AN eccentric French song by Jacques Brel contains the lyric: “I confuse your sister and Mont Valérien (and) from what I know of Hortense, I won’t go to Cantal anymore”.
Which is only slightly less confusing than a result which, after eight races over two days, found one winner from three yachts on identical points in Port Macquarie Yacht Club’s 2026 Offshore Regatta.
A countback showed two yachts with the same number of individual race wins, which eliminated one yacht.
The regatta winner was decided by the yacht with the highest placing in the final race of day two, by regulation RRS A8.2.
Phew! Eccentric or simply obtuse?
Sailing is a weather-dependent sport. Due to gale conditions offshore on Sunday, the regatta had to be sailed offshore on day one and on the eastern arm of the Hastings River on day two.
Five yachts were on the water, with Commodore Andrew Walmsley noting that while around 30 sailors sailed over the two days, numbers would be significantly higher had some crew not been diverted by Father’s Day duties.
Five windward-leeward races were to be sailed on the Saturday, and three on Sunday.
Race one was sailed in a moderate, generally northerly breeze. Teddy Clausen’s Cool Change won the start, but could manage second place only, with Frank Lagudi on Third Man taking the win.
With the breeze building throughout the day, it was Cool Change that again was first across the start and was able to finish first in race two.
Race three saw Galene, sailed two up with Phil and Andrea Johns onboard, take the start, but Cool Change sailed a masterful race to win.
In race four, Third Man scythed through the fleet to hit the start line at top speed and shoot to an early lead.
However, she was unable to maintain her advantage and the Andrew Macleod-helmed Razzamatazz 2 rolled over all other yachts to take the first of her three regatta wins.
The final race of day one saw Razzamatazz 2 lead all the way for the second of her three wins.
The regatta dinner at the conclusion of day one’s racing saw crew and families come together and re-run the day’s races over a drink.
Day two produced gale to near-gale conditions. Race organisers therefore elected to transfer the sailing area inshore to the Hastings River, where conditions were kinder.
Competing yachts nevertheless elected to reef mainsails and set smaller jibs to deal with the conditions.
While race one saw Andrew Walmsley’s reefed–down Enticer set her number-three jib and lead the fleet across the start, but it was Cool Change that took the final of her three wins.
Enticer again was prominent on the water in race two, but it was Third Man that took out the second of her wins.
The final race of the regatta presumptively saw Cool Change, with three wins, favoured to take the regatta.
However the crew work on Razzamatazz 2 saw that yacht storm home to take the win, equalling Cool Change on both points and individual race wins, while consistency saw Third Man finish on the same number of points.
But, with there being space for only one name on the trophy, it was the dreaded RRS A 8.2 (last race regatta decider) rule that saw Razzamatazz 2’s name added to the trophy for 2026.
By Captain SLIPPERY
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