Australian Women's Keelboat Regatta day 1 - Wet and cold, but happy

by John Curnow on 9 Jun 2012 Paul Pascoe is the Principal Race Officer for the Australian Women's Keelboat Regatta.

Regular authority, Amanda Wakeham is there, but going to see if Melbourne can put together another win on Monday, so is otherwise entertained.

Paul commented, ‘It was a grey old day in Melbourne, as per the forecast and we got our 10-12 knots, too.

'Started at 240 and slid a bit South to 220 degrees and dropped down in velocity from there, so we shortened up the last leg of race three to ensure we got a fair result. It was pretty flat water as you might expect with the conditions, so we were able to get the start line close to the pier for any brave souls venturing out or for those in the bar at the clubhouse.’

‘The kite drops at the bottom mark for the first time were a bit interesting, with several boats losing places, but it was Rosie Colahan and company on Kaberet who went krill fishing and that certainly caught everyone’s eye.

'Blissfully, the fleet’s crew work improved from there. The starts were also a hotly contested item and everybody was keen and had themselves right up on the line, jockeying for pole position. In the first race, Jo Harpur on Spirit of Freya got the Individual Recall.

'Race two honours for the same trick went to Janet Dean and Jungle Juice, whilst Jo Norbury and Executive Decision took their turn for race three’, said Paul.

'We plan to run two races on Sunday in what look like being light breezes. That leaves us with one to get away on Monday. If the forecast for fog stays, we’ll make it an 1100hrs start, rather than 1000hrs, so please keep an eye on the board and website. It is quite different at a Women’s regatta. They have lots of sponsors with gifts, prizes and giveaways, ranging from dinner to parachute jumping and make up. It is really great to see involvement from major sponsors down to local businesses’, Paul finished with.

So then, to our finish and what better way to do it, than with the day’s results.

In PHS, the series score thus far has Penfold Audi Sport on top, with Top Gun and Gatsby, the entry from the CYCA at Rushcutters Bay in third place.

IRC is Penfold Audi Sport from Top Gun and then Jungle Juice. At this stage, AMS is an absolute carbon copy of IRC.

Visit www.rmys.com.au for more information.