Winter Championship & Point Score
Week 2 of the Winter Series delivered a classic dose of winter weather. It was cold, wet and dreary! But despite the inclement weather, 25 boats fronted up for racing, which was a solid effort. The race team (Kirk Marcolina, Chris Berg, Tory Epworth and James Tudball) had their torches and wet weather gear on at 6:00am as they prepared for racing, and the big decision for the team was whether we would lay a westerly or southerly course.
The forecast was for a 20 knot southerly, but when we surveyed the conditions on-water at 7am, the winter westerly was established at a consistent 8 knots. So, Race 1 was started under our typical westerly course, and it was looking okay until the fleet approached the top mark for the first time. Suddenly the wind abated and we experienced 90-degree shifts on the course with the wind bouncing rapidly between the southerly and westerly directions. In the lead up to Race 1 we could see from live readings that Botany Bay was enjoying the 20-knot southerly, but it kept struggling to announce itself properly in Double Bay, due to the heavy rain and cloud cover that engulfed our course from the west.
We powered on with Race 1 but the last half turned into a bit of a soldier’s course. So, we opted to reset the course in Double Bay and prepare for the southerly wind direction. Despite our best efforts, Race 2 still experienced sizeable right-hand shifts from the west, which meant 70% of the upwind was on starboard tack. However, we cannot discredit Race 2 and say it was "flukey conditions", because the PRO's father, Ian Tudball (aka 'Captain Tugwash'), happened to achieve his first ever DBSC line honours victory in this race! The win had the faintest tinge of a Steven Bradbury moment, as Alistair Sutherland and Rob Blum (who were first and second over the line) were OCS in the Radial fleet. But the rules are the rules, and we can assure you that no bribes were passed from Captain Tugwash to the PRO.
After the completion of Race 2, we decided to postpone the start of Race 3 until the southerly filled in consistently. Fortunately the rain and clouds cleared and by 10am the wind finally arrived. Race 3 was then sailed in a lovely SSW breeze of approximately 15 knots. In this race, another big first win came for Stephen Reid, who sailed brilliantly to win the Standards. A fantastic effort, Stephen!!!
Other notable Championship performances:
- In the 4.7s Raph McLachlan won Race 1 and Zoe Allen won Races 2 and 3 with some excellent sailing.
- In the Radials Scott Hunter won Race 1 and Andrew Cox won Race 3. Special mention to Daryl Lawrence for jagging a 2nd place in Race 2.
- In the Standards Hadrien Bourely and Quentin Burns won Races 1 and 2, respectively.
Point Score performances:
- In the 4.7s wins went to Charlotte Jenkins (Race 1) and Zoe Allen (Races 2 and 3)
- In the Radials wins went to Brendan Pollard (Race 1), Daryl Lawrence (Race 2) and Ian Tudball (Race 3)
- In the Standards, David Da Costa Enes won Race 1 and Tim Heath won Races 2 and 3.
Full results for the Championship and Point Score can be viewed here: https://www.dbsc.com.au/sailor-app-results
Photos by Tory and Kirk
James Tudball, PRO
