After a three-year hiatus from Covid and floods, the Club surged back onto the regatta circuit at the weekend with a highly successful two-day event.
A total of 27 boats competed across four divisions and seven races. “It was a lot of work but to see so many sails on the river again was a wonderful sight” said Club Commodore Luke Denham.
Additionally, the NSW Arrow Catamaran Association used the opportunity to host their State Title Series. This was keenly contested with some of the nation’s best Arrow sailors in town. Port Macquarie sailor and Australian champion Frank O’Rouke dominated the division winning a very decisive six races out seven. Speers Point skipper Don McArthur took out second.
Lasers were also well represented. Twelve boats competed the series and typical of this class competition was intense and racing very close. River sailing can be quite challenging, especially in light to moderate conditions and it was no surprise that inland skippers were well represented on the podium.
Chris Thompson from New England Sailing Club took out first place winning all six races followed by Michael Bradfield from Lake Keepit.
In the Miscellaneous Monohull division, Impulses were the dominant class with three boats on the water along with a Sabre and an RS Quest sailed by local Navy Cadets. First place went to Tweed Heads skipper Brett Ryman with his imaginatively named boat “Full Bag of Rats”. Brett sailed well but local sailor Aaron Hancock pushed him hard and would have been a strong contender had he been able to complete the full series.
Large multihulls made up the fourth division with Hobie 18’s, a Nacra 5.2 and a Farrier 22 trimaran competing. Due to their size, this fleet sailed a different course and stayed upstream of the bridges. Clarence River Hobie 18 crews took out the top placings with Lindsay Cowan / Tansie Higgins claiming first prize and Luke and Fletcher Denham coming in a close second.
See the Club’s website for full results and lots of photos. https://crsc.yachting.org.au
Visitors or anyone who’d like to have a go at sailing are always most welcome. Just drop into the Club. Start time is around 1pm on Saturdays.
Peter Zietsch