Sailing resumed in Port MacDonnell after several weeks off, with four races held.
The Port MacDonnell Sailing Club sailed back into action after racing was called off in previous weeks due to the fishing ban and a long weekend.
With only this weekend and next weekend left of the sailing season, race officer Mack Ferguson was eager to fit as many races as possible into the day.
He and committee boat driver John Kain set a traditional triangle – loop – triangle course for the day.
In the 12-14 knot winds, it was a short course so that multiple races could be undertaken.
Austral20 Farr-mer had the best start of the five boat fleet in race one, starting ahead of Noelex The Right Hand.
The boats spread out as they raced around the course, with Farr-mer, skippered by Dave Evans, and The Right Hand, skippered by Tom Paltridge, having a good tussle during the race.
However Billy 2, with Nick Watson on board, was able to take and hold the lead and finished the race in first place, ahead of Don McLennan’s Sonata Sport Harmony.
With wind conditions unchanged for the start of the second race, Farr-mer was able to get the best position to start, with The Right Hand close behind.
Despite being slow to start Billy 2 took the lead, leaving the rest of the fleet behind. The other four boats stayed close together during the race, all converging at the bottom buoy at approximately the same time.
Billy 2 was able to hold on to the lead and took line honours, well and truly in front of The Right Hand which was the next boat to cross the finish line.
The wind speed picked up over the course of race two but returned to 12-13 knots for the start of race three.
Once more Farr-mer was the first boat to cross the start line. Harmony was close behind and started the race in second position.
The four trailables seemed evenly matched as they stayed together as they raced around the course, with the smaller catamaran Billy 2 out in front by half a leg.
This allowed Billy 2 to take out line honours again, with The Right Hand in second place.
The final race of the day had similar wind and sea conditions to the previous races.
By now, on the fourth start for the day, Farr-mer had well and truly worked out how to start and once more crossed the start in first place. However Noelex Sandrine, with Chris Lynch at the helm, crossed the start second.
The slow start did not matter to Billy 2, which sped around the course and had a flying finish to the last race.
Sandrine was able to hold onto the lead over the other trailable boats and was the second boat to cross the finish line.
Race Results
Race 1: 1. Billy 2 (N. Watson) 2. Harmony (D. McLennan, M. Matuschta, A. Romescu) 3. The Right Hand (T. Paltridge, S. Dyble, L. Paltridge) 4. Sandrine (C. Lynch, D. Bryson) 5. Farr – mer (D. Evans, J. Jones, D. McMahon)
Race 2: 1. Billy 2 (N. Watson) 2. The Right Hand (T. Paltridge, S. Dyble, L. Paltridge) 3. Harmony (D. McLennan, M. Matuschta, A. Romescu) 4. Sandrine (C. Lynch, D. Bryson) 5. Farr-mer (D. Evans, J. Jones, D. McMahon)
Race 3: 1. Billy 2 (N. Watson) 2. The Right Hand (T. Paltridge, S. Dyble, L. Paltridge) 3. Sandrine (C. Lynch, D. Bryson) 4. Harmony (D. McLennan, M. Matuschta, A. Romescu) 5. Farr-mer (D. Evans, J. Jones, D. McMahon)
Race 4: 1. Sandrine (C. Lynch, D. Bryson) 2. Harmony (D. McLennan, M. Matuschta, A. Romescu) 3. Billy 2 (N. Watson) 4. The Right Hand (T. Paltridge, S. Dyble, L. Paltridge) 5. Farr – mer (D. Evans, J. Jones, D. McMahon).
