Queensland Championships 2006

I will put a caveat on the following race reports - any relation to facts is simply coincidence.  Secondly, I refer to the skipper's when descibing events.  I do this because as most crews know they are superflous, and we have to keep them happy (because they usually own the boat).  You might also note a little bias towards a certain boat - hey I'm the crew and I have the power of the keyboard.  If you look at the finish times, you will note that racing thoughout the fleet was very tight, and any mistake meant places lost.  A good result for all fleet, as the first three places were all from different clubs.

 

Once again - thanks to our volounteers who helped with race management and keeping everyone feed. Also a big thank you to the visitors who travelled from interstate to compete. 

Heat 1 An interesting race. Tide: ebbing North-east - 5-8 knots.  As expected for the first heat, everyone was keen to impress.  Gary Bellamy in Hooters impressed us to start by loosing his mast before the gun had even gone.  The first three boats proved an omen as they eventually filled the major placings. Duncan Dey & Chris Gardner fought all around the course and just when Duncan had gained the upper hand, he realised that he was supposed to be going to the finish gate. The first Queensland boat, Nev Murray in Gatecrasher, crossed the line next - four boats crossing in 24 seconds. 

HEAT 2 Tide: just starting to ease.  Breeze: NE a little fresher than the morning race.  Duncan corrected his mistake from the morning.  Although the margins indicate a comfortable win, he had to fight all the way to beat Chris.  Jon Emonson (back in NS14s after being lured to the dark-side of Moths) managed to just get the inside overlap at the last rounding mark to run third. Five boats finishing within 38 seconds. 

HEAT 3 Tide: ebbing.  Breeze: NE - 5 knots in the gusts. The fleet started in a light breeze and headed up the middle of the course. Round the windward mark, and the slow progress towards the leeward mark.  Fortunes were won and lost again depending if you received a fickle gust. Interesting, in the difficult conditions, the top three boats appeared in the results.  After much deliberation, the race committee shortened the course. Chris keeping his championship hopes alive, Nev - second, with Duncan slipping by only (the rest of us would ONLY), finishing third. On top of his DNF, this race probably cost Gary his chance at finishing in the top three.

HEAT 4: Tide: ebbing - stronger.  Breeze: NE initially, but a storm cell send the breeze compass spinning, with breeze coming from just about every point at some point as the result of a storm cell. Duncan & Chris battled it out again with Gary in Hooters & Merrill in Summertime Blues looking to round at the end of the first lap all together.  The fickle breeze allowed the first three around, Merrill was to be denied and  joined the rest of the fleet trying to find enough breeze to get around the mark.  The leaders almost lapped the entire fleet - such were the conditions. Eventually the storm cell broke, and 8-10 knot S-SW broke through to finish the race.  Another win for Duncan with Chris second and Gary third.