Hooligan hailed winner
Hooligan has won the third act of the 2021 MC38 Class Regatta, hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.
21 June 2021
Advertisement
Held over the weekend of 19 June across Pittwater, the third act of the 2021 MC38 Class Regatta has been claimed by Hooligan, owned by Marcus Blackmore, amid dismal winter conditions.
With Daniel Turner driving, Ben Lamb calling tactics and Blackmore’s regular crew pulling strings, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht club local Hooligan managed to push out five points ahead of the second-placed, and sailing for Middle Harbour Yacht Club, Lazy Dog after seven races.
Third by three points off second place was Indy Beck’s InfoTrack, sailing for the Greenwich Flying Squadron.
“Marcus has a great team, and he was pumped with the result,” said Turner following the win.
“While it was a cold and wet Pittwater weekend, we all agreed it was still better than a Pittwater non-event, with no wind. We managed to avoid the scenario of ending up on our side in the gusts on Saturday.”
Advertisement
“Really, we just tried to stay clear of Joe Turner. Otherwise, there would have been serious words at our next Christmas gathering.”
Joe is Tuner’s brother and InfoTrack’s tactician, who overcame Hooligan in their last encounter.
“Saturday was pretty fresh – SSW 20 knots up to 26. Full credit to [Race Officer Steve Merrington] and his team for getting us out there and amongst it,” Turner added.
Due to a severe weather warning listed on Friday afternoon, Saturday’s racing almost didn’t commence. However, officials and owners deemed the day’s morning of 20–25 knots manageable enough for competition.
Winds speeds in the upper range resulted in both minor breakages and several knockdowns among the six-boat fleet. Lazy Dog scrambled to recover from a shredded kite, blown winch and a jib failure that meant they were way more than fashionably late to one start.
Amazingly, the vessel managed to claw its way to second place.
The weather continued Sunday with cold southerlies reaching 15 knots southwest, gusting to 20, seeing all crews saturated with the freezing rain.
“There was a lot of pressure to cancel the series early, but things turned out in our favour,” said Shaun Lane, Lazy Dog Co-Owner and Skipper, as well as the MC38 Australian Class President.
“[Merrington] and the guys were amazing; races went off without a hiccup and the racing was pretty clean. Conditions like that are what the boats are made for.”
The fourth act of the 2021 MC38 season will be hosted by the Middle Harbour Yacht Club and is currently set for July 24-25.
Full results for Act 3 can be seen here.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
