The regatta got off to a spectacular start on Saturday with south-easterlies straight off the beach swinging and gusting and making for some very fast sailing on flat seas. In the 16s, Adam & Josh Smith in BlackJack made a good start with a 7th despite a broken trapeze elastic with Robert & Luke Pease in Double Trouble making a great Hobie State Title debut in 8th place. In the 18s, Alan Burrell & Andy Pollock in LTD had a disaterous start with a broken trapeze wire dropping Alan in the drink with the boat doing a full turtle.
In Race 2 it was Adam & Josh's turn for a swim just after the start (see the footage HERE), while Andy & Alan were still getting their boat patched up on shore.
Race 3 was relatively uneventful. Race 4 saw Alan & Andy back up to speed with a 4th placing. Adam & Josh again made the highlight reel with the official photographer right on hand to capture them botching a rapid tack while dicing for position at the last windward mark (see feature photo). Everyone was tired and sore when the fleet returned to shore after 5 eventful hours on the water.
Sunday morning arrived with light northerly breezes and Race 5 saw a brilliant race by the 'Newbies', Alex Jurovic and James Fleming in their first Hobie regatta in the boat they borrowed from Laurinda Dugay-Grist. Alex and James picked a massive lift around the headland to be 3rd around the first mark and sailed brilliantly to hold that position all the way to the finish.
Race 6 belonged to Robert & Luke as they sailed a terrific race to take out 6th position. Alan & Andy were again prominent in the 18s fleet with another 4th.
But that's when the (on water) fun ceased. The wind died, an early retreat to the bar was decreed. While the forecast teased us with promises of strong northerlies for the Monday, these never eventuated and the fleet bobbed around near the start boat for a couple of hours in vain.
At the end of the day Alan & Andy took 7th place overall in the 18s while in the 16s Adam & Josh finished 9th, Robert & Luke 11th just one point back and Alex and James taking out the Youth title and finishing in 12th position. Detailed results HERE
Last Modified on 12/03/2014 18:50