Race Report - Saturday 1 February
Chris Tattersall
18-Footers 90th Anniversary Harbour Marathon
A handful of DBSC Lasers joined a range of skiff classes for this epic race. It was a gorgeous day with a 10 kt easterly. The start was just off Clark Island with the first mark (the only weather mark, it turned out) immediately SE of Shark Island. Lasers started with Cherubs and a few miscellaneous small skiffs, keeping pace with them until the first mark, when they took off and gradually disappeared into the distance. As yours truly had adopted the strategy of following the rest of the mob, not knowing the upper reaches of Sydney Harbour very well, this didn’t work out well for me. I lost the fleet somewhere in Middle Harbour and elected to cruise back.
Daryl Lawrence, who clearly knows his way around the place, stuck it out to the end against an ebbing tide and dying breeze, winning the cash prize for the Last Boat to finish.
Other Lasers elected to stick closer to the club with a series of pick-up races:
All photos by John Vasey
I would like to give a special shout out to Isabelle Wilkins and Ryan Aldrich for assisting Paul and Shirley in the canteen on a very demanding day. Apparently, skiffies eat a lot as they exhausted Paul’s supply of bread.
-Chris Tattersall, Editor