Twilight Race: Although the forecast showed a strong south easterly breeze, by the time the Whitsunday Sailing Club’s twilight races started competitors were faced with a light northerly wind. A strong fleet of 19 boats faced the starter.
The start of the first division away, Division 2, saw Wide Load (Shannan Hart) clearing the fleet on port tack, a risky plan that occasionally works. In this case it gave Wide Load a clear advantage as they headed to the first rounding mark. The light winds were particularly advantageous to the lighter boats, with Smooth Criminal (Leo Rodriguez) leading Bobby’s Girl (Mark Beale) and Houdini (Rob Meizer). While they struggled on the upwind legs, Houdini used their spinnaker to advantage down wind, catching the bigger boats each time. In a dying wind, and with a course shortened at the last buoy, Houdini were hot on the tail of Smooth Criminal and catching fast, but fell short by just over a minute. On corrected time, Houdini took the honours over Smooth Criminal and Bobby’s Girl.
The second start saw a combination of Divisions 1 and 3, with G’nome (Terry Archer) the lone Div 1 participant. The start was clearly won by Masquerade (Tom Vujasinovic), but once again it was Matchless (Terry Stevens) and Alabaster (Kate Warren) to battled at the front with Matchless winning the battle. Further back, the battle was on between Rossgo (Greg Hammon), Masquerade and Shiraz (John Cable), with little to separate these at the finish. Corrected time win went to Matchless over Rossgo and Masquerade.
The monthly prizes for October, sponsored by Whitsunday Welding & Fabrication, went to G’nome (Div 1), Smooth Criminal (Div 2) and Lighthorse (Di Forster) (Div 3)
Full results are available at https://app.sailsys.com.au/club/85/profile?tab=results. Races start from 4:30pm each Wednesday afternoon, so those wishing to participate as crew need to be at the club by 2:30 pm.
Contributed with thanks to Ross Chisholm
Close racing with Treasure VIII and Wide Load
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