Weather soaks sailors

After the cold and wet opening day on Sunday, September 29, skippers and crews were all looking forward to a break in the weather but it was not to be.

Conditions were fine before boats hit the water last Saturday, but everyone got soaked as a cold front made its way across the coast.

Racing started into a 15-knot West Nor-Wester, but conditions changed very quickly as the wind swung to the South West and kicked up to 20 to 25 knots for a short period.

The Division 1 fleet had the first heat of their Club Championship and there was a close tussle between Rhythm and Booze skippered by Colin Marks and Riff Raff sailed by Phil Hall, with the former taking line honours by just 5 seconds but the latter taking the win on corrected time.

Riff Raff managed to fly a spinnaker which made all the difference.

Slingshot, skippered by Russell White, tried to follow suit but overextended itself and had to retire.

Abracadabra, sailed by Brian Andrew, got tangled up with the Division 3 fleet and came close to taking off No Drama’s rudder as she tried to resume her course.

The Club played host to a visiting fleet of Sabres, which is a 3.7m long cat-rigged dinghy for singlehanded sailors.

Twenty-one boats hit the water with six going for a swim in the fresh and difficult conditions.

The fleet was led home by Scott Olsen sailing A Salt Weapon.

The Cruising Yacht Club’s fledgling fleet of three boats performed very creditably with Matt Hoffman sailing Blue Tomato into eigth.

Hoffman will seek leave from the Navy over Christmas to join in the National Championships.

These boats have become incredibly popular recently being relatively cheap to build, quick and simple to rig and suitable for sailors aged eight to 80.

TCYC general manager Damon Chandler said the club was committed to an action packed summer of sailing and socialising this summer.

Mr Chandler said anyone interested in learning how to sail or join as a social club member should contact the club on 9527 5468.