On the last weekend in February Williamstown Sailing Club hosted the 2022 Minnow Victoria state championship regatta. After much hard work in the run-up to the event there was a real buzz around the club all weekend as the deck filled with blue sails and the club house swarmed with participants from all around the bay and lots of wonderful volunteers from WSC.
27 sailors took part across 2 fleets (Open & Novice) from 7 different Clubs - Altona, Albert Park, Beaumaris, Blairgowrie, McCrae, Rhyll and Williamstown.
On Saturday the wind was a fresh easterly. The Open fleet managed 4 races in the waters off Sandridge Beach, with increasing wind causing several sailors to retire in the later races. The Novice fleet raced in the clear-way outside the Club, and managed 6 races across the day.
On Sunday the wind was disappointing - almost non-existent (at one point reading 1 knot!) with glassy sea. After a postponement the Open fleet launched in an attempt to complete further races, but the weather would not co-operate and racing was abandoned at 1.30pm. The Novice fleet managed to complete 1 more race on the Sunday - the slowest race in the world on the shortest course in the world!
All the young sailor seemed to enjoy themselves - there were many happy smiles - although some sailors who were used to off-the-beach sailing found the launching ramps at Williamstown an interesting challenge.
The results were very close, with 2nd place in the Junior Fleet and 3rd place in the Novice Fleet tied on points and needing a count back to break the tie. Congratulations to all our 2022 trophy winners:
- Open Fleet champion 2022 - Will James from Blairgowrie in Minnow #1228 'Mako'
- Open Fleet 2nd place - Will Hailes from Blairgowrie in Minnow #1207 'Green Eggs & Ham'
- Open Fleet 3rd place - Alby Moorhouse from Blairgowrie in Minnow #1212 'Albatross II'
- First Female - Abby Young from Blairgowrie in Minnow #1205 'Sam I Am'
- Junior Fleet champion 2022 - Lucas Hailes from Blairgowrie in Minnow #1189 'Nauti Buoy'
- Junior Fleet 2nd place - Samantha Kemp from Beaumaris in Minnow #988 'Sparkle'
- Junior Fleet 3rd place - Emily Hailes from Blairgowrie in Minnow #1210 'Calypso'
- Novice Fleet champion 2022 - Theresa Morton from Williamstown in Minnow #1237 'Spindrift'
- Novice Fleet 2nd place - Angus Gilby from McCrae in Minnow #190 'The Titanic'
- Novice Fleet 3rd place - Samuel Dines from Williamstown in Minnow #1062 'Blue Devil'
- First Novice Female - Theresa Morton from Williamstown in Minnow #1237 'Spindrift'
- Most Improved Award (Open Fleet) - Samantha Kemp from Beaumaris in Minnow #988 'Sparkle'
- Encouragement Award (Novice Fleet) - Kassia Jack from Williamstown in Minnow #592 'B3ast'
- President's Award - Gidget Gibson from Blairgowrie in Minnow #1032 'Miss Smarty'
Full results can be found at:
https://topyacht.net.au/results/wsc/2022/minnow_state/minnow_state/series.htm?ty=25319
We were lucky enough to have photographers Cas Bukor and Robyn Singleton give up their time to take some amazing photographs for us over the weekend at our state regatta - check out the gallery
Thanks again to all our sponsors: Ronstan, Dinghy Shop, Hailes Lawyers, Coastal Living and Sport Phillip Marine
Last Modified on 02/03/2022 18:52