Family, friends and holidays were the priority for Port Macquarie Sailing Club members this Easter Sunday with only a handful gathering in a cool but fresh westerly.
After the usual discussion about wind, tide, aches and pains, only four monohulls elected to rig up for the first of two races for the Easter Cup.
Roger Shipton in Zazoo and Stuart Symons and Steve Couch in Elmo both got off to a good start in the last of the run-in tide with Jeff Walsh in Serenity and Steve Bohlsen in Interceptor not far behind. 
Some technical problems with the spinnaker sent Interceptor back to the beach and Serenity got caught in a hole on the northern side of the river. 
Zazoo and Elmo played tag for the majority of the race with Elmo forging to the front in the last lap. Despite crossing the line first, Elmo was relegated to second place once yardsticks were applied. Serenity crossed for third place and Interceptor did not finish.
After only a few minutes break, the second race started, with only two laps planned instead of three. This proved to be a wise move as the wind dropped a few knots and the tide, now outbound, increased significantly. Zazoo got off to a great start, while Serenity and Elmo were caught in the tide and had to take several tacks to get around the start flag, and again at the first mark. By this time, the race was run. Zazoo was half way to the downwind buoy. It was then a slow push back into both wind and tide for all crews. 
Nearing the finish line, Zazoo decided to wash some sand off the boom and entertain spectators with a capsize and backwards drift. Regardless, Zazoo recovered to get line honours with Serenity second and Elmo third. The same result with yardsticks.
So, with two yardstick wins, Zazoo wins the chocolate egg, while Serenity and Elmo tied second with a 2nd and 3rd place each.
Next week will be Race 8 in the Handicap Start Series starting at 1pm with Frank O’Rourke rostered on duty. There is also a club meeting at 6:30pm on Tuesday evening.