Please select your home edition
Edition
Exposure Marine

Sailing in the bottom of a bucket at the 51st Keepit Kool Regatta

by Lisa Ratcliff & Beau White 2 Jul 2019 22:25 PDT
Keepit Kool moved to Copeton due to water levels © Phil Yeomans - Deckhardware

It's the middle of winter when the breeze usually evaporates along with the warm temperatures and frenzied summer coastal weekend race schedule. For those whose addiction runs deep and need a fix there's the option to burn the savings and head to Europe, or make the best of an inland regatta.

The 51st annual June long weekend Keepit Kool regatta is traditionally run on the Lake Keepit dam but with the water level at a dire 1% organisers reached out to their inland friends for an alternate location and the entire show was moved to Copeton Dam, 200kms further north. Copeton when full covers a huge area and at 9.3% capacity there was just enough water to go sailing.

On the necessary change of location, Lake Keepit Sailing Club Commodore Ian Pine said: "When faced with unsailable water levels at Keepit long-term coastal friends told us they would still support an inland regatta and we decided Copeton Dam was the only option. Once committed, our hard-working members stuck to the task of running a Keepit-style regatta."

Inland winter regattas tends to be a drift-fest but what they lack in breeze they make up for in spades with road trips, quintessential Australian pubs, magical outback scenery, country cooking and hospitality, and time spent with sailing friends and family around an evening campfire.

Thirty hardy crews arrived for the weekend, some from Keepit and New England surrounds while others travelled from Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Kempsey, Sydney and as far north as Southport. Conditions were light over the three days with plenty of droopy flags and shortened course as the wind struggled to get to 5 knots.

"It's extraordinary looking back over the images from that weekend that Australian Sailing's race officer Carl Webster managed to complete five of the six planned races," Pine added.

Smooth water meant competitors across a variety of classes - Lasers, NS15, 13' skiff, Viper 640, Nacra 20, F16s, A-Class, Elliott 7 - were able to sneak along in the zephyrs that slipped down the boulder-strewn dry slopes of the dam. Under dark clouds reflected in the still, deep water - up to 40ms in parts which made putting enough mark tackle down a challenge - the late afternoon scene was apocalyptic. Another description bandied about was 'like sailing in the bottom of a bucket'.

Brett White's Nacra 20 seemed to generate its own breeze in the drifting contest that made up the Multihull series. Brett and son Lachie, fresh from the N17 Europeans in Weymouth, took the regatta honours from the two F16s, As and Maricat.

In the largest Monohull fleet, New England sailor Andy Sawyer earned the Keepit Kool champion's trophy with his Laser called Feral and in the Trailer Sailer division Daniel Beattie's Carribou 15 Derelict out-sailed the fleet.

Ashore, Lake Keepit's hard-working volunteers kept sailors fed and watered from the headquarters at the holiday park bunkhouse, even delivering hot lunches to the dam shores to save the drive back up the dusty road between races.

Following a hearty meal on the Saturday evening the traditional yabby races generated plenty of laughs as sailors and other campers bid on the feistiest of crustaceans only to have them lose an important limb, or worse, between the final bid and when the ice-cream bucket was tipped upside down in the middle of the chalk circle amidst the yelling.

Sunday was trivia night when teams tested their general and sailing knowledge, DeckHardware's Phil Yeomans' input to the sailing category questions testing memories of past Olympic Games medals and Sydney Hobart races.

"Watching and reading news stories on the drought ravaging inland New South Wales and seeing it in reality are very different," said Lisa Ratcliff who raced an F16 with Beau White from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.

"It was good to support the organisers, spend some money with local operators and show our city kids the hardship country areas are facing. Let's hope between now and the 52nd Keepit Kool the rains come to restore hope and replenish the dams so the event can return to Lake Keepit in 2020."

For more information visit website: www.lakekeepitsailingclub.com.au/home

Related Articles

Copa del Rey MAPFRE surpasses 100 entries
Still almost two months to go until the start The Copa del Rey MAPFRE continues to exceed expectations — and this year, it's doing so well in advance. Posted on 23 May
America's Cup: Big changes in crew line-up
Women and Youth crews to sail in AC75 in the next Cup - Final Draft of AC38 Protocol Historic changes are proposed in the Final Draft of the Protocol released by the America's Cup Defender. For the first time a Female and Youth crew members will be part of the six-crew lineup on board the all-electric AC75s. Posted on 23 May
America's Cup: The Blitz of Statements
Various parties associated with the America's Cup released statements calling for more transparency Various parties associated with the America's Cup released statements calling for more transparency in the America's Cup. Emirates Team New Zealand responded by releasing what is tagged as the Final Draft of the Protocol. Posted on 23 May
IMA Maxi Europeans overall
Bella Mente successfully defends her IMA European Championship title The 20 remaining yachts competing in the IMA Maxi European Championship, organised by the Circolo del Remo e della Vela Italia in conjunction with the International Maxi Association, took part in a final coastal race today in a 8-14 knot southwesterly. Posted on 22 May
Cape Horn Hall of Fame nominations close by 30 May
Public nominations open for just a little longer The International Association of Cape Horners (IACH) is calling for nominations for new inductees to the Cape Horn Hall of Fame. Posted on 22 May
America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ respond
Emirates Team New Zealand has responded to the statements sent overnight (NZT) Emirates Team New Zealand has responded to the statements sent overnight by two Challenger teams calling for more transparency in the negotiations over the Protocol and venue for the 38th Match. Posted on 22 May
World Foiling Congress 2025 concludes
Event attracted top industry leaders, experts, and stakeholders The second edition of the World Foiling Congress took place this week at Palazzo della Borsa in Genova (Italy), attracting top industry leaders, experts, and stakeholders from across the global Foiling Community. Posted on 22 May
J/70 UK Grand Slam 2 at Royal Southern Yacht Club
7 races for the North Sails May Regatta Having suffered through some tough conditions in Grand Slam 1, the forecasts were looking hopeful for the second event of the UK J/70 Season. As we got closer to the event it was anyone's guess as to how the racing would pan out. Posted on 22 May
6mR Worlds return to Seawanhaka Corinthian YC
Oyster Bay and Long Island Sound are renowned as some of the best sailing waters in the world Founded in 1871 and located on Oyster Bay, New York, SCYC is America's oldest yacht club and its association with the Sixes goes right back to the class's foundation in 1907. Posted on 22 May
Steering the Course kicks off to #AccelerateAction
World Sailing's global women's sailing festival gets under way soon The 2025 edition of Steering the Course, World Sailing's global women's sailing festival, gets under way on 23 May with a week-long focus on #AccelerateAction in support of this year's International Women's Day theme. Posted on 22 May
Armstrong 728x90 - MA Foil Range - BOTTOMAllen Dynamic 40 FooterDoyle_SailWorld_728X90px_GP BOTTOM