Tuesday, 26th February 2019
The Grand Prix Classic Car Yacht Race provided some extra enthusiasm and created extra interest in race 20 of the series. As well as a display of classic cars forty one yachts assembled on a pleasant afternoon to contest a race around the 9.9 nautical mile course 14. Forty one yachts in a race is not a record, but it is well above the series average. The breeze was perhaps less than expected but there was enough to get the early starters off to a good start in sloppy seas. The slop continued but there was a slump in breeze strength as well as a change in wind direction. (This change could be clearly seen in Fawkner Beacon observations but it is questionable how well these observations represented conditions further in shore). The mid fleet starters had to contend with less breeze and had difficulty recording good start times. Meanwhile the early starters found the going slow and difficult with only a patchy breeze and sloppy seas. The last yacht crossed the start line at 14:23:11and in less than 10 minutes was as close to the first mark as some early starters who had been “sailing” for over 50 minutes. The “race” was looking like an unfair contest. Read More.