Another uncomfortable day of shifty sou’easterly winds challenged Port Macquarie Sailing Club members for the first double header of the spring sailing season.
Race 2 of the spring season was first up for the day and Terry Howard in Flying Dragon continued to dominate the monohull feet by quickly getting to the front and staying there. Martina Holt in Spellbound applied some pressure to Flying Dragon by taking advantage of some lifts that seemed to elude other crews.
Steve Couch in Lazybuoy had some excitement in the first lap when the tiller detached from the rudder while approaching a mark. In the midst of fleet, he was lucky to avoid a collision, but recovering from the mistake left a large gap to close.
Simon Gandy in Voyager was joined by newcomers Reid and Tyler Lucas who appeared to have a great day on the water. Hopefully they will be sailing with the club again in future.
Yardstick results saw Flying Dragon take the win followed by Spellbound and Deep Purple just ahead of Lazybuoy in a photo finish. Voyager was pushed back by yardsticks.
Dave Winter on Spica was the only catamaran entrant for the morning race.
After lunch and tall tales, some more crews arrived for the first Club Championship race of the season. In the catamaran division, Scott Witchard on Hummer and Jack Corthals on Crackerjack joined Spica. Crackerjack dominated the race until crossing the line and returning to the beach without taking the last two marks. By the time the error was discovered, Hummer had sailed into the lead. Crackerjack finished second followed by Spica.
In the monohull division, Paul Robertson and Chris Lloyd in Flembouyant powered to the front of the fleet to take the win on both elapsed time and yardstick. Flying Dragon continued the good form for second place on yardstick followed by Spellbound, Steve and Lucy Bohlsen in Interceptor and Voyager. Jim Kerrison and Deb Stening in Death Defying Too suffered a series of small rigging issues that saw them withdraw part way through the first lap. Deep Purple also withdrew after some stronger gusts resulted in unscripted swims.
Next Sunday is Spring Season Race 3, starting 1pm. Jeff Walsh is rostered on duty.
