Congratulations to Paul "Dave" Robertson and Martina Holt who took the Division 3 win, and Frank O'Rourke who won the 2nd Division at Queens Lake Sailing Club's "Queen of the Lake" on Saturday. Several Port Macquarie Sailing Club members enjoyed the  great conditions and QLSC hospitality to kick off a 2-day sailing spree with the Spring Marathon at PMSC following on Sunday.

The predominantly southerly / south-easterly conditions during the weekend made for some thoroughly enjoyable racing. Even some sizable holes in-between gusts couldn't wipe smiles from faces.

The Marathon started at the noon in the dead low tide with the monohull fleet first and the catamaran division starting 15 minutes later. The course headed down river towards the Town Green, but not quite as far a usual due to the light-ish conditions. Heading back up river, the monohulls, still grouped fairly competitively, met the cats coming down near the Settlement Point. Two visiting F18s made a great scene with spinnakers out on the Hastings River. Turbo made a good start while the other 4 Arrows jockeyed for position in their own separate and closely fought competition.

Back past the clubhouse and up river towards Dennis Bridge, again the mark was not quite as far west as usual, but was within sight of the bridge. The return to the clubhouse saw some very competitive sailing in the monohull fleet with the lead changing several times and 4 boats crossed the finish line within seconds - an amazing feat when you consider the time and distance raced.

On elapsed time, Bryce Haffner and Ethan White on Great Lakes Postal Service took line honours followed by David and Cam Morgan on Captain Morgan, Frank O'Rourke on Turbo, Tony Kuhn on Stella, Rob Barwick on Drift, Scott Witchard on Hummer, Paul Robertson and Kate Copeland in Flembouyant, Dave Winter on Spica, Stuart Symons and Ariana Silva in Elmo, Terry Howard in Flying Dragon, Martina Holt in Spellbound, Andrew Richards in Impulsive, Steve Couch in Lazybuoy, Elsa Gandy and Zoe Copeland in Up Beat, Drew and Kieran Copeland and Simon Gandy in Voyager, Adam Pilcher and Gonzalo P in Red Star and Tony Walker in Deep Purple.

With yardsticks applied, it was a different story with Turbo in front followed by Flembouyant, Flying Dragon, Impulsive, Spellbound, Lazybuoy, Great Lakes Postal Service, Captain Morgan, Stella, Drift, Hummer, Elmo, Up Beat, Spica, Voyager, Red Star and Deep Purple.

Next week will be the Sprint Series Races 6-10 with a 12 noon start time. Frank O'Rourke is rostered on duty.