Sailing Report - Regatta Blowout!

“Regatta Blowout
 
There was plenty of breeze last weekend for the Eurobodalla Tourism Batemans Bay ANZAC Regatta. 92 boats entered despite the foreboding weather forecast. These included off the beach dinghies, catamarans and trailerable yachts. Most of the competitors came from Sydney and Canberra, but in a pleasing trend there were a healthy number of Eurobodalla sailors out there. On Saturday there were two races held. A solid 20 knot westerly breeze ensured plenty of capsizes and wipeouts .  In particular the Magic 25 yachts, which carry three crew on trapeze, were on the edge of control all around the track. There were some classes of boat which had enough entries to race against each other. The others were grouped into divisions and raced against the clock, with their results worked out using a handicap rating or yardstick for each different type of boat.
 
 Race officer Peter Connell and his trusty crew aboard “Cape Fear” set a triangular course in the middle of the Bay with the assistance of mark boats “Side Step” (skippered by Dave Boardman), “Sea Change” (Michael O’Brien) and Rob Hooke’s tugboat. Earlier “Sea Change” hit Acheron Ledge while setting a mark to warn of this hazard. She sustained a bent prop but it could have been much worse. Batemans Bay sailors are hoping Waterways NSW will eventually show some sense and set a permanent cardinal mark there.
 
In the Flying Dutchman class sailing legends Ian McCrossin and James Cook dominated with their new German built boat “Lupercus 60”. The inimitable Rick Shortridge from Nimmitabel skippered “Proud Aussie” to victory in the Lightweight Sharpies. Matt Craig and Gary Foley scored a popular win in the Tasar class aboard “Sea Ferret”. James Gough had too much upwind grunt for the other ten Laser skippers. Veterans Richie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan handled their B14 “The Nude” with aplomb to place first in the yardstick division for big dinghies. The small dinghies’ division was taken out convincingly by Chris Thompson sailing a Windsurfer One Design. Thompson, a former sailboarding professional, made sailing a windsurfer around a course in 20 knots look easy even though it isn’t.
 
The Magic 25 “Hit N’Run”  skippered by Fred Kasparek won the trailerable yacht division. Arguably the biggest challenge for the trailerable yachts was crossing the barred Clyde River entrance on the way out and back from the racecourse. A high swell made for an anxious bar crossing for all. Trailerable yacht crews were given a special briefing on the best route to take, which as we all know is nowhere near the course indicated by the leads.
 
There was a good turn up amongst the multihull community. Vincentia’s Andrew and Georgii McKenzie won the big cats’ division sailing their Hobie 16. The smaller cats’ division featured a tie for first between Tony Hasting’s Paper Tiger “Pelikinetic” and the Maricat sloop “Pointed Reply” sailed by Rodney and Zac Anderson.
 
A big front came through on Saturday night causing some damage to boats sitting on Corrigans Beach. Gale force winds on Sunday forced an early cancellation of the day’s racing. Despite this the overwhelming feeling amongst competitors was that the regatta had been a success. This was thanks in no small way to the many volunteers who put in the hours both on and off the water to make it happen.”