Rob and Nic Douglass take fifth NSW State Championships

by Nicole Douglass on 21 Apr 2014 The 37th NSW Tasar Championships wrapped up yesterday with a total of eight races for the series held on Botany Bay from Georges River Sailing Club.

After being postponed for over an hour on shore, race 7 got away in a building easterly after one general recall. The boats on the right looked good very early in the beat, until the breeze did a hard swing to the nor’east, paying for the boats in the middle left of the course. Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne of Sandringham Yacht Club, and Rob and Nic Douglass were the first to gain advantage from the change, with Hugh Tait and Stephen Hancock and third and Leigh Riddell and Clare Woods in fourth and Shane Guanaria and Tara Wilson in fifth.

The results of the top five were all but unchanging until the final run, when Rob and Nic Douglass were able to get inside Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne to lead into the finish, securing their Championship win with a race to spare, with Hugh Tait and Stephen Hancock in third, Leigh Riddell and Clare Woods in fourth and Shane Guanaria and Tara Wilson in fifth.

The race committee were keen to get the next race away in order to make the time limit, flying the black flag off the first start. The start was clear, and the boats had potentially the most consistent breeze direction wise of the series with a 10-12 knot nor’easter. Joel and Gemma Skelton were the first around the top, followed by Shane Guanaria and Tara Wilson, Leigh Riddell and Clare Woods, Hugh Tait and Stephen Hancock, and Rob and Nic Douglass.

Rob and Nic again showed of their first reach speed, passing to leeward and rounding the wing mark in second to Joel and Gemma Skelton, with Leigh Riddell and Clare Woods in third, and other movers Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne in fourth. By the bottom mark, it was Rob and Nic Douglass, Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne, Leigh Riddell and Clare Woods, Hugh Tait and Stephen Hancock and Joel and Gemma Skelton in fifth.

The next work was relatively unchanging compared to the final run where all of the top seven boats were pushing for the lead in some fantastically close racing. Hugh Tait and Stephen Hancock looked good coming in on starboard, but slowed coming back into the fleet, and Rob and Nic were able to get their final port gybe in to reach the mark, and lead home for the second time on the final day. Leigh Riddell and Clare Woods also got the port gybe finishing in second to take second overall for the Championship. Hugh Tait and Stephen Hancock finished the regatta strongly with a second third for the day, Heather MacFarlane and Chris Payne were fourth, and Joel and Gemma Skelton were fifth.

Rob and Nic Douglass took their fifth State Championship win, with the last being in 2010, as well as the Masters Championship. Leigh Riddell and Clare Woods finished in second, their best result at a State Championship, with Shane Guanaria and Tara Wilson in third, Rick Longbottom and Darryl Bentley in fourth and Heather MacFarlane in fifth, as well as taking out the Grand Masters. Other major prize winners were Dan Bromelow for the Juniors, Megan Darby for first NSW lady helm, and Tony and Julie Creak for Senior Grand Masters. In a welcome return to the class, Martin Linsley and Angela Cumming took out the Handicap trophy.

Balmoral Sailing Club, showed significant dominance at the event, with six boats in the top 11. Heather Forton, who finished in the top ten for the first time with skipper John Balass accepted the team trophy on behalf of the club.

Rob Douglass, won potentially the most coveted trophy of the evening, taking out the 'Dunc Award' for the best act(s) of 'intelligence' shown across the season.

The winner of the Jennifer Ramsay memorial trophy were Derek and Kelly Hadwen, and over $300 dollars was raised for the Breast Cancer Network of Australia from a collection made over the evening.

On an initiative by the Tasar Association of NSW, at the presentation, all junior helms were refunded $100 dollars of their entry fee. Going forward, any crews that are both 19 and under at the date of the regatta will pay half price on the entry fee for the NSW State Championships.

This season members can also look forward to subsidised training from the Association as the class heads in to their World Championships at Bussleton in WA in early January.

Overall Scratch

Plc	Sail No	Boat Name (Boat Type)	Skipper/Crew	From	Race 1 18-Apr	Race 2 18-Apr	Race 3 18-Apr	Race 4 19-Apr	Race 5 19-Apr	Race 6 19-Apr	Race 7 20-Apr	Race 8 20-Apr	Drop	Total
1	2710	Chukkel Tasar	Robert Douglass Nicole Douglass	JBSC NSW	2	1	2	1	3	2	1	1	3	10
2	2889	Tangaroa Tasar	Leigh Riddell Clare Woods	BSC NSW	1	9	6	3	7	3	4	2	9	26
3	2577	One Too Many Tasar	Shane Guanaria Tara Wilson	BSC NSW	5	5	4	2	1	4	5	6	6	26
4	2898	navy sailing Tasar	Richard Longbottom Darryl Bentley	RANSA/CYC NSW	2	4	10	7	2	1	8	7	10	31
5	2883	SMAC Tasar	Heather McFarlane Chris Payne	SYC VIC	4	2	7	10	RDG (5.00)	9	2	4	10	33
6	2925	Serendipity Tasar	Hugh Tait Stephen Hancock	NSC NSW	6	10	13	8	4	11	3	3	13	45
7	2818	HMS Tasar	Joel Skelton Gemma Skelton	SPASC NSW	11	3	20	4	11	10	13	5	20	57
8	2903	Vivace Tasar	Bradley Stephens Jennifer Overton	WSC NSW	8	8	8	11	8	6	12	15	15	61
9	2603	Ratz Tasar	Gary Ratcliffe Robyn Ratcliffe	GRSC NSW	14	6	3	18	6	13	6	16	18	64
10	2763	More Edge Tasar	John Balass Heather Forton	BSC NSW	20	20	1	13	5	8	7	12	20	66
11	2911	Another Roady Tasar	Peter Davies Pia Lehtonen-Davies	BSC NSW	9	23	11	14	13	7	14	11	23	79
12	2888	Agamemnon Tasar	Chris Parkinson Matthew Fitzgerald	SPASC NSW	18	18	9	6	14	5	21	10	21	80
13	2665	Decadence Tasar	Megan Darby Chris Evans	SPASC NSW	13	11	30	9	9	12	18	14	30	86
14	2813	LASS Tasar	Martin Linsley Angela Cumming	RANSA ACT	19	28	5	15	15	15	10	9	28	88
15	2114	blew'n Tasar	Bruce Hilleard Jenny Sorensen	GRSC NSW	23	16	16	21	10	17	9	8	23	97
16	2769	"The ""AntzPantz""" Tasar	Anthony Creak Julie Creak	RGYC VIC	7	26	28	23	RDG (17.00)	14	11	13	28	111
17	2588	What a Pearler Tasar	Andrew Finney Michelle Costandi	GRSC NSW	16	21	12	20	17	19	15	26	26	120
18	1885	Storm bringer Tasar	Daniel Bromelow Mark Bromelow	M16'SSC NSW	22	14	17	25	19	18	16	21	25	127
19	2727	White Wash Tasar	Stephen Nash Greg CHASELING	BSC NSW	10	25	27	12	RDG (21.00)	DNC (38.00)	17	18	38	130
20	2902	Eagle Eye Tasar	Noel Borel Els Leenaars	RMYC NSW	32	17	19	22	16	22	23	20	32	139

Full results can be found here

For more information on this great class, click here.