats of the regatta.
Heat 1 on Friday afternoon started a little bit overcast but without any complications and with moderate breeze, and a south-south easterly starboard course. Uncle Roy took an early lead and rounded the top mark followed by Ally-oop and Charlie Brown, and held the position at the windward mark as well as the bottom mark. On the second rounding of the top mark, the positions had changed to Ally-oop in the lead followed by Jackpot and Uncle Roy closely behind. In the end, the heat was won by Jackpot, followed by Ally-oop, Triple G Cruising, Uncle Roy, Charlie Brown, Plan B, Xtremely Sinister, Vinca, Bix and Matrix.
Heat 2 on Saturday morning suffered a delayed start and a few unfortunate boats went off at the one minute gun, most of them retuning for a correct start. The winds were a bit less this morning, possibly about 6-8 knots and the course was set as a port hand course.
The early part of the race was held by Jackpot, who at the first rounding of the bottom mark was followed by Charlie Brown, Tranquil and Ally-oop. At the top mark, after the sausage, Charlie Brown rounded first followed by Ally-oops and Jackpot, then Uncle Roy, Xtremely Sinister, Vinca and Tranquil. At the end, the leading boats were coming up towards the finish line on a starboard tack, when from a port tack Bix appeared with great speed. They tacked pretty much on the line and succeeded in winning the heat, two seconds ahead of Jackpot. Vinca was in third place, 15 seconds after Jackpot followed by Charlie Brown, Ally-oop, Uncle Roy, Plan B, Tranquil, Xtremely Sinister and Aeolian.
Heat 3 on Saturday afternoon saw slightly stronger winds, and a similar course was set with starboard roundings. Xtremely Sinister was in the lead when they reached the bottom mark, followed by Ally-oops, Plan B and Charlie Brown. Jackpot and Rubicon were not far behind. After them, pretty much the whole fleet followed closely on their heal! At the end of the sausage, Sinister was still in front but when the fleet reached the top mark the order had changed and Charlie Brown was in the lead, followed by Sinister and Ally-oops, with Jackpot not fat behind. In the end, the heat went to Charlie Brown, nearly a minute ahead of the competition which were Ally-oop, Jackpot and Sinister, all within 11 seconds. They were then followed by Uncle Roy, Plan B, Vinca, Aeolian, Tranquil and Bix.
Heat 4
The first of the heats on Saturday morning started without any problems. The winds were a bit stronger than yesterday, but still south to south-east. This led to a somewhat chaotic start with at least 6 boats across the starting line prior to the signal and a general recall followed. The second attempt was more successful and the final, and deciding, heat was underway. A port hand course had been set and the first boat around the top mark was Vinca. Vinca kept the lead around the windward mark, lost it momentarily to Charlie Brown after the rounding but were ahead again at the bottom mark. They rounded the top mark ahead and were well ahead on the run back to the bottom mark. Back at the top mark, Charlie Brown had gained and went around first, Vinca second and Uncle Roy third. Jackpot and Xtremely Sinister fought it out for the fourth place around, and Jackpot won. Then followed Exit, Plan B and Ally-oop. The heat was won by Vinca, nearly a minute ahead of Charlie Brown, followed by Uncle Roy, Ally-oop, Jackpot, Xtremely Sinister, Plan B, Aeolian, Bix and Exit.
Heat 5.
The last heat of the series was greeted by the strongest wind conditions. No measure of the strength was made, but it would have been around 15 knots. After the first lap Charlie Brown, Uncle Roy and Triple G Cruising were around the bottom mark first, followed by Rubicon and DC. During the second work, Vinca had to retire with a broken jib halyard. At the top mark after the sausage, Charlie Brown was the first boat around, then Triple G cruising, Ally-oop, DC, Plan B, Uncle Roy and Rubicon.
The finish was very exciting, with Charlie Brown finishing about 8 inches in front of Ally-oop, followed by Rubicon, Plan B, Triple G Cruising, Jackpot, DC, Uncle Roy, Tranquil and Matrix.
The handicaps during this regatta were based on the performance of the boats during the first three races. It was also a pretty open game until the end, when the early favourites Digeridoo from Wagga Wagga SC took the first price. Second on handicap was DC from Drummoyne SC, third was Plan B from Lake Cootharaba SC followed by Carriad and Pelican, both from Drummoyne.
For full results see Overall Results Results and Handicap Results
