Sports

Lea Foster sailing her Sabre dinghy. Image: contributed.

Sea breeze a treat for Big River sailors

In what could only be described as near perfect conditions, sailors at the Big River Sailing Club enjoyed a memorable day on the water last Saturday. A moderate sea breeze, a run out tide, the absence of storms, and some closely fought racing were all the ingredients that kept the smiles on the 20 skippers that contested the two races of the Handicap Series.

With most classes now having three or more boats competing on a regular basis, there were battles within battles, the honors sometimes shared and sometimes not.

Always hard to beat, Scooter Hinton managed to be first over the line in both races but had to concede on handicap to fellow Impulse dinghy sailor Gus Young in the second race.

Similarly, Laser stalwart Mark Mulligan was always amongst the lead boats, but he also had to acknowledge the standout performance by Simon Law who was a clear winner on handicap in the first race.

Lea Foster had a good day out and managed to turn the tables on Sabre rival Hariet Woodrow. The pair were never more than a few boat lengths apart and fittingly shared the handicap honors with a race apiece.

Lea Foster sailing her Sabre dinghy. Image: contributed.

The multihull division was well represented by three Wetas and an A-Class catamaran. Not having raced for a few weeks didn’t seem to be a problem for Nathan Stanton who relished the conditions to be the best of the Wetas in both races. Juniors Emma Roberston and Patrick Moore enjoyed some close racing with Emma prevailing on the day.

The Club thanks John Hayes and Sonya Price for their efforts as timekeepers.

Next Saturday the Club will host further heats of the Handicap Series with a briefing a 1pm before a start at 1.30pm.

Results

Race 1: Div 1 – N Stanton, R Eggins, C Rutlidge; Div 2 – S Law, S Hinton, R Chalmers; Div 3 – E Robertson, P Moore.

Race 2: Div 1 – N Stanton, C Rutlidge, R Eggins; Div 2 – G Young, M Mulligan, N Hayes; Div 3 – E Roberston.

Wayne Culph