Hi everyone,
I hope we have all arrived home safely from what I would describe as the most "eventful" regatta in which I have ever participated! First of all, despite the challenges of lousy weather, lack of shelter, tidal mayhem and some sailing course confusion, I believe that the biggest things that shone through were the general camaraderie of the sailors (including plenty of laughter in the face of various forms of adversity!), the wonderful participation of the families that came along to support, the relaxed and often humorous hospitality of the locals and, ultimately, the good attitude of the officials who did cop a fair bit of flak early on, but kept trying to provide the best possible on-water structure in less than perfect conditions. No one can control the weather, so we had to deal with atypical conditions not suited to the river, as opposed to those black nor-easters we hoped would thrill us and which could normally be expected this time of year.
Having said that, I know that I walked away from the series realising that it was, overall, really fantastic. We had 32 boats! The best-sized fleet for many years. We had competitors from as far away as Yeppoon to the north and Melbourne to the south. We were all challenged in ways that most of us are unaccustomed: river, tide, big breeze fluctuations within races and on different parts of the course, significant amounts of two-sail reaching (good for the NS-experienced sailors!), very tight reaching under kites, trying to stay the right side of the starting line with limited breeze and a strong outgoing king tide!!!! Oh, and of course, there were the pods of dolphins that regularly turned up to escort some of us around the course. One apparently even nudged the bow of Valhalla on the first day, trying to give them a little pointing assistance!!
Oh, and yes, a very high quality group of contenders at the front end, among the best for years. It comprised the current NS14 National Champ, the defending MG National Champ, two previous National Champs, and a former UK Olympic training squad member in the 470's.
So, to the official results. I'm sure Bob Taig will have all the details on the site soon. But, in the meantime, here is a summary:
MG14 National Titles - Scratch Results
1. Carbon Neutral - Hugh Tait and Tom Potter (Northbridge) 7 points: A new boat, for which they completed the fitout in Sydney about 2am on the 27th, these guys showed most of us a clean set of heels for most of the series. They are the current NS14 National Champs, and are jointly registering this boat for MG and NS. Five firsts, a second, and retired in the last heat. Excellent effort, guys! They quickly headed down to Belmont at the conclusion of the presentation to each race 16-footers at their Nationals, whilst the rest of us went home to collapse!
2. Water Rat - Rohan Nosworthy and Lindsay Mason (St George) 11 points: This was the return of the combination that dominated the Nationals in 06/07 at Sunshine. Hugh didn't have it all his own way. Rohan (who actually lives in the hinterland towards Port Macquarie, and who is experienced across many dinghy classes and yachts) and Lindsay (who is also campaigning for a spot in the sailing team for the 2012 Paralympics) spent several races locked in the exhaust of Carbon Neutral, struggling to find a way through. Carbon Neutral was marginally faster upwind, which is saying a lot given the legendary upwind speed of Water Rat. Their score card read a first, five seconds, and the final race a drop when they had to re-start after a recall.
As you can tell, it was a tale of domination by two very good boats. However, 3rd through 6th was a battle royal, with only 6 points separating them at the end. This was a fantastic series within a series! Each race saw these contenders typically finish within a couple of minutes of each other. It all came down to the final race and, upon reflection, a significant measure of good and bad luck, to sort out the final placings:
3. Xanadu - Gary Reeves and Alex Warner (St George) 24 points: Gary had a new young crew with Alex on board, and they continued to improve as the series progressed. Their capacity to achieve consistently strong starts and extract something extra downwind in a number of races was decisive in them achieving third place.
(4.) Foxee - John Hickey and Phil Moore (Toronto) 27 points: With an MGB rig we only get to count in the yardstick category, but we were surprised and proud to find ourselves in such strong company. MG's carried a regatta yardstick of 100, with the MGB's at 99.
5/4. Filthy Fase - Bob Taig and Hayden Domanti (Toronto) 28 points: (Fourth in the National Titles, Fifth on Yardstick) These guys had a massive roller-coaster ride. On the last morning they converted a third-place position into disaster with an uncharacteristic capsize at the final wing mark. As we tried to encourage them on the beach, none of us knew how different things would be in the last race, when they recorded a win by about 13 minutes!! (Yes, the weather conditions were "interesting"!). In the "what-if" department, they would have looked at a very different result, also because they lost a couple of places in an earlier heat via a one-minute penalty for forgetting to sign-on (I'm sorry for reminding you of that, Bob!) Anyway, they can be justly proud of their efforts.
