A mixed
fleet of 35 boats including 9 F18s attended this years regatta hosted by Cairns
Yacht Club at their beautiful Ellis Beach site.
Saturday
saw a 4 lap morning race followed by a Marathon in the afternoon, with 5 short
course races planned for Sunday.
A nice
15-18 knot SE breeze greeted competitors on Saturday for the first race.
T.H.R.
members Mick & Viv were late for the start after noticing a rudder bolt
failure whilst leaving the beach. Dale
Mitchell on "Ullman Sails" led from start to finish ahead of Jamie
Leitner, with Mark Leitner in 3rd.
The breeze
gradually built to 20knots for the afternoons marathon which saw sailors start
just off Ellis Beach, work up to Yorkeys Knob, run down around Double Island,
work back up to Trinity Beach and then a final run back to Ellis Beach.
After
breaking the start Mick & Viv quickly fought back to be right behind Jarrod
Cook and Luke McMullen early in the work.
Jarrod
encountered gear failure half way to Yorkeys and was forced to retire leaving
Mick and Luke to fight it out to be first to turn. Luke turned
only a matter of seconds ahead of Mick, only to be rolled during the hoist with
a great set by Viv.
The rest of
the fleet was around 2-3 mins behind at the first mark.
After
carrying kites for around 5 minutes the lead boats dropped kites and starting
coming up to the layline to get around Double Island. This angle suited Mick
& Viv and they created a nice 2-3 minute gap ahead of Luke as they
approached the island.
The rest of
the fleet carried kites much longer and this created a very slow and akward
angle back up to the rum line.
After
rounding the Island, Mick and Viv noticed Luke heading towards the mark down at
Ellis and after a quick "discussion" of the course they realised Luke
was going to the wrong mark and this was welcomed by the trailing pack of Jamie
Leitner, Sneaky McNally and Mark Leitner.
Mick and Viv
were now well clear of the next boats and enjoyed the beautiful conditions on
the work up to Trinity Beach before turning for home with a awesome 20 knot SE
behind them and surfing 1-2m swells.
Mick &
Viv took the gun about 10 mins ahead of Sneaky with Luke fighting his way back
through the pack to finish in 3rd (after a few others had some swims - we wont
mention names)
A fleet of
5 A Cats entered the regatta, but after the breeze built at lunchtime they all
decided it was too much and headed up to Lake Tinaroo for some training on the
Sunday. (You can imagine the comments from the F18 guys! We called it going the
the lake for the "NQ Ladies A
Cat titles!)
Sunday saw
another stunning day, with water temp of around 20 deg, temp of around 25 deg
and a nice 15 knot SE blowing. This is winter sailing in North Queensland!!
5 short
course Windward Leeward courses were run, and the start boat did a great job of
getting each race underway very quickly.
Dale awoke
from his slumber (after catching a case of Gastro on Saturday) and was back on
the water, and fought hard in every race. Dale and
Mick swapped race wins in the first 2 heats with Jamie right behind with two
3rds.
Mick won
the next 2 heats with Luke and Dale sharing the minor placings.
Dale fought
back to win the final heat ahead of Mick & Viv who were only a boat length
ahead of Jamie in 3rd.
Dale had
Mal Richardson crewing and Mal is now focusing on his Nacra 36C which will
debut with its new rig and sails at Airlie Beach Race Week.
Jamie has
spent the last few years competing in Europe as a crew and now as a skipper is
really putting the pressure on the top bunch!
This format
was great practice for the entire fleet with lots of shifts creating lots of
passing lanes over a relatively short course.
Final
Results:
Team
Harken Mick Guinea
8ptsUllman Sails Dale Mitchell 10pts
Boat on Water Jamie Leitner 19pts
A big
mention to the local Opti sailors, with one 7yr old sailor being the only Opti
completing the Opti Marathon in 20 knots on Saturday. This was great to see!
Thanks to
the regatta sponsors and all the volunteers who made this a wonderful weekend.
Cant wait for next year!
Video Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GMGCpanDqY
Photos
courtesy of E.L.S Photography
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