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As the Port Macquarie Sailing Club’s season draws to an end, a large and keen contingent took to the water on Sunday for the last races that count on the season’s scoreboard – Handicap Start Series Race 8 and 7th Club Championships.
The handicap race started first in a very patchy 10 knot southerly and the start of the run-out tide. A cooling shower of rain was a feature of the last lap.
Andrew Casey, returning to the sport after several years, took the win in Windspeed. Hopefully the club will see Andrew again next season. Second place went to Kieran and Andrew Copeland in Big Bang who did well to keep out of the glassy patches of water. Simon Gandy and another newcomer, Kai Kelly, were third in Up Beat followed by Terry Howard in Flying Dragon, Steve and Lucy Bohlsen in Interceptor, Martina Holt in Spellbound, Steve Couch in Lazybuoy, and Jeff Walsh in Serenity.
In the catamaran division, Tony Kuhn on Stella took the win, followed by Dave Winter on Spica and Frank O’Rourke on Turbo.
After lunch and a birthday celebration for Dave, the serious competitors arrived for the Club Championship race. Also arriving were a couple extra knots in the southerly that included gusts up to 16 or 17 knots from unpredictable directions as the southerly wove its way through the houses and trees of the southern shore.
The catamaran division put on a spectacular display with a lot of single-hull sailing time that was great for spectators. Turbo took the win with Jack Corthals on Crackerjack taking second both on yardstick and handicap. Stella also had an exciting event getting as close as possible to a capsize before righting, but completed only three of the planned four laps. Stella also did not finish with the skipper preferring to not aggravate recovering injuries.
In the monohull division, Warren Sykes on Runamuck was not mucking around and worked hard to gain and maintain his lead as Flying Dragon was breathing down his neck for second place on yardstick. Third was Up Beat, now with Chelsea Copeland as crew. The middle field was hotly contested between Serenity, Spellbound, Lazybuoy and Roger Shipton in Zazoo. Unfortunately, an injury forced Zazoo out after two laps. Serenity found the conditions much better than the morning race and was next to cross the finish line while Lazybuoy just couldn’t break out of Spellbound’s slipstream. Next home were Mitch Dawson in Impetuous, Interceptor, Stuart Symons in Gift, and Big Bang.
With handicaps applied, the result was: Up Beat, Impetuous, Flying Dragon, Runamuck, Spellbound, Big Bang, Lazybuoy, Interceptor, Serenity, and Gift.
One more race will be held on Sunday April 30 as a social get together. Club members should plan for boats on the water at 10:30am, although a start may be delayed if winds are late to come in. Don’t forget the annual presentation awards at the clubhouse on Saturday May 6th at 5:30pm.