Port MacDonnell Sailing Club sailors kept an avid eye on the weather last week, however despite the rain and thunderstorms on Friday, Saturday turned out to be perfect sailing weather with light winds and flat seas.


Three Austral20s took to the water for the scheduled racing for the Port MacDonnell Sailing Club so the day turned into a competition to see who had the fastest Austral at the club.


A gated course was set by Race Officer Nick Watson who was assisted on the water by committee boat driver Chris Jacobs.


Each boat had to start and then go through a gate from the inside of the course, head out to sea and through and other gate before returning through gate one and back to the start/finish line.


The sea mist made for interesting racing, coming and going during the day and creating a challenge for the sailors and timekeepers to see the marks in the distance.


Tom Paltridge and Darrin Brown on ‘Windy Fred’ had a wonderful start, crossing the line in front of the other two boats in the first race.


He was able to hold onto that lead and also crossed the finish line before the other two boats.


The second race had a closely contested start, with Steve Dyble and Stella Harfield on ‘Minty’ able to hold off the others and have a picture perfect start.


Their lead slipped away as the racing continued and Mack Ferguson, Graham McKay and Darryl Brooksby on ‘Papillion’ cleared away from the rest of the fleet to cross the finishing line first.


‘Windy Fred’ was not going to be beaten on the start line and managed to start the third race first, nudging out the other boats. 


This caused ‘Minty’ to tack once they crossed the start line to avoid the dirty air from the other boats. 


With ‘Papillion’ breathing down their necks, ‘Windy Fred’ pushed and managed to hold their lead to take line honours.


The wind started picking up in race four as well as changing direction, making for an interesting start to the race.


In a copy of the previous race, ‘Windy Fred’ once started in first position with ‘Papillion’ closely behind them.


With ‘Windy Fred’ and ‘Papillion’ tussling for the entire race, once more ‘Windy Fred’ proved to be the faster boat and beat the other two boats across the finish line.


With favourable wind and seas conditions, a final fifth race was called by the race officer.


The rain at the start of the race helped to clear the sea mist but created its own challenges for the three boats.


Even with this, ‘Windy Fred’ showed they are going for the Starting Gun trophy at the end of the season and had yet another great start.


The rain eased off during the race and the winds also died off, creating a slow finish to the last race.


The lessening winds did not seem to bother ‘Windy Fred’ who crossed the finishing line first in the final race as well.