Light Breezes and strong tide effect the NT Championship

The combined NT Championships were hosted by the Darwin Sailing Club from 27 to 29 July 2018. The regatta was sailed in the beautiful waters of Fannie Bay and was open to all off the beach classes with five entries needed for a class. Boats that did not meet this requirement were entered into a Mixed Class.

It was to start on Friday morning with the first race scheduled for 10am start however due to the light conditions this was postponed for two hours to allow the sea breeze to fill in. With the event finally underway at 13.30 the light winds and strong incoming tide proved a challenge for all competitors. The pattern of extremely light morning conditions continued throughout the regatta with starting time for each day delayed until the sea breeze came into effect in the early afternoon. The regatta consisted of three races back to back on Friday and Saturday and two races on Sunday giving a total of eight races with one discard. 22 competitors sailed in the regatta with the Minnow being the strongest class represented with seven entries. Other classes sailed included Tasar, Laser, A Class, 29er, Pacer and Cherub. The Minnow and Tasar classes were the only two classes with enough entries to qualify for a Class Championship result with seven Minnows and five Tasars.

Final places for the NT Championship were:

A Championship of this caliber takes a lot of planning, organisation and support therefore thanks must got to Claire Hall and Australian Sailing for their support as well as the Darwin Sailing Club for hosting the event. Thanks must also go to the race manager Ed Vincent and all the dedicated volunteers that gave their time to be on the water to make this event the success that it was. A special thanks to Fergal McGrath for his efforts in preparing and launching the support boats and well as skippering the mark boat and setting the courses. We look forward to the 2019 Championship and hopefully stronger winds and more competitors.