Crown Series Bellerive Regatta 2019 on the River Derwent
by Peter Campbell 16 Feb 2019 07:38 PST
15-17 February 2019
Melges 32 Assagai enjoyed the lighter morning breeze in the Crown Series Bellerive Regatta © Ed Glover
A strong sea breeze kicking up choppy waters on the Derwent caused some havoc in today's Crown Series Bellerive Regatta, causing three MOB (man overboard) situations.
One was a young male crew from the SB20 Export Roo, the other a young woman crew from the classic 8-metre, Juanita, and third a teenage girl from another SB20, Obi Kabobi.
All were quickly recovered, testimony to the strict safety rules that apply to yacht racing in Tasmania. All were wearing buoyancy vests and none suffered any ill effects - other than a dunking in the Derwent.
Champion helmsman Sam Tiedemann went overboard briefly from the SB20 Export Roo, skippered by Michael Cooper.
Export Roo was in third place, approaching the finish line when Sam slipped over the side of the sports boat, grabbing a line as he went, and hauling himself back on board.
A female crew member of the 8-metre yacht Juanita, skippered by Jock Young, also fell overboard and was recovered by a Bellerive Yacht Club patrol boat.
Teenager Jorji Cooper also fell overboard from the SB20, Obi Kenobi, skippered by her mother, wellknown yachtswoman Jacinta Cooper.
"She caught her foot in the spinnaker halyard, lost her balance and went oversboard," Jacinta Cooper said last night. "But we got her back safely and we had lots of fun."
The regatta is the Tasmanian championship for the SB20 class and after five races yesterday, Porco Rosso (Elliot Noye) heads the leaderboard with places of 2-2-4-1-1 for 10 points.
Karabos (Nick Rogers) is second overall on 25 points, with defending State champion Pinch (Frazer Read) in third place.
In Racing Division 1, War Games (Wayne Banks-Smith) is leading all three handicap categories, IRC, AMS and PHS after four races.
War Games, with Darren 'Twirler' Jones aboard as tactician, had had three wins and a second in the IRC category, a first, two second and a fourth place in AMS, and a 3-3-2-2 PHS scorecard.
Racing Division 2 results were delayed by a protest, with Paul Einoder's Beneteau Oceanis 34 heading the PHS and AMS pointscores and Stewart Geeves' Young 88 leading Division 2 IRC with three wins and second so far.
The Cruising Group (spinnakers) have notched up three races, with Cromaarty Magellan (Richard Grant) heading the leader board in both Division 1 PHS and AMS.
Hydrotherapy (Jim Thorpe) lead Cruising (spinnakers) Division 2 while in Division 3 the Elliot 4.7, ShrinkEdge, from Port Dalrymple Yacht Club at Beauty Point, holds a narrow lead from club boat Hotdog (Ross Edmunds).
In Cruising (non-spinnaker) The Goo (David Paine) today won two races to lead Sundance (Don Bailey) by just one point after three races.
In a revival for the classic one-design class, the International Dragons have a fleet of six boats in the Crown Series, with Justin Barr making a return to the class in Magic to lead the series after four races.
Each of the four races saw a different winner today: Magic (Justin Barr), Thorvalda (Stephen Henley) and Wicked (Andrew Blakney) with two wins spoiled by an OCS and a DSQ.