Noosa Crew wins their division at Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach RW

by Paul Blundell on 23 Aug 2010 There are few places in the world better than Noosa, but when it comes to sailing, Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week in the Whitsundays is a must do event.

This year the crew of 'Peggy' from Noosa Yacht and Rowing Club being, Guy Meakin (skipper) Andrew Perry (Main trim and Navigation) Darren Ritchie (Foresail trim, ballast and good bloke) and Mathew Cake (foredeck and spinnaker) all made the trip to Airlie Beach Race Week to compete in the Cruising with Spinnaker division.

Airlie Beach was transformed as over a thousand sailors in 120 yachts descended on this small seaside tourist town for a week of challenging passage racing around some of the many beautiful islands of the Whitsundays, and by Thursday afternoon with all the yachts safely tucked into their pens at Able Point Marina, it was time to sample the hospitality of the town, and to make sure we kept up our fluid levels for the long days of racing ahead. From what we can remember, the hospitality and friendliness of the locals was to set the tone of the incredible week ahead.

Friday morning, day one of racing, and after a slow start to the day, the yachts formed a long conga line pouring out into Pioneer Bay and for anyone interested in boats, you can’t help feeling like a kid in a toy shop (an expensive toy shop) as you watch the Grand Prix boats like 'Living Doll' and the NZ yacht 'Wired' slip effortlessly through these pristine waters, followed by all shapes and sizes of boat from the stunning Eagle 55' 'Storm 2' to the high tech sports boats, with over a thousand sailors with their eyes on the prize.

After the first two days of passage racing, day three saw the whole fleet racing around a large triangle course in Pioneer Bay providing a spectacular sea of sails, and giving us all the chance to see the other divisions in action, up close. As the GP boats launched their spinnakers that blocked out the sun, and the little sports boats buzzed around us, 'Peggy' held her own and by the end of day three, going into the lay day, we had scored a third and two firsts to be well in the lead of our division, much to the surprise and pleasure of the team.

The second part of the regatta saw much stronger wind conditions and opened the door for some of the larger 40-50ft yachts to come to the fore and as the leader board see-sawed through the next couple of days the friendly rivalry on and off the water bought all of us closer and closer together. By the time we hit the water on the last day of racing any one of three crews had the chance to seal the deal, and with our hearts in our throats the final start gun sounded and we were off. What followed was the best racing of the week with the top three yachts in our group covering each other.

In a match racing contest that you could throw a blanket over as we pulled away from the fleet until, at half race distance the news came over the radio…'race abandoned due to failing wind'. Although this news meant we had won by a narrow margin on points, we couldn’t help feeling for the other crews whom we had come to respect greatly for the intriguing arm wrestle we had enjoyed with them over the past week, especially John and Catherine Galloway on 'Queensland Marine Services' and the wonderful crew of 'Amadeus'.

That night as men and woman, young and old all stood together to applaud each others achievements, I was once again struck be the incredible camaraderie that typifies the wonderful sport of sailing, and why men and woman of all ages will time and time again, keep returning to the sea!