Easter Regatta at Maryborough Sailing Club - Sun, Sand and Chocolate

by Vicky Steinback on 3 Apr 2013 On the Easter long-weekend Maryborough Sailing Club hosted their annual Easter Regatta. It was open to all off-the-beach dinghies and also incorporated the Weta State Titles, the Beresford Cup for the 16ft Skiffs and the 125 State Championships.

The Easter Regatta is run out of Maryborough Sailing Club’s beach club-house on the esplanade at Scarness. This regatta is always a fantastic event which attracts good numbers of boats and diverse fleets. This year the fleets included: Sabots, 125’s, Lasers, Weta’s, MG14s and 16ft Skiffs. Enormous praise must go to Maryborough Sailing Club for hosting the regatta this year given that their river club-house has been flooded twice recently, causing damage to the building and much of their equipment. However Maryborough still had their regular dedicated bunch of volunteers, as well as some volunteers from the class associations, to ensure that the event ran smoothly.

Racing commenced in the afternoon of Friday 29th March, with one race sailed in light conditions. Saturday consisted of two races – one in the morning & one in the afternoon. The breeze had increased from the previous day however it had also chopped up the water to resemble a washing-machine. The wind was also shifting all over the place making an interesting challenge for all competitors as far as picking the shifts and the favoured side of the course. This also provided a challenge for the race committee in terms of setting the course and the start line – the PRO and volunteers on the Committee boats did an awesome job in the difficult conditions. On Easter Sunday we awoke to a beautiful sunny day and no wind. All competitors went to the club as usual and optimistically rigged their boats for the morning race. This start was subsequently postponed for an hour whilst the race committee waited for the wind. This wind never eventuated so the morning race was abandoned and racing was postponed until 2pm. Many of us took the time to enjoy the beautiful beach & some Easter chocolate whilst we were waiting. The wind freshened nicely in the afternoon, allowing for a short course to be set and the final races of the regatta to be contested – the short course provided some spectacular viewing for the spectators on shore.

As usual Maryborough Sailing Club put on a fantastic event with many smiles to be seen on the beach after racing. It is always a social, family-friendly regatta and is a great opportunity for a holiday as well.

The Easter Regatta is one which many sailors put in their calendars a year in advance and it is well worth the trip. There is always a great bunch of people and fantastic sailing. Now that it’s over for another year we have all headed home to clean the sand out of our booms, masts, sails and trailers – but you know what, most of us wouldn’t have it any other way!