RACE REPORT 11 November 2023

All photos by Elisabeth Tattersall

Spring Point Score Races 7 & 8

PRO Geoff Kirk reports:

Last Saturday was Races 7 and 8 of our Spring Point Score series. The on-water team was Kim Ketelby and Elisabeth Tattersall on the committee boat, Ian Tudball and Conrad Johnston on the Paul Adam, and Keryn Smith on the Dene Bergman. Many thanks to them as they all did a great job.

We gathered early and Pat gave us his usual pep talk on what to do and then did some dodgy religious cross in front of him praying that we wouldn’t break anything. Well, that did absolutely nothing as immediately we broke the east davit, but with a bit of improvisation and a large hammer we got the Paul Adam eventually into the water.

With Jazzman not working, Ian Tudball kindly lent the club his boat, so a special thank you to him. It was very comfortable, and we particularly liked the exterior cushions and all agreed they would be a good addition to Jazzman when she is back on the water, but with one davit stuffed and Jazzman not working, now is perhaps not the best time to discuss soft furnishings with Pat…

So, to the sailing. It was a cracking nor’easter and I wished I was out there sailing. All fleets were well-behaved with no general recalls. The breeze built to a solid 20 knots, with an incoming tide, which equates to one thing: hard work!

There was a little bit of feedback on the length of the first race. Well, I’m not one to throw people under buses, but Pat laid the course (something he deeply regretted later as he was heading upwind), but the buck stops with me, and I could have picked up that it was a bit long when I had to get the binoculars out to see the top mark. We shortened Race 2 more to everyone’s liking, but for those heading to regattas: Race 1 is what you will get! 

Congratulations to all the sailors who completed the races, it looked tough out there.

Race 7 results:

ILCA 7 - 1. Andrew Simpson, 2. Grant Lovelady, 3. Nick Pellow

ILCA 6 - 1. Andrew Cox, 2. Mike Dunne, 3. Charles Byford

ILCA 4 - 1. Miles Greenwood, 2. Benjamin Constandi, 3. Jasper Kinsman

Race 8 results:

ILCA 7 - 1. Julian Taylor, 2. Grant Lovelady, 3. Nick Pellow

ILCA 6 - 1. Kirk Marcolina, 2. Charles Byford, 3. Andrew Cox

ILCA 4 - 1. Miles Greenwood, 2. Benjamin Constandi, 3. Jasper Kinsman

Notable performances in the ILCA 7’s were Luke Parker and David Neuman fighting it out in Race 1 finishing within half a second of each other. Whether Luke got his weight adjustments right for the conditions I am not sure, but I am sure he has his people looking into it. Grant Lovelady had a solid day as well in the ILCA 7’s. Andrew Cox, and Charles Byford sailed consistently all day in the ILCA 6’s. However, the award goes to one of our longest serving members at the club, Thomas Beregi, who persevered all day and completed both races in tough conditions.

A special thanks to Marian Traynor who volunteered to trip out to Bunnings in Alexandria to buy some chain blocks. Without her help we would not have been able to lift the Paul Adam out of the water with the davit out of action.