Celebrating International Women’s Day, Whitsunday Sailing Club used the opportunity to conduct a Lady Skippers’ race, with nine of the 15 boats with female helms.
Strong winds and rain squalls were the topic of discussion from the Bureau of Meteorology during the day on Wednesday, as the fleet for the Whitsunday Sailing Club twilight race found out.
As the Division 2 fleet approached the starting line, rain and strong wind arrived, limiting visibility to a few metres for those who could see at all.
Combined with winds in excess of 30 knots, the fleet were blind as to where they were heading as they were unable to see the first rounding mark.
In all the confusion, Little Black Jack (Cass Roberts) led the fleet away and were never headed throughout the race.
Behind them, Bobby’s Girl (Marie Schulte) held off challenges from Smooth Criminal (Karina Wood) and QMS Ponyo (John Galloway) with a gap back to the rest.
Reignition (Donna Fornasiero) had their own issues after one of the crew had to be recovered from the water.
As the race progressed, the breeze abated, favouring the faster boats, with Black Jack taking the corrected time win over Smooth Criminal and Bobby’s Girl.
With the conditions no better at the start of the Division 3 race, Shiraz (Sarah Cummings) led the fleet away with Lighthorse (Anne Ross), Riff Raff (Nicole Abbott) and Norbert G (Phillippa Hall) in pursuit.
While the conditions suited Shiraz, allowing her to extend her lead, the rest of the fleet were spread out with each boat experiencing a lonely race.
Again, with a dying breeze, the slower boats struggled to be competitive as the lack of wind hindered their progress.
In the end, Lighthorse finished six minutes behind Shiraz which equated to 37 seconds after handicap calculations, with Riff Raff coming home in third place.
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.
