Banjo's Shoreline Crown Series Bellerive Regatta at Bellerive Yacht Club - Preview
by Jane Austin 5 Feb 2020 22:03 PST
14-16 February 2020
The Tasmanian SB20 fleet provides lots of action in the Banjo's Shoreline Crown Series Bellerive Regatta © Jane Austin
Tasmania's summer sailing season reaches its peak in February when local sailors gear up for the Banjo's Shoreline Crown Series Bellerive Regatta hosted by the Bellerive Yacht Club. Regarded as one of the most popular regattas in Tasmania, and drawing entries from across the state, the program for the 2020 event is jam-packed with fantastic racing on the water and non-stop entertainment ashore. The regatta includes a competitive sailing program catering for many classes of boats including racing keelboats, performance cruiser/racers (spinnaker and non-spinnaker), one-design keelboats and an off-the-beach program for the younger sailors.
Bellerive Yacht Club Commodore Graham Mansfield considers the Banjo's Shoreline Crown Series Regatta the pinnacle of keelboat racing in Tasmania. "There are a lot of top yachts in Hobart and they are all very competitive on the water, but great mates off the water. Boats like FilePro, which is owned by Tim Gadsby, Graham Watkins and Stephen Oliver, did very well in the Sydney to Hobart race this year, so we expect to see them in the results. And the perennial War Games, sailed by Wayne Banks-Smith, is really geared up for another fantastic regatta. Wayne usually causes some havoc on the water on performance, so the other teams will be keeping an eye on him," said Mansfield.
The keelboat racing program also includes the second Tasmanian AMS Rating Championship for AMS certified entries and the SB20 One Design Class State Championship. "The SB20s are absolutely fantastic, they are colourful, fast boats that put on a really good spectacle," said Mansfield. Reigning Tasmanian Champions, Porco Rosso, skippered by Paul McCartney, with Ed Snowball and Elliott Noye, will be defending their title against some tough competition in the championship. The State titles serve as a lead-up regatta to the SB20 Australian Championship which will be held in Triabunna on Tasmania's east coast over the March long weekend. The Porco Rosso team, with one crew change, will be fresh from the SB20 Singapore Asian Grand Slam and keen to do well again.
Regatta racing kicks off on Friday night with a twilight race for all keelboats except the one-design classes, and the first warning signal for Saturday and Sunday sailing is 1100 for most classes.
The Banjo's Shoreline Crown Series Bellerive Regatta has a long list of regular sponsors from local business reflecting the strong community support for the event over its 15-year history. The onshore program of entertainment includes live music on the Friday night with the bar open and a variety of food vans available. On Saturday there is more live music, and a wine and cheese afternoon, while Sunday includes the presentation for all divisions and classes in the regatta. Regatta dates are 14-16 February 2020 with results will be posted at www.byc.org.au.