Mandurah Easter Regatta hugely successfull

by Yachting WA on 30 Apr 2011 Mandurah Easter Regatta kicked off on Saturday on a boisterous Comet Bay with over 150 yachts entries.

The regatta proved once again to be the premier dinghy and multi-hull event on the Western Australian calendar. With 100 volunteers and three courses, the regatta became interesting when the breeze turned into a pre-frontal north-westerly, the only direction from which the big bay is not protected.

Principal Race Officer Robin Olsen commented, 'The WA kids are really tough. They’ve grown up with big breezes and big waves. I’ve got Chris Kelly running Alpha Course, John McKechnie on Charlie Course, and an armada of support boats that we have been developing for years.'

The 'WA kids' competing in the regatta ranged from nine-year-olds like Mandurah’s Grace Abbott, sailing her first season in her Optimist Optimist Prime (not to be confused with the Marten 49 of similar name), to sailing stalwarts like John Cassidy on his Contender Black Tie and America’s Cup skipper Gordon Lucas re-living his youth on the Fireball Second Wind.

Being a coaching regatta, the full WA Institute of Sport sailing squad was present, including World Champion Steven Thomas sailing his 49er The Stig with crewman Nick Brownie, RS-X sailboarder Eamon Robertshaw sailing Dental Sedation Services, Laser sailor Tristan Brown sailing Boating Hardware, and 420 sailors Monique de Vries and Chelsea Hall sailing Matrickx.

The standard of coaching was good too, with Olympic 470 Gold Medallist Belinda Stowell backed up by a bevy of high profile sailors including match racing guru, Peter Gilmour.

Outstanding results for day one included Richard Maher’s Whoopy Doo going 1-2-1-1 in the Optimist Gold fleet, Jayden Dalton’s Suzie Q grabbing four bullets in Optimist Silver, Eamon Robertshaw taking three firsts and a second in the RS-X sailboard, Angus Galloway and Alex Gough dominating the 420 with four firsts, Gordon Lucas and Maxie Puttman going 3-1-1 in the Fireball, Ben Walkemeyer in 193111 keeping a clean sheet in the Laser 4.7, and Matt Wearn enjoying the big conditions to bank four bullets in his Laser Radial, The Kennel.

Husband and wife team Scott & Julie Olsen joined the 'four wins' club in their Tasar Unleashed, while the 29er results look like a shoot out between Tess Lloyd & Lewis Duncan, versus Royal Freshwater Bay crew Ella Guidice & Courtney Higgins.

In the ultra-high-performance Olympic 49er class, the promising combination of the versatile Luke Parkinson and World Champion Jasper 'Fang' Warren sailed Maverick & Goose to a 2-2-1-1 scorecard, and look like slipping away from the quality fleet.

In the Contenders, the popular John 'Casso' Cassidy proved the old adage 'first out, first back' by recording a 1-2-1-1 result, closely followed by Richard Shallcross sailing Firehorse with 4-1-3-2. The awesome Formula 16 & 18 catamarans enjoyed the 15-20 knot breeze, to share the results around. Gavin & Mark Parker’s Damn Lucky was fortunate to hold the lead with a consistent 3-2-2-3 result.

Not to mention the foiling Moths… these uber-gadgets seem to like a fairly narrow range of conditions, and today was not in that band. The fleet provided a lot of entertainment to the VIP spectators, however, especially when gybing.

Results: Flying Ants 1st  Emerson Carlberg and George Boulden 2nd Braden Higgins and Tom Giudice 3rd Domenic Mann and Daniella Caceres	Results: Mirror Class State Championships 1st Liam Wilson & Mick Mallawarachi 2nd  Simon & Sidonia Barwood 3rd Paul Terry & Harry Sutcliffe-Woelders
Results 420s 1st Angus Galloway & Alex Gough 2nd Monique de Vries & Chelsea Hall 3rd Will Boulden & Brodie Paino	Results: Fireballs 1st Gordon Lucas & Max Puttman 2nd Adam Brodziak & Darren Thomas 3rd  Jon Emonson & Jesse De Rooy
Results: F16/18 1st Brett Burvill & Ryan Duffield 2nd Lockie Gibson & Josh Fuaill 3rd Gavin & Mark Parker	Results: Hobies 1st Alex Landwehr & Guy Birchall 2nd P Hancock & Siobhan
Results: RSX Fleet 1st Patrick Vos 2nd Eamon Robertshaw 3rd Annalise Gilbert	Results: Contender 1st John Cassidy 2nd Richard Shallcorss 3rd Ross Brennan
Results: 29er 1st  Tess Lloyd & Lewis Duncan 2nd Ella Giudice & Courtney Higgins 3rd Max Giudice & Sam Gilmour	Results: 49er 1st Luke Parkinson & Jasper Warren 2nd Tom Johnson & Leo Showell 3rd David Gilmour & Paul Kelly
Results: Tasar 1st Scott & Julie Olsen 2nd Kayne Binks & Louise Blagrove 3rd Mark, Graham & Astrid Hansen	Results: Laser Standard 1st  Andy Leyland 2nd John Winteringham 3rd  Kim Morrison
Results: Laser 4.7 1st Ben Walkemeyer 2nd Suzanne Oliver 3rd Samuel Tennent	Results: Laser Radial 1st Matt Wearn 2nd Mark Whittington 3rd Tristan Brown
Results: Optimist Gold   1st  Da Boat Connor Nicholas 2nd Whoopy Doo  Richard Maher 3rd  Zhik Lok  Sophie Opieluk	Results: Optimist Silver 1st Suzie Q  Jayden Dalton 2nd Raptor James Stewart 3rd  Terra Rise Matthew Troncone
Results: 505 1st Grant Abbott & Kieren Abbott	Results: Tech 293 - Paris Stowell Results: Musto - Chris Sutherland

Full results: Click Event website