A training sail in the 'usual Sandringham breeze'

by Richard Gladwell on 5 Dec 2013
At most regattas when the racing is called off due to strong winds, there are always competitors who complain that the sailing should have taken place.

There weren't any of that ilk today at Sandringham Yacht Club venue for the Sail Melbourne regatta. The ringside seats in the bar were packed when two young Laser Radial sailors, accompanied by their coach, went out for a training sail around 1.00pm, on the Stadium Course in front of the club.

The photos taken from the club balcony, shot in rain and spray tell the story of the conditions, and afterwards Sail-World caught up with the sailors to get their view of the day.

'It was pretty windy, with big waves', was the comment from Will Bates. A line that would be a nominee for Understatement of the Year. 'It was the usual Sandringham breeze'.

How hard was it blowing, we asked? 'Oh, about 25kts'. Maybe that was what he was going to tell his parents. But the coach chipped in saying 30-35 was closer to the mark.

'We just went for a bit of a training run, that's all', he added.

'It wasn't too bad,' said Chris Anderson. 'Have you sailed on conditions like that before', we asked? He laughed. 'Not when its that wavy before. It was a bit of fun.

'It was worst upwind. Sometimes if you speared through a wave the boat would fill up. Although I tried not to do that too much.'

Remarkably only one of them capsized, and other than that sailors and coach returned to shore safely.