Smooth, glassy-looking water did little to rouse the excitement of Port Macquarie Sailors for what was slated to be the Summer Marathon. Sailing School crews had a great morning in 4 or 5 knot patch nor'east breeze, but the conditions certainly would not suit the traditional marathon course for the afternoon's main event. Instead, of scrapping the day, a regular Summer Series race was held for the five crew that insisted on taking to the water.
Stuart Symons and Esra Mert in Elmo made a great start alongside Jeff Walsh in Serenity with Elmo making it around the first and second marks in front. Terry Howard in Flying Dragon, Simon Gandy in Flying Fish and Dave Winter on Spica didn't seem to have the pace off the start line, but were not too far behind.
Turning back upwind at the end of the first lap, Flying Dragon made a tactical decision to sail more towards the middle of the river while the rest of the fleet stuck to the shallows on the northern shore to avoid the tide which was scheduled to start coming in. From the shorelines, it looked to be the wrong move, but by the end of leg, Flying Dragon had hit the lead and stayed there for the remainder of the race.
Elapsed time results were: Flying Dragon, Elmo, Serenity, Flying Fish. As the only catamaran contestant, Spica brings home the points.
As for the Summer Marathon, mark your calendar for March 24th.. Depending on conditions, the postponed marathon will start 12 noon, or the previously advised Sprint Races 17-21
Next week will be Handicap Start Race 5 starting 2pm. Paul Robertson is rostered on duty.
