11 teams faced the starter at 2.00 on Monday afternoon as tricky northerly winds began to ease. The starting list was:
- Jethro Cross & Annie in a Hobie 18
- Robert & James Pease in a Hobie 16
- Peta & Ang Pietromonaco in a Nacra 4.0
- Alistair Gray & Vincent Cross in a 420
- Matt & Griffin O'Neill in a 420
- Alexander Jurovic, Jeremy Gray and Will Fleming in a Pacer
- Joshua Smith, Luke Crummy and James Fleming in a Pacer
- Alan Bryson and Bryan Hill in Sabres
- Geoff & Helen Selby in a Mirror
- Lucy Gray & Millie Harvey in Optis
- Lulu Harvey and Will Hodgson in Ozi Optis
Starting with a sprint over hot sand from the yard, competitors jumped in waiting boats and headed out towards the tide gauge. After completing the first iteration of their assigned sailing course, it was Alan and Bryan (enjoying being a competitor in the race he has organised for so many years) who returned to the beach first and strolled up to choose their first challenge. As Alan set off up the beach in search of Coolart Bridge, the other competitors arrived close together apart from the Hobies who either didn't read the sailing instructions or struggled with the skill of counting and continued on with two more laps of the course than was required. Arriving mid-fleet, Matt and Griffen quickly solved the puzzle assigned to them and were first back on the water for the second sailing leg.
As competitors returned to the beach for the second challenge, the field was still well bunched as they made choices to answer Australiana trivia questions or take on the Commodore in table tennis. Apparently a few members need to spend more time brushing up their ping pong skills as Roger eneded up playing left handed just to give everyone a chance!
On returning to the beach for the third and final sailing leg, the Race Director was forced to hand out penalties for crews not leaving their boats safely stored on the beach (note that a Hobie Cat with downhaul unreleased will tip off its wheels in a gusty northerly!). As per race instructions, competitors incurring a penalty "shall strut around in a circular motion whilst performing a convincing impersonation of a chicken (complete with flapping wings and nodding head) and stating in a clearly audible high-pitched voice “I’m a silly sausage” over and over again for a period of ONE MINUTE". Highly amusing!
The race was still dreadfully close as competitors returned to the beach for the third and final challenge. Mille and Lucy had managed to snare a slight lead and headed up to the clubhouse balcony to impress the Talent Director with their singing skills. Alistair and Vincent were not behind though and with superior basketball skills managed to overtake the girls to cross the finish line in the James Douglas Race Control Tower in first spot. Lulu and Will sailed fantastically well in the tricky conditions to take out third place, 30 seconds in front of Matt and Griffin with the Pacer teams of Josh/Luke/James and Alex/Jeremy/Will in a close finsih for 5th and 6th as Brian & Alan and Geoff & Helen struggled with the Australian National Anthem (the Talent Director quite rightly disallowing a rousing version of God Save The Queen from the Selbys!)
All in all a very enjoyable day and an event that is likely to return in next year's sailing calendar
Last Modified on 29/01/2014 10:17