2014 VX-One ACT Championships - Overall report

by Fred Kasparek on 21 Dec 2014 Discussions started early in September to get the fleet together for, what at the time was, the City of Canberra regatta. It was pretty clear from the outset that we would get virtually every boat in Australia in attendance.

Traditionally the City of Canberra regatta is an event for trailer sailors but as some of the Australian boats are not set up for carrying an outboard motor discussions turned to holding the ACT VX One State Championships concurrently. Nine VX Ones from up and down the East coast converged on our Nations Capital for a weekend of sailing and frivolity December 6-7 2014.

Most of the boats started arriving into Canberra Friday afternoon after, for some, up to a 14-hour drive. We were greeted at the Yacht club by local Canberrian and Australian class president Fred Kasparek, who had arranged all of the off water activities. After dropping boats off those that were already in Canberra went out for a meal and some giggles. Fred had turned his house into a backpackers lodge and most of the crews stayed the weekend.

Saturday started and finished with rain and a gentle breeze, we managed to get two races in before Huey won the day by shutting down the wind. The Beast won race one, Second Place went to Numero Uno, and Weapon of choice rounded out the top three. Race two Sticky Fingers easily lead the fleet home with a three-minute lead over The Beast with Weapon of Choice again in third.

The day was punctuated with numerous positional changes, Lake Burley Griffin handed out a good deal of wind shifts and being on the right side of one them was paramount although not always obvious. The third race was abandoned due to inclement weather and no wind.

After racing Saturday we returned to VX One Base camp (Fred’s house) for an evening of high spirits, good food, and the odd bottle. Staying at the venue for a party certainly makes for a very relaxing/loose evening.

We woke to a gloriously sunny and warm day but with not a breath of wind, after a short postponement racing could commence and we were sent on a triangular course around the Lake. After some crazy wind patterns the positions of the boats were changing with every gust that was either missed or used to its fullest. The Beast won the third race over a fast finishing Speedwagon, and posting a trifecta of third places was again Weapon of Choice.

Presentation was held directly after all the boats were recovered from the water and the final three were The Beast in first with four points, Weapon of Choice in second with 9 points, and in third place sailing their first VX One regatta was Sticky Fingers on 11 points.

A huge thank you goes out to Fred who did an amazing job getting everyone sorted in accommodation and vittles for the weekend, it truly was a great weekend away sailing great boats with a fantastic group of people.

Next up on the VX One calendar will be the VX One Nationals to be held over the Australia Day long weekend out of Lake Macquarie Yacht Club.