Friday, 18th January 2019
The 46th Australian Tasar Nationals were held at Largs Bay Sailing Club in Adelaide from the 5-12 January with 49 boats entered including a very competitive fleet from Sandringham Yacht Club (SYC).
The regatta turned out to be quite a windy series in the end with the first four races sailed over the first two days in 15-20 knots. Heading into day three, the forecast wasn’t looking so flash for the end of the regatta so the fleet was informed that they would try to run three races. However, this wasn’t to be with the first race of the day starting in around 20 knots before building to 25-30 knots. With a bit of carnage and gear breaking and the fleet slowly diminishing in numbers, racing for the remainder of the day was postponed after the completion of race five in the series.
After a windy first few days, the fleet enjoyed a lay day with many enjoying the activities on offer throughout Adelaide and the Adelaide Hill’s wineries! For others, part of the day included repairing or replacing broken masts, rudder boxes etc. Day four of racing greeted sailors with very light winds. So much so, boats were in no hurry to get rigged and ready as many anticipated an AP to be displayed onshore. This wasn’t to be and this saw many madly rushing to get ready before the two lightest races of the series were sailed. What was interesting were the results in these light races, with many of the leaders after the first five races in the “windy” weather continuing to dominate in the light breezes! This was a great day for SYC (as were many others!) with SYC’s Paul and Bronwyn Ridgway and James Sly and Ella Disney taking heat one and two respectively. On top of this, many of the Sandy crews filled top five positions which was very pleasing to see! It would be remiss not to mention Al and Tracey Murray’s start in the first race of the day…picking up on the late left shift and heading to the pin end to cross the remaining 48 boats at the gun on port tack!
After seven races completed, the final day of racing commenced in a tricky offshore breeze with 12-15 knots mostly throughout the day. There were some tight contests throughout the fleet as boats battled it out for the final overall positions but this proved tricky with the breeze keeping sailors on their toes!
In the end, there were some great achievements from SYC members in a number of different categories:
Overall:
- 3rd – Ridgididge – Paul and Bronwyn Ridgway
- 5th – Indecisive – James Sly and Ella Disney
- 6th – SMAC – Heather Macfarlane and Chris Payne
- 11th – Al Capitan – Alistair and Tracey Murray
- 12th – SeaGals – Megan Ridgway and Carrie Summers
- 15th – Helter Skelter – David Elmslie and Philip Potter
- 24th – Hilarious – David Taylor and Candice Cushway
Female Helm:
- 1st – Heather Macfarlane
- 2nd – Megan Ridgway
Super Grand Masters:
- 1st – Paul and Bronwyn Ridgway
Grand Masers:
- 3rd – Heather Macfarlane and Chris Payne
All photos kindly supplied by Harry from Down Under S Sail!