Sunday’s fresh 16-17 knot southerly, gusting into the low 20s, delivered some entertainment for spectators as well as excitement for competitors in Port Macquarie Sailing Club’s 3rd Handicap start race of the season. 
The staggered start commenced at the top of a very full Hastings River with slower competitors getting up to 20 minutes head start on the scratch boat. 
In the catamaran division, Dave Winter on Spica was first off the mark for 4-laps of a figure-8 course. A few minutes later Scott Witchard on Hummer was off, followed eventually by Jack Corthals on Crackerjack who appeared to have some rigging problems to untangle after launching, but before the start line. Tony Kuhn on Stella was scheduled to be next away, but some rigging delays saw Frank O’Rourke on Zero (the scratch boat) start before Stella. 
Stella completed one lap before deciding to return to the beach finding conditions too difficult to handle with an injured hand. Shortly after, Zero was able to sail past Crackerjack. Hummer was sailing well in the fresh conditions until the last lap when the bar connecting the two rudders broke – possibly due to a run-in with the sand banks near King Point. Despite attempts to get back to the beach Hummer was eventually towed back to the clubhouse. 
Final catamaran result: Zero, Crackerjack and Spica.
In the monohull division Lucy and Steve Bohlsen in Popcorn, and Andrew and Kieren Copeland in Big Bang were first to start the same course, but for 3-laps. Five minutes later they were followed by Elsa Gandy and Zoe Copeland in Up Beat. Next to start were Stuart Symons and Logan McNeill in Elmo, Simon Gandy and Hudson McNeill in Voyager and Terry Howard in Flying Dragon.
Up Beat sailed well to slip past Big Bang and Popcorn while staying in front of Elmo who kept the pressure on throughout the race. 
Popcorn returned to the beach after only one lap, but congratulations to the junior skipper for competing in her first race in the tricky conditions.
Monohull result: Up Beat, Elmo, Voyager, Big Bang, Popcorn.
Next Sunday will be the first double-header of 2024 consisting of Summer Series Race 2 starting at 11am and 4th Club Championship Race starting at 2pm. A barbeque will be available in between races. Dave Winter is rostered on duty.