37th NSW Tasar Championships - 37 boats racing on waters of Botany Bay

by Nicole Douglass on 19 Apr 2014 The 37th NSW Tasar Championships kicked off on Good Friday with 37 boats racing on the fantastic waters of Botany Bay from Georges River Sailing Club.

In variable conditions, from westerly through to sou’east, the fleet completed three races, with ex World Champions, Rob and Nic Douglass finishing the day on top with a two, one, two.

Race one was started in a shifty westerly, of five to twelve knots. Rob and Nic Douglass sailing Chukkel, were early leaders, crossing the fleet on port at the start. The beat was not straight forward, with Leigh Riddell and Clare Woods on Tangaroa, sailing the top third from the left, to round in first, with Rick Longbottom and Daryl Bentley, of the Defence Force, and Rob and Nic Douglass close behind.

The positions in the top three were unchanged for the reaching legs, despite the strong outgoing tide and resulting tight angles. The final work, however, proved to be a hurdle for many with a shake up throughout the top ten. Tangaroa held their lead from Chukkel, with Rick and Daryl pushed back to third. The top three was unchanging into the finish, with Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne (recently fourth at the Fireball worlds) in fourth, and Shane Guanaria and new crew Tara Wilson in fifth.

Race two was started in a building westerly breeze of 12 to 15 knots. The boat proved to be the favoured end, and Rob and Nic Douglass, who started late but at the right end led to the top by some margin, with Leigh Riddell and Clare Woods, Chris and Heather MacFarlane, Brad Stephens and Jenny Overton, and Hugh Tait and Stephen Hancock in a tight pack behind.

The results were on the whole unchanging, until a major shift on the second work, a the breeze began to permanently shift to the south-east. Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne made rounded in second behind Rob and Nic Douglass, Joel and Gemma Skelton moved through to third, and Shane Guanaria and Tara Wilson had a major comeback to round in fifth. The top of the run was a bit chaotic as the all the rounding boats had to reach through the majority of the fleet approaching the top on port following the major shift left. The results to the finish were unchanged from the top mark.

Following the unpredicted shift to the south east the third race was started after a major rearrangement of the course. Rob and Nic Douglass again led around the top mark, with Tony and Julie Creek followed by Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne rounding out the top five for the Victorians. By the bottom of the reaching legs, the top three were Rob and Nic Douglass, Tony and Julie Creek, Joel and Gemma Skelton in third, Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne in fourth and Rick Longbottom and Daryl Bentley in fifth. The next work proved to be a challenge for many, with big changes once again. Rob and Nic Douglass extended their lead, Rick Longbottom and Daryl Bentley moved up to second, and Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne moved up to third.

As the boats headed down the run, the breeze began to die substantially, eventually completely glassing out. The tail-enders were the first to get the breeze, and Rob and Nic Douglass waited, as the entire fleet sailed up to them. Rounding the bottom mark, the boats were nose to tail. The leaders again headed left, where the breeze had been swinging all day, back into the puff that had come down the course. The boats that rounded the bottom mark further back than 20th were on rounding, able to lay the top mark on starboard momentarily as the track began to shift right.

In a major shake-up, John Balass and Heather Forton had their first State Championship heat win, over Rob and Nic Douglass who held on to second, with Gary and Robin Ratcliffe in third, Shane Guanaria and Tara Wilson in fourth and Martin Linsley and Angela Cumming in a welcome come back to the Tasar class rounding out the top five.

Three more races are scheduled to be sailed today, and three tomorrow if the weather plays ball!

There is a definite level of excitement in the fleet, as the sailors discuss options for the next Worlds, which will be sailed from Busselton, WA in January 2015.

For more information on the Tasar, go to website.

