Final Day and Overall Results - SOMR

by Event Media on 23 Jan 2006 The final day of racing was a stark contrast to the previous day when the racing was abandoned due to too much wind. The very light conditions combined with a strong run out tide caused a general recall due to much of the fleet being swept over the line early with the tide. The second attempt at a start was successful and the fleet sailed upwind in very light conditions on a leg that was dominated by tidal effects. Wilparina II was leading the way, with Raw to the Core struggling to find the groove in conditions that were more ideally suited to trimarans. Slick Willie, Pacifica and Sea Sprinter were also putting in good performances in the fickle conditions.

As the fleet approached the windward mark near Cowes the wind started to soften even more as the short reach to the next mark had some boats using spinnakers while others wound up having to beat to the mark where the fleet turned for home. As the fleet rounded the mark and headed north into the current they all stopped making any progress with the entire fleet stuck at the mark sailing in very light breeze against an opposing tide. After some time sailing upstream and getting nowhere, Sea Sprinter was the first to pick up on the new breeze, closely followed by Raw to the Core and the remainder of the fleet; it was like a second start to the race, following a frustrating intermission.

The breeze slowly built up to 10-12 knots with Raw to the Core stretching her legs downwind and flying her hull upwind to take line honours from Wilparina II by 15 minutes with Pacifica coming in third five minutes further behind.
The nature of the race made it difficult for boats with high handicaps to feature in the results with Cat’s Chorus winning on Performance Handicap, octogenarian Geoff Hunter taking second on Bullfrog and Trifle, an early Farrier Trailer Tri, coming in third. Trifle also won on OMR Rating with Cascade second and Slick Willie third.

The overall results for PHS and OMR allowed for one drop of the five races completed. First on performance handicap overall for the Regatta was Rob Remilton with Wilparina II, second was George Bulka on Redshift and third Tim Pepperell on Quickskips. PHS for the trailerable sub fleet was the same three, but in a different order, showing how close the racing was and the influence other boats in the fleet can have on the results; Redshift winning out over Quickskips and Wilparina II. The OMR (Rating) winner and overall winner of the Regatta was Chris Culph on his Grainger trimaran ‘Slick Willie’, followed by Alex MacNaughtan on his vintage Crowther catamaran ‘Cascade’, with Dale Gardner-Berry on his new Corsair 24 Sprinter ‘Sea Sprinter’.

The Victorian Trailable Multihull Champion (based on OMR) is Dale Gardner-Berry on Sea Sprinter with George Bulka on Redshift in second and Tim Pepperell on Quickskips in third. Martyn Riley took out the Line Honours trophy on his new Bloomfield 30 Catamaran Raw to the Core.

Most of the competitors are looking forward to the National Trailable Multihull Championships being held next week as part of Geelong Race week, when the fastest trailable boats in the country will be shooting it out to become National Champion.