Club members, (back L to R) Vai Ripley, Frank Walsh, Andrew Lefevre, Chris Severn, Diane Sissingh, Rob Lowndes, Kevin Reeves, Bruce Savage, Vanessa Dudley, (front row) Jeff Loosemore, David Edmiston, Jacqui Winship, Michelle Lefevre, Lyn Savage (and Simi), Peter Stephinson, Lew Verdon, Johan Hedberg.
There was a solid MHASC presence at Westernport, Vic, for the Masters Nationals, which proved to be an eventful and successful regatta.
Read on for Jacqui’s summary of the regatta and click here to view the full results and click here to view a photo gallery of club members at Westernport.
The wind didn’t come to the party on the first day, and it was hard to make progress against a strong current, with racing being cancelled for the day not long after we had fought our way to a start line which appeared like a mirage in the distance but never seemed to get closer, no matter how many tacks we took towards it. We nevertheless got some good exercise hauling our boats up and down the long stretch of beach between the club and the bay and some of us (Jeff and I) were very happy to be blessed with “glamour dollies” with big fat beach wheels. These were jealously guarded so as not to be lost in the hot dolly system!
Day 2 proved more rewarding, with 3 races being sailed in gusty and shifty conditions.
By the 3rd day the wind and waves had picked up and there was a frisson of nerves on the beach as we listened to our sails flapping madly and contemplated the white caps. Another 3 grueling races had most of us ready to crawl into bed by the evening, but first we got to enjoy a great buffet meal under the stars for the official regatta dinner.
On day 4 the wind was “just right” and we had some great racing in very surfable waves before tackling the big pack up and heading home to Sydney.
Some highlights from the regatta included the following:
– Daily briefings by Bruce on the anticipated wind and currents as well as race strategy.
– Michelle, after a slow start to the regatta, making a serious comeback in the ILCA 4 fleet, winning all 3 races on the last day and snatching victory from Peter, who also sailed a great regatta. Michelle achieved this despite taking a hard knock to the head in the third race.
– Johan taking the win in the GGM 7s, ahead of the well-seasoned Victorian local, Steve Gunther.
– The close competition between Bruce and Stuart Wallace for the win in the GM 6 fleet. It came down to the wire in the final race, but Bruce prevailed.
– Rob coming in 2nd behind Tim Alexander in the Legends and Vai being crowned as the first woman.