12th Classic Yacht Cup Regatta - Day 1
by Alex McKinnon 3 Nov 2018 05:12 PDT
3-4 November 2018
The 12th running of the Classic Yacht - Cup Regatta organized by the Classic Yacht Association of Australia was held on Port Phillip today. Hosted by the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, 13 boats and their crew enjoyed the conditions. Two sailors even made the trip from New Zealand to take part in this year's regatta.
The forecast for the first day's racing was ominous with the bureau predicting winds between 25 – 30 knots in the morning, abating in the afternoon. Fortunately, the wind conditions that greeted the sailors in the morning were only around 20 knots from the NW.
There were two races held on Saturday, with the first starting on time at 1000hrs in around 18 knots from the NW. Race Officer David LeRoy selected Course Seven with a distance of 9.3 nautical miles around fixed marks. It was not long before the fleet spread out over the course. The course was shorted at 19a in an effort to have everyone complete the race within the time limit. Fairwinds skippered by Mark Chew won Race one, on corrected time, and Ettrick skippered by Gordon Tait took out second.
The second race started in similar conditions as the first, but with the wind coming more from the West. While the starting signal for the second race was at 1250hrs there were a number of crews who must have been enjoying their lunch too much and were very slow in getting to the start. David had selected Course Seven again for the fleet but this time the race was not shortened. Race two was a carbon copy of race one with Mark Chew and his crew winning on corrected time and Gordon Tait placing second.
Peter Costolloe CYAA Race Director, described today's racing as "ideal classic yacht racing conditions on Port Phillip". We are looking forward to tomorrows racing with two races scheduled and the winds lights in the morning and increasing in the afternoon with the sea breeze 10 to 15 knots.