Festival of Sails 2017 at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club - Day 3
by Lisa Ratcliff 23 Jan 2017 00:30 PST
21-26 January 2017
Sportsboat start, Game On second from right, on day 3 at the Festival of Sails 2017 © LaFoto
Geelong baked on day three of the Festival of Sails and the winds ground to nought then finally to a pumping 20 knots out of the sou'west for the late finish of the Rating Series' medium distance race in outer Corio Bay.
Sailors had to have their smarts to navigate through and around the light and fickle winds that began as ENE and went through to the west to finish up SW, the precursor to a strong wind warning for Port Phillip.
The sou'wester is expected to build to 20-30 knots by Tuesday morning, January 24, the final day of the core sailing competition at the Festival of Sails presented by Rex Gorell Land Rover.
The S80s wrapped up their three day series and Paul Neilson's Moonraker was victorious among an incredibly tight finish order, just three points between first and fifth place.
"We're very happy with our results," Neilson said. "It's all crew work and luck. Our tactician was making some great calls out there but it could have been anyone's game. We just seemed to find the right place at the right time.
"It's unbelievable racing in the S80 fleet; I've been sailing one design boats for a while and this class is flat out the best. David LeRoy (race officer) did a fantastic job with his team today which made the racing as painless as possible in the tricky wind."
The word 'cruising' in the Club Marine Cruising AMS divisions one two doesn't pay homage to the quality of both fleets. John Lechte's Cookson 12 A Cunning Plan is beating Jen and Brenton Carnell's Sydney 38 Phoenix with a race to go.
"It was really shifty and quite tricky, but everyone is dealing with the same issues," Lechte said after racing at the host Royal Geelong Yacht Club. "We had a wake-up call after last year's event where we didn't do so well so we got a professional coach and have been training hard for twelve months. We're happy it's paying off!"
Local favourites the Carnells were meant to be taking things easier at this Festival of Sails, without the rigours of Sydney 38 class racing. Their competitive streak is still firing and they've posted four seconds behind Lechte's four first on AMS handicap.
Bruce Taylor's Sydney 38 Chutzpah moved into first overall in AMS division 2 with the addition of today's passage race result.
The Gill Sports Boat division is nearing completion and Julian Newton's Thompson 8 continues to hold out the Ratcliff family's Viper, Heat. The light air has favoured both boats; Tuesday's blow will take things up a notch.
"We power up in the light winds though this boat does sail well in most conditions," Newton said. "We are defending our results from last year. We love Geelong, the flatwater is spectacular and it's shifty though we didn't necessarily enjoy all the shifts today."
The Cruising divisions completed a medium passage race and the Rating Series completed another windward/leeward in ENE winds 3-8 knots and then a 16nm medium passage race in 8 up to 20 knots out of the south-west.
Peter Hickson's M3 sailing for Western Australia is now trailing Terra Firma in Rating division 1, having knocked Secret Men's Business back by a place. Bruce McCracken's Ikon, a multiple division winner at the Festival of Sails, is the new division 2 pointscore leader by one point on the penultimate day of their competition.
Festival of Sails day 3VR Sport.tv's quick take on day four of the Festival of Sails - the full package to come, Royal Geelong Yacht Club VR Sport.tv #fos2017
Posted by Festival of Sails on Sunday, 22 January 2017
Young and young at heart enjoy the Festival of Sails 2017 (by Jess Gabites, Festival of Sails media)
From third generation sailors to first timers, the fun and camaraderie on and off the water is attracting the young and the young at heart to Geelong's Festival of Sails presented by Rex Gorell Land Rover.
Tony Kopp, owner of the Young Rocket 780 design called Astro Boy, has been coming to the regatta with his dad Andrew, also an avid sailor, for the past 20 years.
"Dad's owned many boats for years and used to drag me down here to the Festival of Sails. Then I got hooked on it," he says.
These days the tables have turned and Tony, 37, from Williamstown is competing in the Club Marine Cruising with Spinnakers division 3, with dad Andrew part of his crew.
Astro Boy, named so because it's a Young Rocket design and Kopp wanted a space theme, is sitting fifth overall on day three of the competition.
"It's a social thing for us. I have so many friends here. We are taking it pretty seriously but at the same time it's a lot of fun," Kopp says.
"I love sailing on Corio Bay because it's flat water. I'm thinking of moving the boat here. The music is good, the bars are good, there is so much food," Kopp says of the festival's shoreside component.
Mhairin Hilliker, 22, is experiencing her first sailing regatta on-board Astro Boy.
"A good mate invited me down and I wanted to see what it was all about, and the social side of the Festival of Sails was pretty appealing," she says.
"The crew have been super supportive. It was especially exciting at the start of the Melbourne to Geelong Passage Race. It's a good way to learn everything that goes on a boat – a crash course. I'll definitely be taking any opportunity I can to go sailing in the future. Hopefully I'll be back next year."
White Onyx owner Ben Solly says "sailors breed sailors".
Solly, 57, who sails out of Melbourne's Sandringham Yacht Club and owns the boat with his wife Katherine, was introduced to the sport by his father and sailing since he was nine.
His love affair with the ocean has been embraced by his daughters, Eliza and Philippa, who are part of the crew aboard his X Yacht 412 called White Onyx which is competing in the Club Marine Cruising with Spinnaker division 1.
"In general, the sailing fraternity is a very tight knit group. Sailors breed sailors," he says.
"Our own children have gone through the junior program. If you look at our crew Eliza is the youngest and she is 21 and I'm the oldest at 57. There's quite a strong bubble which is building in the next generation.
"It's a great sport; everyone is welcome and you can do it all of your life. You can start at nine and go on until you are 90."
Daughter Eliza, 21, has been on the water since she was a baby and sailing on her own since she was seven or eight.
"I love the competitive side of it but also that you can do it in a relaxed nature with your friends, and enjoy being out in the environment."
Eliza recently completed a three year 49er FX campaign hoping for a spot at the Rio Olympics. She says one of the highlights was the chance to travel. "You get the opportunity to travel around the world. A lot of it was in Europe; I did heaps of regattas in Spain, France and a little bit in Miami and Weymouth in England where the sailing was for the 2012 Olympics."
"I think there are more opportunities for younger people coming through. There are smaller keel boats younger people can get together on and the social side of it is an attraction as well, for the younger generation."
For more information, please visit www.festivalofsails.com.au