Phil's account:

In what seemed like summer was a distant memory, the Sabre state titles were held over the last weekend at Somers Yacht club. In blustery and wintery conditions,  Somers Yacht club  worked extremely hard to get a five race series in over 2 days.   Over 60 competitors attended the regatta, with four sailors from Westernport sailing.

Day 1- All races were in 15 to 20 +knots from the south west.

Race 1 – I had a great start at the pin with clear air, I worked my way up to around 15^th before the top mark, but misjudged the strength of the tide (Really? a Westernport sailor misjudging the tide?)  I got caught on port at the top mark, tried to duck some sterns but had to bail out, then hit the mark and a set of penalty turns,  which  left me with some work to do. I managed to enjoy the reaches and worked my way into 28^th. My best result in this fleet over the past year. I was feeling pretty chuffed, as it was the first time that I actually had boat speed.

Race 2- I tried the pin end start again, but got stuck in the back row.  I worked my way up into the early twenties around the top mark and had another set of good reaches.  As I was making my way up the second work, myself and another boat got hit by a huge header and in I went to windward - boat turtled. After a long while in the water I managed to get the boat up and finished in the early forties.

Race 3 good start - my body decided that this was not the place to be and decided to cramp up in my hands, arms, legs, bum and neck. Thankfully it was a shortened course and I finished 26^th.

Day  2 – I left Red Hill that morning with the trees whooshing around,  thinking at least I won’t have to get into a cold and damp wetsuit as surely it was going to be blown out, but no, Somers had us out there after a bit of a delay. With the gusty wind shifting around, it took a while to get the course settled.

Race 1-  It would be an understatement to say I missed the start, on my second attempt to cross the start line I mentioned to the start boat crew that at least I had clear air, as the fleet was half way up the first work. I managed to move a up a few places and finished 38^th .

Race 2- had a great start, just behind a few former state and Australian champions, which gave me a great view on how these guys sail their boats and how hard they work, that lasted until  ¾’s up the first beat. I enjoyed the reaches in the blustery condition and finished 32^nd.

Overall I had my best regatta in this new class, I would highly recommend the class for its friendliness, helpfulness and competitiveness, with competitors in their teens to their 70’s

Tim Van der Veen won the heavy weather event with 4 firsts and a second.  Great result Tim.

Thanks to Somers Yacht club for a great regatta, in trying conditions.

Josh's account:

The sailing at Somers was interesting to say the least.  The first race session got slammed by a massive squall on Saturday morning which brought big swell and zero visibility with it.  When the sailing officer abandoned that race session they had to have the finish boat bring everyone in because for some reason everyone followed it out in the bay when the start line was inshore. 

Almost every boat entered started the first race session but after the first race in the afternoon the numbers dwindled a bit from 60ish to around 46.  I missed the 2nd and 3rd race due to some broken fittings from the heavy winds. 

The second day's race session was postponed for a bit due to another front approaching which made for interesting sailing when the racing got started.  Due to tide and wind I almost landed the boat on the finish line boat's anchor at the end of the last race.

There are a few photos on the Somers Yacht Club facebook page.

Anthony's account:

 Not much to tell from my perspective at the State Sabre Titles as I had to abandon after the first race due to what I suspect might be a cracked rib.

Sailing got under way on Saturday morning at Somers yacht club in mild sunshine and about 3 or 4 knots of wind from the south, but with an ominous black cloud on the southern horizon. For about 20 minutes the fleet drifted in little or no wind while moving out to the start line until, at about 10:45 am just prior to the 11 am racing start, the black cloud on the horizon arrived at Somers in the form of 30 knots of wind, 1.5 metre waves, rain, sleet and hail from the south. Needless to say, this scattered the fleet and lead to some fairly hazardous sailing conditions. The lay line back to the yacht club was a broad reach, leading to some exhilarating surfing and some interesting gybes from boats in the fleet. I capsized on the way back to the beach when I got rolled on a large wave but managed to get upright and back to the beach without too much difficulty. Racing for the morning was abandoned!

Conditions calmed a bit when the squall passed and racing resumed at 1 pm in warm sunshine and with a good wind from the south at 15 knots. The sea was very choppy, with irregular, sloppy waves at around 1 metre making all points of sailing interesting. The wind gradually increased during the race until it was about 18-20 knots, providing great sailing, particularly downwind on the waves. I capsized again on the second downwind leg and by the time I got back into the boat I could not find the wing mark (my glasses were wet). As I had missed the wing mark and ended up at the bottom mark I decided to head back to the beach and wait for the next race to start. However, after getting back to the beach I discovered I was in a fair bit of pain! I think I might have bruised or cracked a rib getting back into the boat after my capsize, but I certainly did not notice at the time (too much to do!). I have some fairly colourful bruising across my ribs and am very stiff and sore.

Josh Franke also had to abandon during the first race as he pulled the outhaul rail out of his boom.

The fleet eventually got three races in for the afternoon in what looked like great conditions and also raced again the next morning, but I was unfortunately unable to sail again that weekend.

RESULTS