Welcome back, windsurfers
WINDSURFERS were back sailing in force in Hobart last weekend to compete in the state championship.
Their appearance drew a website comment: “Tasmania’s windsurfer state championships showcased everything that is good about windsurfing. The racing was tight, the Sandy Bay Sailing Club was so welcoming, and the depth of windsurfing experience and knowledge was extraordinary.”
The revived Tasmanian championships were sailed off Nutgrove Beach at Lower Sandy Bay and attracted 21 sailors, twice the number organiser Jo Chau expected.
The Sandy Bay Sailing Club included the windsurfer state titles in a line-up of Tasmanian championships for Optimists (Open, Intermediate and Green), International Cadets, 29ers and Flying Elevens.
In total, the championships attracted 86 entries involving 109 young (and some not so young in the windsurfers) sailors.
The windsurfer championship was held in four divisions, including the Techno 93 Olympic pathway board, several new LT Windsurfers, and several original Windsurfers. Among the competitors was Chris Bridges, the first Tasmanian to sail a windsurfer.
The overall winner of the 2019 windsurfer championship was well-known Hobart sailor Tim Jones on a net 17 points, which included three firsts, a second and three thirds in the 10 races. David Moorehead was runner-up on 23 points, with Mark Fitzgerald third on 31 points.
Jo Chau was the first woman to finish in a creditable sixth position, while Chris Bridges, who imported the first windsurfer to Tasmania in 1977, came in 14th overall in the 21-strong fleet.
The R300 fleet championship was won by Matthew Sterling on a countback from Finn Buchanan, with Sterling winning five races and Buchanan four.
In the windsurfer heavyweight fleet, David Morehead finished with 10 points, Mark Fitzgerald with 16 points and Andy Sharman 17 points.
In the windsurfer lightweight fleet, Tim Jones notched four wins out of 10 to take first place ahead of John Thompson and Stuart Turner.
Jo Chau was rewarded with the women’s windsurfer championship.
In an interview with Jane Austin, Windsurfing Tasmania president Clarence McAllister and organiser Jo Chau said they were delighted with the success of the championship.
“The introduction of the Windsurfer LT last year has reinvigorated the class worldwide,” McAllister said.
“The LT is a major leap from the original windsurfer of the 1970 and ’80s and is a fraction of the cost of other higher-performance craft.”
Jo Chau said more than 20 LT boards have been bought by Tasmanians, while there was also keen interest among young boardsailors in the Techno 293, which is an Olympic pathway board used at the world sailing youth championships.
“The windsurfer is a great way to enjoy sailing at low cost and minimal logistics,” Mr McAllister said. “You can keep it in your garage or carport, transport it on your car roof racks, rig on the beach in minutes, you don’t need crew, and you can then enjoy sailing in five to 20 knots.” SANDY Bay Sailing Club members Hugo Allison and James Gough added the International Cadet Tasmanian championship to their Australian title at last weekend’s regatta on the Derwent.
They finished with a net 10 points, with five wins in the nine-race series, against a very competitive fleet that needed a countback to decide second place between Lawrence Jeffs and Harry Gregory and Elliott Hughes and Olive Cooper.
Jeffs and Gregory took second place with two firsts.
An interesting point was the number of girls helming the Cadets, with Emily Nicholson fifth overall.
The Optimists were out in force, with 42 boats contesting Open, Intermediate and Green fleets.
Eddie Reid, who was runner-up in the nationals in January, continued his form with seven wins out of nine races. Ed Broadby came in second, with third place going to Adelaide O’Donoghue.
Just one point separated the two top sailors in the Intermediate fleet, with Harry Pilkington beating Fredi O’Donoghue, with Anna Herd a close third.
The Green fleet sailed 15 races over the weekend, with Tom Fader scoring six wins. A countback decided second place between James Paynter and Will Gourlay.
Yet another O’Donoghue, Oscar, and his crew, Rupert Hamilton, won the 29er skiff class, beaten only once in 10 races. Rohan Langford and Brendan Crisp finished second, and third went to William Wallace and Hugh Hickling, who won the first race.
