Batemans Bay Sailing Club had a busy weekend which kicked off with the first Coastal Race of the season on Saturday afternoon. A fleet of nine went out to meet race officer Dave Magill and his trusty crew aboard the committee boat “Clarence the Clocker”. Division 1 got away cleanly on the first leg to the Marine Park mark off North Head. Andrew Bain picked a progressive backing shift in the breeze from NE to N throughout the upwind leg and steered “Wishful Thinking” to the left of the course. The rest of the Div 1 fleet were stuck heading out to sea on port tack waiting for the header which came too late. “Accolade” (Lachlan Brown) compounded the error by overlaying the mark by 200m, rounding 5 minutes behind “Wishful”.
The fleet then set spinnakers for a run around the southern end of the Toll Gates before reaching legs to the Middle Mark and hence Black Rock where a breaching whale livened up proceedings. There followed a work back around the Toll Gates and a broad reach to the finish at Caseys Beach. “Wishful” lost some ground but was still two minutes ahead of “Accolade” at the finish with “Attitude” (Patrice de Caritat) a further 13 minutes behind. “Ghoster” (Dion Perrins) was going well until her crew had some problems pulling the kite down. “North Star” (John Drummond) kept the mistakes to a minimum to win on PHS.
In Division 2 “Vital Spark” (Richard Dunne) confidently sailed off on the wrong course. “Lollipop” (Deb Keeley) was heading the right way but made a sheep like decision to follow “Vital Spark”, forcing a lengthy detour. The redoubtable Peter Withington aboard “Hobo” stuck to the proper course for a handy win.
On Saturday evening the Commodore’s Dinner at On The Pier restaurant featured a riveting talk from Robin Smart on his voyage across the Tasman in March of this year. He delivered his 36 foot catamaran from Auckland to Batemans Bay on the third attempt, overcoming many tribulations on the way.
Sunday October 29th Gosford Sailing Club Sailing Manager Peter Walsh drove down and gave us a very informative Yachting Safety Seminar, including a flare demonstration which was closely monitored by Rob Moldovan of RMS.
Afterwards participants went out on “The Shed” and “Accolade” to practice MOB retrieval. This was quite tricky in the gusty westerly conditions, but everyone who wanted to was able to have a go at the helm
