While swarms of children were up early today hunting for chocolate, Port Macquarie Sailing Club members were out praying to the weather Gods for a few extra knots in the forecast ahead of the Easter Cup.

In the light conditions, the event was eventually run over three races with both monohull and catamaran fleets sailing together in mixed class yardstick.

With perhaps 4 or 5 knots sou’westerly wind and strong outgoing tide, a short course was laid out and the start was planned to be downwind/downtide to help everyone at least start the race.

Ten competitors took to the water with Jeff Walsh in Serenity, Simon Gandy in Up Beat, Steve Bohlsen in Interceptor and Roger Shipton in Zazoo quick to get away from the beach and into the shallows before the start. The rest of the fleet, including Warren Sykes in Runamuck, Frank O’Rourke on Turbo, Tony Kuhn on Stella, Martina Holt in Spellbound, Andrew Richards in Impulsive and Dave Winter on Spica, launched much closer to the start time and were able to drift across the start line perfectly while the early crews had to fight their way back upstream to start the race.

Eventually, Serenity and Interceptor were able to round the start mark while Runamuck was approaching the downwind mark. Up Beat made the start line 19 minutes after the race start leaving Zazoo the only contender to actually start at this point.

Up Beat and Serenity performed well in the shallows fighting the tide upwind and nearly caught up with Zazoo which was parked on the mud flats waiting for a breeze to get to the start line. Demonstrating colossal levels of patience and fortitude, Zazoo crossed the start line 37 minutes after the starters gun.

Up Beat rounded the upwind mark with a tangle and subsequent 360 degree penalty, while nearby Stella sneaked past Serenity and followed Up Beat across the finish line. Impulsive was the only boat that didn’t make it to the finish line.

Lunch was a time for internal reflection, prayers, and consumption of precautionary barbecued onions. Impulsive and Zazoo called it a day.

Fortunately, the wind turned more easterly during lunch and then further towards the north as the afternoon wore on. While the wind strength didn’t strengthen more than 1 or 2 knots, the new direction meant less disturbance from the trees and buildings on the southern shore, so more sailing than drifting occurred for the next two races. Full results posted in the photo. Congratulations to Commodore Simon Gandy!

Next week will be Races 6 and 7 of the Summer Season, starting 11am and 1pm respectively. A barbecue lunch will be available in between races. Warren Sykes is rostered on duty.