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Report from Round 1 of the 2018/19 NSW State Titles
Report by Niall Powers
The first round of the 2018/19 NSW State Titles were held at Port Kembla Sailing Club on the 10th & 11th November 2018. 24 boats attended the regatta on Lake Illawarra, with 16 boats in the Open fleet and 8 boats in the Novice fleet.
Day 1 of the regatta began with a steady south-easterly breeze for race 1, allowing competitors to sail the full course and enjoy some perfect Manly Junior reaching conditions! But it wasn’t all perfect for some teams that suffered a classic Port Kembla ‘choc top’ in the gusty conditions! While competitors returned to shore for a break before race 2, the breeze began to shift and fade, making for some tactically difficult racing for the rest of the afternoon. After 2 races, 2761 ‘Public Enemy’ (Liam Karunaratne & Ben Milham) from Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club lead the open fleet, and 2780 ‘Five Star’ (Tom Cameron & Harley Cohen) from Manly 16’s were tied with 2766 ‘Tinny’ (Don Rowlinson & Tom Milham) also from Manly 16’s for the lead of the Novice fleet.
One of the highlights of a Manly Junior regatta at Port Kembla Sailing Club is always the overnight camping and hospitality at the club. It was the perfect opportunity for the sailors, volunteers and families from each club to enjoy a BBQ dinner and a relaxed social atmosphere on the PKSC foreshore. Thank you to the team at the Port Kembla Sailing Club canteen for ensuring that all visiting families were well looked after over the weekend!
Day 2 of the regatta got off to a slow start with the fleet being held ashore for the morning to wait for the NE seabreeze to fill in on the race course. While the boats stayed ashore, Port Kembla Sailing Club and the Manly Junior Association held a short remembrance service to commemorate Armistice Day. Watch the video here.
By midday, the breeze had filled in and PRO Steve Ilese had a course ready for the MJ’s to sail another two races. An OCS start in race 3 forced some of the lead boats to return the starting line mixing up the pack. After race 3, it was clear that the overall open fleet lead was being dominated by 2761 ‘Public Enemy’ (Liam Karunaratne & Ben Milham) from Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club, but in the final race of the day they finished further back in 3rd place allowing 2755 ‘Bullet’ (Sam Stodart & Ash Napper) also from Manly 16’s to win a race and close the overall regatta lead to just one point with one drop in the results!
The novice fleet also experienced some close racing over the weekend with 2780 ‘Five Star’ (Tom Cameron & Harley Cohen) from Manly 16’s tied with 2709 ‘Quack’ (Tom Hughes & Benedict Carola) from PKSC for the overall handicap series.
Round 1 was a great success and the MJ association would like to give a huge thank you to all of the volunteers at Port Kembla Sailing Club, for hosting the event and all of the families in attendance. Thank you also to all of the volunteers from all clubs that supported this regatta with on-shore and on-water support. Hopefully we will see everyone again and more boats at the National Titles to be held at Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club from the 27th-30th December 2018. Make sure you are a part of this 50th Anniversary event for the MJ’s sailing in Australia!
Round 2 of the NSW State Titles will be held over the 9th & 10th February 2019 at Bayview Yacht Racing Association (B.Y.R.A.). We look forward to returning to B.Y.R.A. as their Manly Junior fleet continues to grow.
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