A strong run-out tide and low forecast winds meant Port Macquarie Sailing Club members were less than enthusiastic on Sunday morning for the scheduled 6th Handicap Start Race. But, on arrival at the clubhouse, conditions didn’t seem as bad in real life.

Frank O’Rourke on Turbo was the scratch boat for the cats and Paul Robertson and Kate Copeland in Flembouyant for the monohulls. With the handicapper present for this race there was no repeat of the previous handicap race’s start time amnesia.

The race started with Dave Winter on Spica and Andrew and Kieran Copeland in Big Bang 25 minutes ahead of the scratch boats and enjoying 8-9 knots ESE breeze.

With the strong tide and opposing wind, the upwind leg featured a fair bit of chop. Steve Couch in Lazybuoy nosed through two consecutive waves to end up with more water onboard than would remain after a capsize. While downwind, competitors were keen to keep to the mud flats which resulted in many encountering the bottom in varying levels of severity. The worst appeared to be Simon Gandy and Zoe Copeland in Up Beat which came to a rapid stop and may have been taking on water afterwards.

The middle of the monohull fleet was very competitive arena. Jeff Walsh in Serenity had the same start time as Roger Shipton in Zazoo. They traded places several times and finished within 10 seconds of each other. Serenity possibly gaining the upper hand when Zazoo decided to wash the sail.

Another exciting moment to watch was Steve Bohlsen sailing solo in Interceptor under spinnaker and needing a quick swim to cool down. Fortunately, the boat was righted quickly and back underway in seconds.

In the monohull division, Ziggy Ewart and Riley Armstrong in Heart-a-tack sailed well to take the win, despite the wind direction not being the best for kite runs in the course direction. Big Bang and Lazybuoy traded places several times throughout the race, but in the last lap Big Bang found another gear and second place. Next were Interceptor, Deb Stening and Jim Kerrison in Chaos, Serenity, Martina Holt in Spellbound, Zazoo, Up Beat, Flembouyant, Warren Skyes in Runamuck, Terry Howard in Flying Dragon, Stuart Symons and Adam Pilcher in Elmo and Tony Walker in Deep Purple.

In the catamaran division, Turbo did well to power back up through the fleet, but didn’t have enough time to make it all the way. Scott Witchard in Hummer sailed well to take the win, followed by Turbo, Jack Corthals on Crackerjack and Spica.

Next week will be Races 16-20 in the Sprint Series. First race starts at 12 noon. Jack Corthals is rostered on duty.