A nice 8-10 knot southerly with some stronger gusts had sailors excited as they rigged up yesterday for Port Macquarie Sailing Club's last Sprint Series for 2020. The winds were so good, the plan was to have multiple laps instead of the usual one lap sprints, but as the fleet headed out for the start of the first race the wind dropped and with a strong run out tide it took almost 2 minutes from the starters gun for the first boat to cross the start line.

The fleet finally rounded the first mark and make better time with the tide – at least until the return leg. The overcast skies made it hard to see the riverbed and both Spica and Puddy had adventures on the mud flats. Eventually, a shortened course was called, and sailors retreated to the clubhouse for lunch while the wind came back and teased.

In the catamaran division, Jack Corthals on Harpic made the first win of his clean sweep of the day. Scott Witchard on Hummer crossed second followed by Dave Winter on Spica. Tony Kuhn on Stella did not finish.

In the Juniors, Kieran Copeland and Simon Gandy in Flying Fish crossed the line first for what would also be another clean sweep for the day. Elsa Gandy and Zoe Copeland followed close behind in Sail Fish.

Terry Howard in Ratz won the first race in the Monohull division in a great tactical move that saw him pass Roger Shipton in Zazoo who had led for much of the race, but was stuck with no wind. Stuart Symonds and Andrew Copeland in Elmo came in second followed by Zazoo. David Makin in Puddy did not finish.

After lunch, the course was revised and a return to the usual one lap for monos and two for cats was decided. The wind improved slightly, but was very changeable swinging more easterly.

In the cats, Harpic continued to clean up the competition (as well as "around the bend"). Stella improved on the first race to run second and Hummer third while providing some entertainment for spectators. The finishing sequence was the same for races 2, 3 and 4.

The juniors also had carbon copy races, with Flying Fish first and Sail Fish second, although it was close in race 4.

The monohull field reduced after lunch with only Ratz and Elmo remaining to battle the conditions.

Ratz won race 2, and Elmo won races 3 and 4.

Next week is Race 6 of the Spring Season starting 12 noon. A Christmas barbecue will be held after the race at approximately 3pm.