6/5. Final Phase - Greg Roche and Ben Ferguson (Toronto / Taree) 30 points: (Fifth in the National Titles, Sixth on Yardstick) Greg, the defending champ, performed excellently in the conditions with his new young crew, Ben. They also improved mightily as the series progressed. The last race was a lottery with shifting winds, heavy rain periods, a storm cell dragging away any wind for a significant period, and a short surging nor-easter that brought some of the fleet through from out of nowhere to overtake the front-runners who were stuck in a giant hole. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the biggest victim of all this among the leaders was Final Phase. However, they were not disgraced in any way and showed they are a quality team with further potential.
And here are the other key results for the series:
MG National Titles - Handicap Results
1. Spellbound - Arran Gore and Alyson Gearing (Port Hunter): A great story - ancient hull, wooden deck, but very well-sailed in the conditions. This included a second place on scratch in the final race! Excellent consistent effort across the series.
2. Valhalla - Brian and Valerie Hamilton (Altona - Melbourne): A new MGB rig, Brian and Valerie are very keen participants in the class, and it was great to see them rewarded for their efforts, including travelling all the way from Melbourne.
3. Catchup - Phil Marsden-Jones and isobel Shepherd (Balmoral): There was a fantastic representation from Balmoral, and a number of boats featured in various races on handicap, and some of them also had some excellent scratch placings in different races (including Phil's daughters on Wet 'n Wild). For Phil, with an eternal sunny expression, and tons of zinc cream, it was great to see him among the prize-winners.
4. Radical Phase - Tony and Eamon Smith (Taree): I hope Tony doesn't mind me saying this, but this team requires special mention because it comprised probably the largest and definitely the smallest competitors in the fleet!! Young Eamon was only 8 years old, but handled himself very well under his dad's guidance.
5. Flameboy - Brian and Lara Mansfield (Toronto): A great series for Brian and Lara, continuing to show fantastic improvement. Sadly, a retirement in the last race may have reduced their chances of finishing higher in the final standings.
And the other awards:
Young Guns Awards (Crews each under 20 years of age)
Scratch: Eclipse - Lachlan Pryor and Ellie Davies (Balmoral): Lachlan has now won this award two years in a row. He finished ninth overall, but was often competing near the front of the fleet. A couple of gear breakages on the final day impacted the results. Overall an excellent effort, and I am sure Eclipse will figure higher in the standings in the regattas ahead.
Handicap: Supernova - Jasper Brown and Alex Graham (Balmoral): This pair of 16-year-olds quietly went about their business, finishing consistently throughout the series, topped off by contending with the leaders on scratch in the final race.
Masters Awards (Crews each over 40 years of age)
Scratch: Foxee - John Hickey and Phil Moore (Toronto): No "old fart" jokes allowed!!
Handicap: Valhalla - Brian and Valerie Hamilton (Altona): "Old fart" jokes are allowed, because they live far enough away to not hear them!!
Honourable Mentions (No awards, but worthy of special mention)
Sea Change (Greg and Emily Junk, St George): These guys finished seventh on scratch, steadily improving throughout the series, and thriving in the lighter conditions. An unfortunate collision which holed their boat and forced them to retire in the last race was the only disappointment, but redress through average points enabled them to hold their place.
Wizard of Oz (Rob and Sian Morton, Lake Wallagoot): They were always going to feature among the leaders in a number of races, particularly in lighter conditions, and they proved this by finishing third intwo races, and eighth overall. When Rob gets that glint in his eye, you know he is out for blood!! More often than I would like during the series, he was close enough for me to see that glint in action. Then, of course, there was their special finishing technique in Heat 2, but I will save that for another post!
Viper (Richard Dodds and Stuart Ferguson, Taree): A top ten finish in the MG's, these boys were in the mix at some point in most races. Not bad for a couple of Northie sailors!! Particularly as an adult male crew competing against several lightweights.
I could single out every boat for their involvement in the series, so I'm sorry I have not done that. However, be on the lookout for my next post, where I will chronicle some of the amusing events of the series, which will be sure to figure various other characters in the fleet!
Thank you one and all for your participation and I really enjoyed the time out there with all of you. Hopefully we will have a venue agreed for next year's Nationals in the next couple of months. In the meantime, don't forget the Touring Trophy at St George on the Sat / Sun 13/14 February, plus the State Titles at Balmoral over Easter!!