The inaugural Battle of The Sound was inspired by Covid restrictions and held in November 2021 after MHASC initiated a friendly challenge with the other north harbour Laser (ILCA) clubs: Northbridge Sailing Club, Manly Yacht Club and Vaucluse Yacht Club. The event was a great success and it was resolved to keep it going with the organisation rotating between the four clubs. Sadly last year’s event was wiped out by gale force winds on two separate Sundays so we all looked forward to this year’s event organised by MHASC on 23 November.
MHASC Commodore Jacqui Winship happily reports……
“it was a resounding success! Goldilocks finally delivered exactly what we asked for, and MHASC reclaimed the Perpetual Trophy.
With 60 entries and months of preparation, we were all hoping the weather would behave this time. A forecast storm gave us some early nerves, and at first it looked like the wind might be a bit light. But our prayers were answered with a perfect, moderate NE breeze.
After the first race we were feeling downright confident, dominating in both fleets – a clean sweep of the top three in the ILCA 6s (Bruce, Jeff and Matt), and a 1–2–5 in the ILCA 7s (Sean, Phil, Nick). However, we may have counted our chickens a bit early. VYC mounted an impressive comeback in race two. Jeff held onto a 1st in the 6s, but VYC took 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Thankfully Matt delivered a crucial 5th for us.
In the 7s, VYC scored a 1 and a 4, with MYC slotting into 2nd. Sean took 3rd and Nick 5th. It all felt uncomfortably tight for a while, and it wasn’t until Rob worked his usual wizardry on the scoring that we finally knew for certain that MHASC had won the day.
Final club scores:
- MHASC – 41
- VYC – 62
- MYC – 123
- NSC – 204
Ali Devlin from MYC was the first woman, and Airon won the attendance prize – a very stylish Zhik jacket.
Full results are here and the event webpage is here.
With visiting clubs arriving by boat, celebrations got underway on the deck over a few beers, accompanied by Lyn’s fabulous cooking – delicious pulled-pork rolls followed by ice creams. A huge thank you to Lyn for all her hard work, and to Sean for helping assemble the feast.
And while we’re on thank yous: the entire BOTS committee deserves enormous credit. From the sidelines it was clear just how much work went into making the event run so smoothly, including all the contingency planning. Rob and Bruce in particular put in many hours and did an outstanding job. Our club runs on volunteer energy, and it was wonderful to see everyone step up on Sunday.
With the excitement of BOTS behind us, the next round of the club championships awaits this weekend. Sadly, I’ll miss it, as I will (hopefully!) be out on the water here in Melbourne.”
Thanks to Jacqui for her comprehensive report and superb leadership!
These are the links to previous reports:
16 November 2021, host MHASC
13 November 2022, host MYC
11 November 2023, host VYC
2024/25, abandoned, host NSC
23 November 25, host MHASC