Musto Skiffs in the Sail Sandy Regatta at Sandringham Yacht Club
by Robin Dayes 24 Oct 2013 03:10 AEDT
19-20 October 2013
Musto Skiffs at the Sail Sandy Regatta 2013 © MPS
Over the weekend of the 19th & 20th October Sandringham Yacht Club (AUS) hosted the annual Sail Sandy Regatta. The regatta is intended to promote the skills of OTB sailors competing in large fleet racing. A total of 170 boats and their crew gathered with fresh breezes forecast.
The Musto fleet comprised of 6 boats. Tim Hill made a great effort to be available for the weekend after a full Musto re-build following a downwind crash with a 40 footer the week previous. The re-build was massive but made so simple with the ease and supply of "off the shelf Musto parts". I'm sure Tim will review and share with us the real story soon. Sailing with Tim, the fleet comprised of the Newman brothers, Jono and Paul, Daryl Stone travelled 4 hours from lake Hume, David Taylor returned from his professional sailing duties in the North of England and Robin Dayes continued in his pursuit of becoming the next world champion....
The Mustos joined the fleets of eleven 29ers and three 14's. Competitors were warned of high wind speeds and racing was postponed until the Northerly breezes dropped to somewhere between 20 and 25 knots, not for the faint hearted... The postponement was dropped and the attempt was made to leave the shore, navigating the tight marina entrance in a 25 knot northerly beating through 170 boats was just the start. Dayes and Newman were first out with David Taylor following. With the breeze levels constant above 20 no others left the beach.
Racing on Port Phillip Bay consisted of a short windward return with 2 laps per race. 4 races per day. Mustos had greater upwind speed quickly gapping the 29ers with Newman always ahead at the windward mark and lightning quick down wind, ever professional and slick, Dayes produced good up wind speed all day however age and a lack of courage slowed the pace down wind. With pressure building, hoisting the kite proved difficult just to get to the centre of the boat, Results were consistent and predictable with Newman taking out races 1, 2 & 3. Winds continued to be stable at 20+ knots and Jono retired for the day after race 3 leaving Paul Newman to take over the Newman dominance in race 4. Paul's light weight V-s Dayes 93kgs proved key in the final racing with upwind speed gains by Dayes and a close downwind finish leaving Paul with a 2 second win.
Sunday's forecast again was wind and plenty of it, racing again postponed with all skiff sailors looking nervous. With Dayes completing all 4 races on Saturday leaving him in a commanding points position, the call to pack up and retire to the bar made perfect sense, however, Dayes after paying his entry fee and seeking his first ever win rigged and joined the racing for two final races with all others sensibly staying ashore. Only two races were sailed, if Saturday was windy then Sunday appeared just as stupid. Reaching the windward mark with a 30 knot gust, Dayes left the kite nice and dry and sailed down wind on the rack for over half the leg. One might say "he had a bit on...."
As Tim would say, "A win is a win" with Dayes completing 6 of the 6 races taking 1st position. 2nd place Jono Newman and Paul Newman in 3rd.
In the media conference after racing Dayes commented that "it was all part of his campaign to become a Musto World Champion..."
Sandringham yacht Club continues to provide world class racing and again Sail Sandy is a key date on the Musto calendar.