Blue skies and a 10-knot breeze greeted the 17 yachts and the 117 crew who participated in the Whitsunday Sailing Club twilight race on Wednesday afternoon.
When the gun went for the first start, Black Jack (Richard Anthony) was already at full speed and ahead of their competitors, giving them the Doyle Sails sponsored best start prize.
Behind them, Bobby’s Girl (Mark Beale) and QMS Ponyo (John Galloway) were never far away, while Smooth Criminal (Leo Rodriguez) had a race long battle against Reignition (Charles Wallis).
The final pairing was between Twister (Kevin Fogarty) and Matchless (Terry Stevens). With boats paired up and pushing each other to perform, the handicap results were close with QMS Ponyo taking the honours by 24 seconds from Black Jack, with Bobby’s Girl a further minute behind.
Division 3 saw a new boat into the fleet with Symbiosis (Anne Ross) entering for the first time.
At the start, Lama (Jim Hayes) was well positioned at the pin end of the starting line, briefly leading the fleet before Lighthorse (Di Forster) and Shiraz (John Cable) took the lead. These two boats swapped the lead a few times before Shiraz finally took control, crossing the finishing line 21 seconds ahead, while Masquerade (Tom Vujasinovic) settled for third place, a further 30 seconds back.
On corrected time, Lama came out on top with Lighthorse second and Shiraz third.
Division 1 saw two trimarans paired up, with G’nome (David Chittleborough) taking the lead at the start and was never headed. Frankie (Bill Trueman) managed to keep them honest but was unable to match the speed around the 6 mile course.
The SML prize, sponsored by Whitsunday Industrial Services, went to Symbiosis, while the Soft Rigging Solutions special Prize went to Lighthorse.
The Whitsunday Sailing Club twilight series continues every Wednesday with racing commencing at 4:30. Limited crewing positions may be available. Those wishing to participate as crew need to be at the club by 2:30 pm (limited spots available). Full results are available at https://app.sailsys.com.au/club/85/profile?tab=results.
Contributed with thanks to Ross Chisholm.
Photo supplied
