HobieTitles (McCrae Yacht Club)

A frustrating weekend at McCrae with the Hobies only completing 6 of a target 12 races.  Saturday saw light winds but a moderate sea-breeze saw us get 2 races in late in the day.

Sunday's conditions were bizarre.  A planned early start was foiled when we arrived to 30 knot easterlies.  The wind abated around 11 and we got one race in when everyone got on trapeze.  However, the wind continued to drop to the extent a second race was not possible.  The fleet returned to shore for a long wait until once again the late sea-breeze allowed 2 further races.

Finally on the Monday it was a case of waiting on shore and on the water for the wind to hot a steady 5 knots which happened only long enough to get one further race in.

Highlights

Good competition from Western Port boats and interstate competitors

Vincent & Will taking out the youth title.

Alexander finishing top 10 in half of the races after very little time in the boat and having a different crew each day (and not haviong a start watch).

A sixth placing in Race 1 and Race 4 respectively for Vincent / Will and Adam / Josh

Hobie Results HERE

Impulse Titles (McCrae Yacht Club)

Also battling the conditions at McRae was the Impulse class where Col Franke sailed well to finish 22nd in the 37 strong fleet

Impulse Results HERE

Optimist Titles (Royal Geelong Yacht Club)

Hugo Vandame raced an amazing regatta at the Optimist States but learned some (new to him) sailing rules the hard way. 

The Royal Geelong Yacht Club hosted the 2017 Optimist States Championship.  Competitors experienced great sailing conditions and great variety throughout the weekend:

• 3 races in light wind (2-6 knots), 3 races in medium (8-12 knots) and 3 races in heavier winds (14-18 knots).
• Winds from NE, SW and SE and S.
• Shifty and gusty wind conditions.

In the Intermediate division, Hugo started well with a 2^nd place on race 1.  He then finished 5^th and 5^th on the following races that day.   A good start to the championship positioning him 2^nd overall on day 1.   However, during the 3^rd race, he received a penalty from the umpire.  He immediately did a 720 to repair his fault.  But… he received another penalty from the umpire in the same race (different incident).  He repaired and continued the race.  What he did not know is the following rule: when you get 2 penalties on the same race, you have to retire from that race.  The race will then count as a disqualification but you can discard the points on the overall count.  If you do not retire, you are still disqualified but the points cannot be discarded and you carry them through the regatta.

In the morning of Day 2, he was still on the board as 2^nd overall so he believed the rule had not been applied.

He finished 2^nd in the 1^st race of Day 2 (morning).   The competitors were sent to shore as the wind died.  It is only at lunch time that he was informed about his disqualification.  He was very disappointed but sailed to the racing course in the afternoon determined to catch-up on points.  He won the 2 races sailed that afternoon!

Hugo lodged a request for redress and had a hearing in front of the jury.  The jury was inflexible and denied his request explaining the rules.  He was extremely disappointed Sunday evening as this ruined his chances to finish on the podium.

Nevertheless, he managed to race well Monday morning and finished 2nd, 1st and 3rd.  Not quite enough to be on the podium, 4^th overall, a few points behind the 3^rd.

Excellent performance: 2, 5, 5 (DSQ), 1, 1, 2, 1, 3 and he discarded a 5^th and a 3^rd!

The winner and the 2^nd overall were kind to him and showed a good sportsmanship when back on shore they told him “you won this regatta, very skilled”.

In the Open Division, Jeremy Gray sailed consistently to finsih in 24th place in the 39 boat fleet.

Open Optimist Results HERE

Intermediate Optimist Results HERE and regatta photos HERE