28 April 2021
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Following a two-year break due to COVID-19, this year’s Sail Port Stephens defined the eager anticipation for on-water conflict. A celebration of sailing that saw grinning winners, unexpected victories and solemn vows from the vanquished to do it all again.
Ichi Ban owner Matt Allen was delighted to be back at a regatta where he has enjoyed considerable success, taking home the prestigious NSW title for IRC Division 1 along with ORC honours. The two wins, when it mattered, put an emphatic exclamation mark on the result.
“It was another good day’s racing out there, and everything worked out well. It was a good test of boat speed and tactics,” he said.
“We wanted to hit our straps this weekend. We have one more regatta in Newcastle next weekend and that’s it until the Gold Coast Race, so it was nice to get the mojo back and get the boat into top gear.
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“I’ve also been busy off the water with what’s going on in world sailing. It made it even nicer to get out there and switch the brain to sailing mode. Everything else evaporates.”
Keiran Mulcahy’s King 40 Soozal, representing Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, maintained its consistency on the scoreboard despite a few shifts in the breeze, winning the IRC Division 2 by four points – taking it from the DK46 Khaleesi and Farr 40 Goodform.
Soozal also achieved the ORC double.
As was expected by most on Salamander Bay, Dale Sharp’s Sofarr claimed its second consecutive NSW title after finishing the six-race series on 15 points, 11 ahead of runner-up Stormaway and 12 from third-placed Farr 31 Get it On.
Get it On, the smallest boat in its division was muscled out of the first start but managed to recover to a podium finish before posting seventh in the final race.
The Italia 11.98 Cicero took home the ORC title for the division.
“It was good to get some breeze again today and we had two excellent races. Really, it has been pretty smooth sailing this week,” said Race Officer Denis Thompson.
“The protest committee was a little busier than normal, but that’s probably to be expected when you have 130 yachts in close quarters.
“We have a lot of happy customers out there, and that’s the main thing.”
Performance Racing Division 1 saw a popular win for Newcastle yacht Mako, with co-owner Tim Dodds at the helm.
“That’s a nice surprise after our first race this morning,” Dodds said when told of the result. “We blew up our No.1 headsail, which put us behind the eight ball, then we broke the start … which put us even further behind the eight ball.”
The Sydney 40 posted a 10th in Race 5 – its worst result of the week – before finding redemption with a second place in the last race.
“We’re very happy to bounce back after that. The boys hung in there and sailed really well,” Dodds added.
With PHS handicaps adjusted for each race, the Beneteau 34.7 Speedwell sped home with a wet sail today to snare Performance Racing Division 2 from Agent 88 and Bullwinkle. Overnight leader Fareast 28R sadly dropped to 5th overall.
In the Performance Cruising, plenty of movers and shakers found their rhythm with Robert Hale’s J122 Jackpot taking a late win in Division 1 while Port Stephens local Una Vita took Division 2 and Joji maintained its overnight lead for Division 3.
Lake Macquarie sailor Malcolm Dean let his Shaw 650 The Stig do the talking in the hard fought ASBA State Championships: “We didn’t need to sail the last race, which was a nice position to be in,” Dean said.
“The regatta was awesome. The race committee on our course did a brilliant job in really challenging conditions. Everything was perfect – we kept checking bias on the start line and there wasn’t any.
“I’m going to buy them all a beer this afternoon.”
The Stig has won the past two national titles, the past two Queensland titles and now the NSW.
“It was the last piece of the puzzle and I don’t think anyone has done it before. We have a great boat and also a great crew.”
While only one race was sailed on the final day due to the non-existent breeze, the Finn class managed three excellent windward-leewards today. Association President Phil Chadwick was ecstatic with the regatta and, like Dean, had nothing but praise for the Bay Sailing Centre and its race committee.
“We’ll be back, and we’ll bring more with us,” Chadwick said. “We had a beautiful apartment right on the water and rigged up on the front lawn. All nine Queensland Finns launched together, and we had a ball.
“Last night, 24 of us went to dinner, and we have 14 tonight. Sailing’s only half of it – for us, socialising is the other half. We loved the venue and the holiday atmosphere.”
Rob McMillan dominated the results aboard NB Sailsports, winning two of the four races against a nationals-quality fleet.
Sabots and Lasers also joined the regatta, which is now set to become a permanent fixture on the Sail Port Stephens calendar.
Dates for the 2022 Sail Port Stephens are currently scheduled for 4–10 April 2022.
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