Sail Mooloolaba 2010 - From nothing to everything

by Tracey Johnstone on 6 Jun 2010 Sail Mooloolaba Regatta.

After enjoying stunning sailing conditions off Mooloolaba on Saturday, the fleet of 90 dinghy and keel boats were hit with strong winds and chopping seas for the second and final day of racing in the Certus Group Sail Mooloolaba Regatta.

Saturday’s racing saw the sailors, hailing from Victoria, NSW, Gold Coast, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, tackling light, shifty conditions. By the end of the end of the day the breeze had died off to a frustrating nothing.

Hosted by Mooloolaba Yacht Club and Maroochy Sailing Club, the Sail Mooloolaba 2010 regatta provided stunning sight off Mooloolaba Beach with the biggest fleet of boats seen off the Mooloolaba shoreline since the youth nationals were held at Mooloolaba in 2006.

The 15 classes being contested were 505, Contender, Impulse, Pacer, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial, Laser Radial, Optimist, Sabot, Sharpie, Etchells, Trailer Sailers and Blazers, SB3, Keel Boat Open and Multihull Open.

The stand-out leaders across the 15 competing classes after day one were Southport’s Jessica Hansen (Blazer), Victorian Thomas Rosoman (SB3), Noosa’s Julian Griffiths (Multihull), Brisbane’s Mark Dagge (Etchells) and Matthew Mulder (Contender), and Maroochydore’s Reece Baguley (Laser 4.7).

Then came Sunday with high-wind racing conditions leaders were toppled, races abandoned, sailors were hurt and gear was damaged. Luckily most of the classes finished the required minimum number of races to make for the regatta. The bigger boats racing further offshore we hit the hardest with no races completed on the final day.

Most of boats were able to return to the harbour in time to cheer Jessica Watson on her return to her home port. But for the Blazer 23, Exile, owned by Noosa Yacht & Rowing Club’s Grant Evans, the trek from the open waters was under tow with boat sustaining substantial damage. Fast work by the on-water race managment team and with the assistance of fellow sailors including the Yancey Smith and the team on the multihull Hot Vindaloo ensured all the crew were safe and boat successfully righted and lead back into Mooloolaba.

First place overall in each division were; 505, Earle Alexander (Brisbane); Contender, Matthew Mulder (Brisbane); Impulse, Marcus Randell (Oxley), Laser 4.7, Casey Sutherland (Maroochydore); Laser Standard, A Kirk (Brisbane); Laser Radial, Mark Kennedy (Maroochydore); Optimists, Thomas Little (Lake Cootharaba); Pacer, Andrew Todd (Southport); Sabot, Tom Siganto (Southport); Sharpies, Rick Outhred (Lake Cootharaba); Etchells, Mark Dagge (Brisbane); SB3, Thomas Rosoman (Mordialloc, Victoria); Trailer Sailers and Blazers, Jessica Hansen (Southport); Keel Boat Open, Jenny Fitzgibbon (Mooloolaba); Multihull Open, Julian Griffiths (Noosa).

Full regatta results are available from the event website www.sailmooloolaba.yachting.org.au