A fleet of 15 boats took to the Hastings River on Sunday for the Harold Dick Marathon hosted by Port Macquarie Sailing Club. The annual event sees competitors race from the clubhouse at McInherney Park down river to the Town Green, back upriver to Dennis Bridge and then returning to the club – a course of more than 14 nautical miles.
The race started in a patchy 10 knot southerly with short sharp gusts up to 15 knots and plenty of holes. In the catamaran division, Frank O’Rourke on Turbo made an early charge to the front of the fleet and consistently extended his lead throughout the race. The monohull fleet seemed to keep in close contact until Mitchell Dawson on Impetuous was delayed by the Settlement Point ferry. The end of the incoming tide and southerly wind made it hard work to get around the first mark which was set just off from the Royal Hotel. It was particularly exciting for Deb Stening and Jim Kerrison in Chaos as the tiller decided to separate from the rudder at this point.
Heading upriver, the fleet spread out further, but some interesting duels seem to take place along the entire race. Terry Howard in Flying Dragon and Martina Holt in Spellbound had a competitive day keeping each other close with Spellbound in front at the finish. And Elsa Gandy and Zoe Copeland in Up Beat traded places with Steve Couch in Lazybuoy several times with Up Beat crossing the line first, but pushed down the results when yardsticks are applied.
At the front of the monohull fleet, several Tasers did battle. Paul Robertson and Kate Copeland in Flembouyant employed the “light-weight” set of sails to good effect creating a 10 minute lead. The other three Tasers crossed the line within 11 seconds of each other – remarkable given the time and distance sailed.
In the monohull division, yardstick results have Warren Sykes in Runamuck in front of Paul Robertson and Kate Copeland in Flembouyant, Andrew Richards in Impulsive, Stuart Symons and Gonçalo Pereira in Elmo, Deb Stening and Jim Kerrison in Chaos, Simon Gandy and Andrew Copeland in Voyager, Martina Holt in Spellbound, Terry Howard in Flying Dragon, Steve Couch in Lazybuoy, Ziggy Ewart and Riley Armstrong in Heart Attack, Mitchell Dawson in Impetuous and Elsa Gandy and Zoe Copeland in Up Beat.
Catamaran division results: Frank O’Rourke on Turbo, Scott Witchard on Hummer, Dave Winter on Spica.
Next week will be Race 6 of the Handicap Start Series starting at 1:30pm. Tony Kuhn is rostered on duty.
