Gloomy start - Sunny finish

The day started out rather gloomy, but the die hard still arrived and started rigging. This was a good move as after the early showers the day slowly cleared and turned on some great sailing. The course for the day was set with a gate to leeward and the start/finish line half way up the work, which doubled as a gate through which the fleet was required to sail on each windward leg. This gave duty team Peate and Bailey opportunity to get some great photos of our sailors in action!

Race 1.
Seven boats hit the start line in a 12-14 knot sou-easter. The breeze held fairly steady until the last downwind, when the wind kicked in to close to 20 knots. Egbert/Siebren held a slim lead, with Mick/Pat and Andrew/Will - there was only 30 seconds between 1st and 3rd. For added excitement, a visiting H16 had a Man Overboard moment over near Plantation Point, which lead to most of the fleet and the finish boat heading over to assist. All ended well, with the visitors sailing back to the beach intact.

Race 2.
On what was a rather short start line, Mick, Andrew and Dobbo all broke the start, with only Andrew/Will restarting! The breeze faded a little in this race and was a little flakey, but James and fill in crew Eva were the first 16 home, but couldn't get close to Egbert and Siebren on the flying Taipan 4.9! Andrew and Will did well to fight back and finished only 15 seconds behind James.

Race 3.
After a long leisurely lunch, prepared by VSC'c own masterchef Ofer, The fleet set out with a steady breeze, a clearing sky and a couple of crew changes. Lachy Crittle jumped on board with James, and a visitor, Andrew, joined Egbert on the Taipan. After a clean start (and a longer start line) Andre and Mick fought hard for the win, with Andre and Will coming out on top 15 seconds ahead of the Butlers. Egbert was only 30 seconds behing, and the just 30 seconds behind hime cam James and Dobbo separated by less than 9 seconds! Scott and Meg rounded out the fleet only a minute later.

Race 4.
A beautiful steady 14-15 knot sou-easter and clear blue sky made the last race of the day near perfect sailing. James took advantage of a nice little puff and sailed a masterful first downwind to take the lead with the rest of the fleet close behind through the leeward gate. The racing was so close that most of the sailors were unaware that the shark patrol plane was circling Nelsons Beach with the shark siren blaring for quite some time! Experience prevailed, and Mick managed to snatch the lead and took line honours in the final race. Scott and Meg finished well, but then chose to have a dip on the sail home - hmmm, I didn't think it was that hot...........

Mick Butler said at the end of the day "there is something wrong with you of you didn't enjoy your sailing today!"

Crews Take The Tillers

Sunday saw a return to racing in 2012 at Vincentia Sailing Club. After a busy Christmas and new years break, a small fleet took to the water for one race in some shifty and rainy conditions. A new race format had skippers take the sheets and hand the tiller over to the crews. A sou-east course was set, but glimpses of a nor-east bought about a course change. By the time the fleet were at the top mark, a westerly finished off the race. Rachael and James took out line honours with Will and Andrew snapping at their rudders.

Jake and Rohan - Australian Champions

The Hobie Cat Australian Championships held in Mooloolaba last week attracted a fleet of 69 hobie 16's and 7 hobie 18's. The Vincentia Sailing Club was represented with 7 crews and a big Congratulations to Jake and Rohan who won the Hobie 18 Australian Title. In celebrating their success, Jake commented that it came down to their rigorous training schedule and flying his specialist crew in from Vietnam. Richard and Rachael took out third place. In the Hobie 16 divisions, Mick Butler and Worsty won the Masters title and took out second place in the open division. Glen and Ashley, Andrew and Georgii, James and Rachael, Dobbo and Fiona showcased the depth of sailing talent at VSC with good performances throughout the regatta. For the full results and some more photos, check out the nationals website, www.hobiecatnationals.com.au