Banjos Shoreline Crown Series Bellerive Regatta - Overall report

by Grant Atherton on 17 Feb 2015 The 11th running of the Banjos Shoreline Crown Series Bellerive Regatta over the 13th to 15th February incorporated the usual variety of weather conditions the event has become famous for. Typically competitors in the keel boat and off the beach classes are given a mix of calm to 20 knots plus, with this year being no exception.

The keel boats got underway with a Friday night twilight race in a 10 – 15 knot north-easterly, with the big gun TP52 Cougar II blasting around the course to finish in less than 35 minutes.

Saturday’s races were delayed for more than two hours while waiting for some wind to appear, the predicted north-easterly never appeared, with a five - ten knots southerly gradually building and allowing several races for all classes to be completed. The SB20 fleet of 14 were using the regatta for a warm up for their Tasmanian and then Australian Championships to be held on the River Derwent in early March. Their fastest part of the day was the long kite run from their race area down near the Garrow Light to the host Bellerive Yacht Club, who had set up a temporary floating marina specifically for the SB20s for the regatta.

Sunday started off with the predicted 10 knot north-easterly, but gradually built gusting to over 20 knots at times, with the conditions producing an embarrassing nosey and capsize for the crew of the F18 catamaran wicked, being caught by the ever present lens of Tasmanian yachting journalist Peter Campbell, see: Crown Bellerive Regatta 2015 produces outstanding results and winners by Peter Campbell Feb 16, 2015, 00:03:00 (Tasmania Daylight Time).

An innovation of the regatta this year was the provision of a large marquee in which to house the entertainment, eating areas, and presentations. The marquee was a popular spot to avoid the rain and drizzle on Saturday when over 10mm of rain was recorded.

At the conclusion of the presentations, the annual Charter Yachts Australia draw for a five night bareboat charter on the sailing catamaran Top Cat a Seawind 1000XL in the Whitsundays was held, with a condition of the draw being that you had to be in attendance to claim the prize. After a marathon presentation which lasted almost two hours covering the off the beach classes and the keel boats, the crowd had to endure 7 names being drawn before a valid winner was determined, with Andrew Davison being the lucky winner this year.

Planning for next year’s regatta will start with a debrief to capture any lessons learnt from this year, but the competitors who spoke at the presentations were unanimous in the appreciation of the efforts put in by the club and the many volunteers to make the regatta a success.