THE first race of the 2018-2019 season was held on Sunday by the Port Macquarie Sailing Club in a reasonably gusty Southerly, starting at the top of the tide which then started to run out as the race progressed.

The cool, gusty conditions kept some boats off the water combined with others not yet ready for the start of the season and it being Father’s Day. The new digital display on the clubhouse was excellent for the starting countdown, but still has a few other small glitches to iron out.

With a lot of bias on the start line, Frank O’Rourke on Dino thought he had been OCS (On Course Side – broken the start), so went back and re-started to be sure. This let Jack Corthals on Harpic get a great start, avoid a bunch-up in a wind hole at the B mark, and bolt away down the course in the stiff breeze.

Rob Barwick on Drift got caught in the hole with most of the fleet. Dino hunted down the other 2 boats and took the catamaran yardstick win ahead of Harpic. Drift capsized on the 2nd lap, and after a lengthy recovery, retired as the gusts increased.

Simon and Elsa Gandy and Caitlyn Hicks in Voyager put in a solid performance in the monohull division to take the yardstick win. Steve Bohlsen and Ed Molony in Splash Dance broke a bobstay fitting which then broke the spinnaker pole shortly after their first spinnaker set, forcing them to return to the beach to clear the wreckage before continuing the race without the spinnaker, but still allowing them to get a 2nd, only 92 seconds ahead of Stuart Symons in Britannia, who was in turn followed by Jane Cooper and Steve Couch in Jupiter.

Next Weekend is our first double header of the season. Race 2 of the spring series will start at 11am, then there will be a BBQ lunch followed by the first race of the Club Championship starting at 1pm. Kelly Miller will be on duty for both races.