Port Macquarie Sailing Club

19-4-26

ROUND 4 of the Port Macquarie Sailing Club’s Sprint Race series (races 14 – 19) was held on Sunday in yet another variable Southerly. To be fair, the first 2 races weren’t too bad, but then the wind seem to go all over the place, varying 60 degrees in some shifts. The first race of the day (race 14 of the series) was right at high tide, but then the run out tide got stronger as the day progressed. At least it was nice and sunny. Frank O’Rourke set a little triangle course for the 3 morning races with an upriver start working to Starboard buoy A at the mouth of the Governors Way Canal, a reach across and slightly upriver to Starboard buoy B, a run downriver to Starboard buoy C towards the end of King Point, and a work back to the start finish line. Races 14 and 15 were both 1 lap sprints and race 16 was 2 laps. After lunch, the final 3 races were all of 1 lap, but a new Port Buoy C was added off the anchorage to tighten the downriver run, then a run across to the old buoy C, now a Port buoy D, and a work to the start/finish line.

The 1^st race of the day, race 14 of the series, for the Arrow cats saw Jack Corthals on ‘Crackerjack’ finish ahead of Tony Kuhn on ‘Stella’. The monohull division, once yardsticks were applied, was won by Jeff Walsh in his Impulse ‘Serenity’, just ahead of Terry Howard in his Impulse ‘Flying Dragon’ and 3^rd place Steve Couch in his Laser ‘Lazybuoy’ after a race long battle. Simon Gandy and Ezra Mert in their MG14 ‘Vamos’ were next followed by Germain Corthals in the Club Laser and Dave and Hudson McNeill in their Tasar ‘Toy of Joy’.

In race 15 for the Arrow Cats, ‘Stella’ raced well to finish ahead of ‘Crackerjack’. The monohull division was dominated by ‘Flying Dragon’ after the rest of the fleet fell into a wind hole at buoy A. ‘Serenity’ came in 2^nd followed by ‘Toy of Joy’, although once the yardsticks were applied, ‘Lazybouy’ just came in ahead of the Club Laser, pushing ‘Toy of Joy’ to last place. ‘Vamos’ failed to cross the finish line and scored a DNF.

Race 16 of 2 laps saw ‘Stella’ again finish ahead of ‘Crackerjack’. The monohull race was a bit of a comedy of errors, with a number of boats forgetting the 2 lap format for this race and tacking out into the tide to the finish line at the end of the 1^st lap. ‘Vamos’ didn’t make this error and finished well ahead of the rest of the monohulls. ‘Lazybuoy’ also remembered the course but was still beaten to 2^nd place by ‘Flying Dragon’ although he did hold off ‘Serenity’. The Club Laser and ‘Toy of Joy’ rounded out the monohull fleet.

After the lunch break, ‘Crackerjack’ was back to winning in race 17 after ‘Stella’ enlisted Grandson Julian to help balance the boat in the gusts. ‘Vamos’ took another win in the monohulls followed by ‘Flying Dragon’, 2 seconds ahead of ‘Serenity’, who was only 11 seconds ahead of the Club Laser. Steve Couch had decided not to race his Laser in the afternoon, but when Hudson from ‘Toy of Joy’ was called in to work, he stepped in to that job, but yardstick still relegated them to last place.

The start of race 18 was a bit of a comedy when the start clock stuck, but as the fleet were all waiting right near the start line, the starter called out “GO” and everyone just went for it. ‘Crackerjack’ once again won the Arrow Cats, but by a smaller margin over ‘Stella’. The monohull fleet all finished within 89 seconds, with ‘Vamos’ taking 1^st place over ‘Flying Dragon’, ‘Serenity’, the Club Laser, and ‘Toy of Joy’.

The final race for the day, race 19, saw ‘Crackerjack’ finish a little further ahead of ‘Stella’ this time. ‘Vamos’ also had another win in the monohulls ahead of ‘Flying Dragon’, ‘Serenity’, ‘Toy of Joy’, and the Club Laser.

Next Sunday is race 9 of the Summer Series starting at 1PM, the final race of the season. At this stage, no one is rostered on duty.

The Port Macquarie Sailing Club’s presentation night will be on Saturday 9^th May starting at 4pm with pre-dinner drinks at the clubhouse, presentation of trophies at 5pm, then we move next door to Banks Café for dinner at 6.30pm. Please make sure you are booked in for the dinner.

By Jeff WALSH