Lara Racape and Lucia Gasperini won the Flying 11 championship, winning seven of the 10 races and placing second in the other three. In a close duel for second, Oliver Whitton and Stella Gasperini outsailed Oscar Pritchard and Hamish Ottaway in the final race. THE Kingston Beach Sailing Club conducted the O’Pen Bic and Mirror State titles last weekend, with the O’Pen Bics a tightly fought affair featuring a number of exciting races.
Oli Laning sailed through in the final metres of the final race to take the title by a single point from fellow Kingston Beach sailor Luka Smillie. Eve Cooper (Lauderdale Yacht Club) finished third with a scoresheet that didn’t feature a result outside the top three.
This made the handicap placings very tight. Oli Orbell from Kingston was first, with Lauderdale sailors Ruby Kurzel and Angus Watson second and third.
Jessie Andrewartha and father Grant dropped only one race on their way to claiming another Mirror title. It was a deserved victory for a great ambassador of the sport.
Jenny Graney and Zoe Cowles were the only crew to beat Jessie and Grant, winning the final race. It was not enough to usurp husband David Graney and crew Arlo Strating, who took second place overall, with Jenny and Zoe third.
Charlotte Armstrong and Rose Landon claimed the Youth (16-19) title, Loki and Pippa Bird won the under-16s trophy, while Tony and Atlas Miller got their old-fashioned gunter rig moving nicely to take out the Classic trophy. THREE generations of one of Hobart’s best-known sailing families, the Calverts, were aboard champion yacht Intrigue when it notched up yet another double rating win in the Combined Clubs summer pennant on the River Derwent last Saturday.
Sailing with owner/skipper Don Calvert were his son David and grandson Angus, son of the late Bruce Calvert, with Don giving 19-year-old Angus the helm to steer the Castro 40 across the finish line.
Intrigue, which has been racing on the Derwent since 1985, now has a commanding lead in Division 1 AMS, with six wins over the summer. In IRC, it is a close second to Doctor Who, and in PHS it is third overall to the consistent Doctor Who, skippered by Rod Jackman.
With one Summer Pennant race day to go next Saturday (March 30), Intrigue is on a net nine points in the Division 1 AMS category, with Jeff Cordell’s B&G Advantage on 22 points and Heatwave on 27 points in the Division 1.
Doctor Who discarded its sixth place in IRC last Saturday and continues to head the IRC pointscore with 14 points. Intrigue has a net 18 points, Heatwave 20 points.
In the PHS category, Doctor Who placed 10th in race eight and has discarded this race to be on a net 20 points. Heatwave, which won the division last Saturday, is on 26 points, with Intrigue just one point behind.
In Division 2 IRC, Wings Three (Peter Haros) is on 11 points, Rumbeat (Justin Barr) 14 points and Natelle Two (Glenn Roper) 19 points.
Wings Three also heads AMS by one point from Southern Swordfish (Ian Stewart) and Illusion (David Brett), while Southern Swordfish holds a three-point lead over Rumbeat in PHS, with Wings Three third.
In Division 3, the three-way battle between the Young 88s continues down to the line. In IRC scoring, Young Lion (Steve Chau) leads from Footloose (Stewart Geeves) and Moonshadow (Anthony Ellis), while in AMS Young Lion heads the leaderboard from two other Young 88s, Young One (Nathan Mills and Jay Nibbs) and Footloose.
Footloose leads PHS from Serica (Charles Peacock) and Groove (Wil Justo).
In Division 4 PHS, Astrolabe (Peter Bosworth) leads from Camlet Way (Stephen Mannering) and Innovator (Smith/Aberle). ONE of Tasmania’s oldest sailing clubs will be hosting a three-day regatta over Easter, celebrating 160 years of sailing and boating events in Port Esperance and the D’Entrecasteaux Channel.
The Port Esperance Sailing Club, based at Dover, will hold the regatta from April 19-21. It will be run in parallel with the Dover Seafest, which showcases the area’s aquaculture and fishing industries.
The regatta events will start with a feeder race from Kettering to Dover on April 19, followed by two days of keelboat sailing, events for offthe-beach classes, rowing races and races for classic boats.
For initial information on the regatta and entry visit www.pesc.com.au