Light easterly winds and a strong outgoing tide made for a slow afternoon of racing for Port Macquarie Sailing Club members on Sunday. The first race of the day was Spring Season Race 5 which started in 5 or 6 knots of breeze that was far from inspiring. Perhaps the most interesting part of the race was when the entire fleet reached the first mark at the same time and jostled to get out into clean air.
Terry Howard in Flying Dragon made the most of the conditions taking the monohull division yardstick win followed by Russell Shannon in Maggie Grace who was visiting from Tin Can Bay Yacht Club as he travels down the coast for the Laser Masters. Next up in the results was Steve and Lucy Bohlsen in Interceptor, Paul Robertson and Andrew Copeland in Flembouyant, Martina Holt in Spellbound, Steve Couch in Lazybouy, Rob Barwick in Impetuous and Simon Gandy and Chelsea Copeland in Up Beat. With handicaps applied, the results were: Interceptor, Flying Dragon, Maggie Grace, Impulsive, Lazybuoy, Spellbound, Up Beat, and Flembouyant.
Dave Winter on Spica was the only catamaran division entrant for the day taking home the points on a leisurely day.
After a lunch the course was altered slightly for the Ted Kuhn Cup and a few more knots were recorded, but the breeze still had plenty of holes and direction changes that separated the attentive and skilled from the impatient and frustrated. Originally planned as a 3-lap mixed class event, a 4th lap was added as the fleet made its way around course faster than expected.
Spica, Up Beat and Interceptor had a close race but were unfortunately dragged back down the fleet by yardsticks. In an exciting finish, Maggie Grace took the win from Warren Sykes in Runamuck by just 2 seconds. With yardsticks applied, Interceptor finished third followed by Up Beat, Spellbound, Lazybuoy, Impulsive, and Spica. Unfortunately, Flembouyant and Flying Dragon did not finish.
Next week will be the 3rd Handicap Start race of the season starting at 1:30pm. Rob Barwick is rostered on duty.
