Herons Celebrate a Female Champion

by Richard Gibson on 8 Jan 2008

Elise Clark and Errol McDougall greet the finish line in Heat 7 with the national title under their belts - 49th Australian Heron Championship Regatta Richard Gibson

The 49th Australian Heron Championship regatta wrapped up at Lindisfarne Sailing Club on January 5 2008 with 18 year old Elise Clark Hobart sailor taking out the title. Although many females have sailed in champion Herons as forward hands, Elise is the first female to win the coveted Silver Heron trophy for the winning skipper. Errol McDougall crewed for Elise in the home-built timber boat Family Ties.

Elise and Errol started well in the series, winning the first two heats in moderate winds. Lighter air saw the combination slip back a little, but good consistent sailing put them well ahead on points. Second overall was Elise’s younger brother Rowan and crew Zach Williams in Nan, also home-built in timber. Third place was taken out by Heron stalwart John Nobbs of Queensland, sailing Sobraon. This boat won the National title in 1971 and proves that Herons of all ages can reach the front of the fleet when sailed well.

The championship in the two-handed class has been sailed for almost half a century, with Tasmania playing a key role in introducing the boats to Australia in the 1950s.

Elise comes from a strong sailing family which has sailed the Heron class for a number of years, the two family boats being built by her father, Brett, and grandfather Des Clark.

The Heron nationals were sailed over seven heats, with Elise and McDougall dominating most races in the regatta.

'Hopefully my win sends a strong message to female sailors that they can compete at national regatta level,' an elated Elise said after claiming the crown

The series was contested by 33 boats representing all states of Australia. Participants’ ages ranged from 6 to mid 60s.
There were beautifully restored older timber Herons (the oldest dating from 1964) raced side by side on equal terms with newer timber and fibreglass examples.

Full results of the regatta

2008 HERON CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

49^th National Heron Championship – Lindisfarne, Hobart

SAIL #	NAME	STATE	INV	HT1	HT2	HT3	HT4	HT5	HT6	HT7
4750	FOGHORN LEGHORN	NSW	5	14	18	21	21	20	18
5373	MISS SPENT-YOUTH	VIC	RET	24	29	17	24	DNS
5723	SARI	VIC	RET	RET	26	22	23	27
5996	TUKI	VIC	DNS	20	21	24	27	22
7814	SOBRAON	QLD	16	11	3	2	1	3	11
8926	TELOPEA	TAS	DNS	RET	27	RET	32	30
9106	WOT NOT	TAS	DNS	17	12	3	6	10	19
9186	BEENANGONE	TAS	RET	RET	31	26	33	28
9480	RABBIT RACING	NSW	15	16	17	18	20	24
9628	GOTCHA COVERED	NSW	DNS	DSQ	20	9	17	17	15
9919	WHITE POINTER	NSW	10	13	16	1	3	15	8
9948	UNI-DIRECTIONAL	VIC	DNS	RET	32	28	25	RET
9959	MONKEY BUSINESS	TAS	DNS	19	23	DNS	26	21	17
9972	THE FORCE	NSW	3	6	6	15	16	5	12
10112	OUTCAST	VIC	18	21	25	23	28	23
10114	RUG RATS	TAS	RET	23	22	DNS	29	25
10161	THE CUTTING EDGE	TAS	11	4	9	13	9	7	4
10176	GORILLA BISCUIT	TAS	8	9	11	8	10	12	9	4
10178	ARGO II	NSW	17	12	14	14	13	18	13
10182	CRAZY DAZE	NSW	12	18	15	DSQ	15	16	14
10184	GRUMPIER	NSW	13	8	8	12	14	9	10
10185	THIS IS THE LIFE	TAS	14	22	19	20	19	19	16
10188	BUGGER	SA	DNS	10	7	11	11	6	7
10192	FIERCE CREATURE	SA	6	5	4	7	12	11	6
10194	NAN	TAS	1	2	2	10	7	1	1	2
10195	FAMILY TIES	TAS	2	1	1	4	2	2	3	1
10199	TRICERATOPS & CANOTAUR	QLD	DNS	RET	10	6	4	14	13
10205	TWO GOATS IN A BOAT	NSW	7	3	RET	5	5	13	5	3
10207	FIREBOLT	NSW	RET	25	24	DNS	21	26	20
10237	BLUE BOAT	SA	4	7	4	16	8	4	2
10238	MARGARET K	WA	9	15	13	19	18	8
10240	LIQUORICE ALLSORTS	VIC	19	RET	30	25	31	29
10247	MISS CONDUCT	VIC	DNS	26	28	27	30	31