Bountiful bash
The fifth annual WinterBash off-the-beach regatta at Woody Point, Brisbane, attracted its largest fleet ever.
03 August 2020
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Humpybong Yacht Club’s WinterBash drew a massive fleet in their first official hit-out in months.
The club’s president David Begley said sailors from Rockhampton to Sydney had nominated early for the event from 25–26 July but registrations ran riot just before the event with a stunning total of 151 boats attending over the weekend.
“We have amazing numbers of F16, F18, A class, Nacra, Taipan, C2, Tornado, Hobie and Wetas and a good dinghy fleet of Lasers, 125’s, Impulse, 505 and other classes.”
Unfortunately, the maxim ‘Queensland: beautiful one day, perfect the next’ didn’t run true on Saturday as showers turned to drizzle and back, making for soggy conditions in the rigging yard and on the water.
Nevertheless, the sight of 150 boats crowding the start and then heading south in their divisions toward the first mark among the intermittent showers was quite the sight to see in Bramble Bay.
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However, the level of competition on the water was shown in the three races with four division starts sending the multihulls away first followed by the dinghy classes. The multis doing three laps while the dinghies did two of their separate courses.
The Marathon, held in partly cloudy and sunny conditions on Sunday, took the sailors from Woody Point south to Shorncliffe then all the way north to Scarborough and back to the Woody Point finish.
Winds were steady in the beginning, increasing in the early afternoon, which returned many craft across the finish line much faster than in previous years.
Olympian sailor Andrew Landenberger claimed the Division One winner’s podium followed by James Fraser and Olivia Jozefowski in a Nacra 5.8, with Nick Drapes and Pauline Brookman also in a Nacra 5.8, finishing third.
An OCS in the second race robbed Matt Homan of overall honours but he claimed the Marathon Trophy for the fastest speed over the course on handicap, not far in front of Simone Dougherty and 10-year-old Feb Browne in a Heron.
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