Mandurah Easter Regatta a resounding success for Dinghy sailing

by Kevin Luff on 21 May 2009
The Australian Sailing Museum and Rolly Tasker Sails, Mandurah Easter Regatta was held over the long Easter weekend and was again a resounding success for Dinghy sailing within the Mandurah area.

The event started out with a training day on the Friday where some of Australia's top coaches attended, assisting the MOFSC in providing a unique opportunity for some of the up and coming young sailors to hone their skills for the event and on into future competition. Half of the Australian Youth team that will be representing Australia at the World Youth Championships in Brazil were present throughout the regatta and some members from the Australian Laser Team which will be competing in Canada later this year were also in attendance. The Coaches were impressed with the turn out for the event and spent many hours on the water ensuring that the sailors were well prepared for whatever the following days were going to throw at them. Olympic Coach, Arthur Brett and WAIS High Performance Coach, Belinda Brett, headed the coaching team with WAIS Coach David Mann, WA Laser Coach Chris Kelly assisting with the large fleet of dinghy and catamaran sailors.

The event was opened by the Mayor of Mandurah, the Honorable Paddy Creevey on Saturday morning where she praised the efforts of the Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club and the organising committee for their vision and commitment to Dinghy sailing within the Mandurah region. The event attracted 118 Dinghies and Catamarans with 186 competitors in total, making it again, one of the biggest Dinghy Regattas in the country. Regatta Chairman Kevin Luff said that he was proud to be able to achieve such consistent results over all of the Easter Regattas held to date. The major sponsor, Rolly and Kerry Tasker have been with the event since its inception in 2006 and have made a considerable contribution to Dinghy sailing within the Peel Region over the past four years. Rolly Tasker sailed within the Peel Region back in the forties and fifties, culminating in a Silver medal in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

Saturday's sailing commenced in light conditions which challenge even the best of the best and some of the less experienced, lighter weight sailors came to the fore and toppled what would be considered the elite of the sailing community. The Mirror fleet turned out in force with 12 Mirror Dinghies sailing their Traveler Series, giving the local competitors some exciting competition. The Hobie 16's made their first appearance at the Easter Regatta which was a prelude to the Hobie National Championships to be held in Mandurah in 2009/2010. The Laser and 420 fleet saw some tight racing between some of the countries best sailors and due to the light conditions the competition was very close. The Contenders sailed their State Championships during this event and had plenty of opportunities to show their skills maneuvering the single handed speedster. The Optimist fleet, consisting of some of the youngest sailors was reduced due to most of the elite WA sailors competing in the New Zealand Nationals with the Australian Optimist Team. Racing still produced exciting competition amongst the Optimist sailors.

Sunday was an exercise in extreme opposites to what it was on Saturday. The winds were at 22-25 knots from the East with a few stronger gusts. The stronger winds provided a new lot of challenges for the sailors especially the less experienced resulting in some retirements during the day's racing. On Sunday evening the competitors attended a Youth Sailing Forum where some of our countries elite sailing personalities gave an insight into what it takes to become the best at what they are trying to achieve. Peter Gilmour, 5 times World Match Racing Champion, flew in from Malaysia to pass on his experiences and knowledge in competing at an elite level and gave the group of fifty sailors and spectators some extremely beneficial insights into the top level of competition. Arthur and Belinda Brett passed on their combined skills and experiences as well, with many stories of their individual World and Olympic campaigns.

Monday was similar to Saturday's conditions with light Easterlies prevalent throughout the final races. Some of the competitors were absent through commitments interstate with the Australian Sailing Youth Team. For the competitors remaining, the competition was still close and as with many multiple day events, went to the wire regarding the final results. The day ended early compared with the previous two days as the presentations were scheduled for 2:00pm. Some of the classes struggled to finish the up to three planned races for the day as the winds eased towards the middle of the day. The rush to make it to the presentations on time was evident in the frenetic activity within the club grounds.

Chris Kelly, as MC for the presentations, gave a well balanced and complimentary overview of the Regatta. Robin Olsen, Race Control Officer for Bravo Course and Regatta Committee Member said that this Regatta compared with any event the club had held in the past. Alpha and Charlie Course Race Officers, Ken Brett and John Taylor were extremely happy with the conduct of the sailors under their charge and with the Support Personnel in attendance.

The Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club would like to thank all those that participated, both Competitors and Volunteers for the outstanding effort that they gave in ensuring that the event was a success. With approximately eighty volunteers the logistics involved were immense and it is without the assistance of these people that any event would not be able to achieve a positive outcome. The MOFSC would also like to acknowledge all of the Clubs and Classes that supported this event and look forward to their participation in future events conducted on the waters of Comet Bay.

Results for the event can be found on the Sportspage Website, http://www.sportspage.com.au/

And Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club Website at, http://www.mofsc.com.au/ (go to 'Results' and click on Dinghy)

Kevin Luff - Rear Commodore, Dinghy.
M.O.F.S.C. Inc, Major Regatta Chairman.