2014 NSW Tasar State Championship full results:
 

Plc	Sail No	Boat Name (Boat Type)	Skipper/Crew	From	Race 1 18-Apr	Race 2 18-Apr	Race 3 18-Apr	Drop	Total
1	2710	Chukkel Tasar	Robert Douglass Nicole Douglass	JBSC NSW	2	1	2	0	5
2	2883	SMAC Tasar	Heather McFarlane Chris Payne	SYC VIC	4	2	7	0	13
3	2577	One Too Many Tasar	Shane Guanaria Tara Wilson	BSC NSW	5	5	4	0	14
4	2889	Tangaroa Tasar	Leigh Riddell Clare Woods	BSC NSW	1	9	6	0	16
5	2898	navy sailing Tasar	Richard Longbottom Darryl Bentley	RANSA/CYC NSW	2	4	10	0	16
6	2603	Ratz Tasar	Gary Ratcliffe Robyn Ratcliffe	GRSC NSW	14	6	3	0	23
7	2903	Vivace Tasar	Bradley Stephens Jennifer Overton	WSC NSW	8	8	8	0	24
8	2925	Serendipity Tasar	Hugh Tait Stephen Hancock	NSC NSW	6	10	13	0	29
9	2818	HMS Tasar	Joel Skelton Gemma Skelton	SPASC NSW	11	3	20	0	34
10	2349	like lightning Tasar	Chris Johnson Todd Finney	GRSC NSW	12	7	18	0	37
11	2763	More Edge Tasar	John Balass Heather Forton	BSC NSW	20	20	1	0	41
12	2911	Another Roady Tasar	Peter Davies Pia Lehtonen-Davies	BSC NSW	9	23	11	0	43
13	2770	Trouble Tasar	Michael Quirk Marise Hannaford	RPEYC NSW	17	12	14	0	43
14	2888	Agamemnon Tasar	Chris Parkinson Matthew Fitzgerald	SPASC NSW	18	18	9	0	45
15	2588	What a Pearler Tasar	Andrew Finney Michelle Costandi	GRSC NSW	16	21	12	0	49
16	2813	LASS Tasar	Martin Linsley Angela Cumming	RANSA ACT	19	28	5	0	52
17	1885	Storm bringer Tasar	Daniel Bromelow Mark Bromelow	M16'SSC NSW	22	14	17	0	53
18	2665	Decadence Tasar	Megan Darby Chris Evans	SPASC NSW	13	11	30	0	54
19	2114	blew'n Tasar	Bruce Hilleard Jenny Sorensen	GRSC NSW	23	16	16	0	55
20	2769	"The ""AntzPantz""" Tasar	Anthony Creak Julie Creak	RGYC VIC	7	26	28	0	61
21	2727	White Wash Tasar	Stephen Nash Greg CHASELING	BSC NSW	10	25	27	0	62
22	2450	Slartibartfast Tasar	JOSEPHINE ROPER Luke Carroll	WSC NSW	21	19	23	0	63
23	2902	Eagle Eye Tasar	Noel Borel Els Leenaars	RMYC NSW	32	17	19	0	68
24	1901	Bubbles Tasar	Helen Impey Juliet Pegler	WSC NSW	27	22	21	0	70
25	2133	Boogie Woogie, Baby! Tasar	Benjamin Walker Julie Burke	BSC NSW	15	33	26	0	74
26	2819	firefly Tasar	Derek Hadwen Kelly HADWEN	BSC NSW	26	37	15	0	78
27	2906	The Claw Tasar	Bruce Litchfield Sharon Litchfield	GRSC NSW	25	27	29	0	81
28	2532	Big Bang Tasar	Lachlan Steel Thomas Jorgensen	GRSC NSW	29	15	DNF (38.00)	0	82
29	2119	Tasared Tasar	Gavin Brown Robyn Brown	DAC NSW	28	32	22	0	82
30	1893	Scoot Tasar	Georgia Llewellyn Lachlan Johnson	CRSC NSW	31	30	24	0	85
31	1878	Tranquil Shaw's Tasar	Cameron Shaw Eva Shaw	GRSC NSW	33	24	31	0	88
32	2121	Aqua Dazzle Tasar	Jonathan Ross Jackie Bange	SBSC VIC	DNC (38.00)	13	DNF (38.00)	0	89
33	2841	Woooo Hoooo!! Tasar	Mark Kelly Susan Kelly	GRSC NSW	34	31	25	0	90
34	2578	Southern Stars Tasar	Richard Shaw Lorraine Madden	BSC NSW	24	34	33	0	91
35	2085	Luna Sea Tasar	Sean Mullin Kristi Ruus-Atkinson	DAC/WSC NSW	30	29	32	0	91
36	2112	THE HOOT Tasar	Douglas Coleman Beata Lekki	CSC NSW	35	35	35	0	105
37	1980	Clockwork Tasar	Mark Lofthouse Kylee Hall	DAC NSW	DNC (38.00)	36	34	0	108