2021 Manly Cup O'pen Skiff Regatta at Manly Yacht Club
by Bevan McKavanagh 6 Dec 2021 03:57 PST
4-5 December 2021
Last weekend Manly Yacht Club hosted its 2nd annual Manly Cup, which incorporated the NSW State Titles. We had a large fleet of 57 boats across three fleets with a handful of sailors traveling from VIC. Early weather forecasting wasn't looking great with 25knots from the SE, a bit excessive for our needs, although direction wise, a SE is excellent for Manly, probably the most consistent and clear wind directions for sailors in this part of the harbour.
O'pen Skiff regattas split the fleet into Gold (Most experienced) Silver (Less experienced) and Green (least experienced, generally the youngest and often never having raced before). With 17 sailors in Gold, 34 in Silver and 7 in Green. A great mix with lots of new sailors even in the silver fleet, who have never attended a regatta.
Thankfully, conditions abated for Saturday which allowed for 3 races for the gold and silver fleet in the first sailing session at 11:00. SE 15-18knots with a few heavier gusts made for excellent racing in the Gold Fleet. Conditions were challenging for the silver fleet but most of them managed the three races.
The afternoon session was made up of the popular 4-up adventure race. This teams 4 sailors together on the one boat matching the top of the gold fleet with those from the Green Fleet, this encourages the better sailors to share their skills with the less experienced sailors and have them getting to know the other sailors. The sailors love this race and it's great to see the kids coming together to work as a team to get their boat around the course. Anything goes in this race other than pirating, crashing, or taking apart the boat. A fun event for the kids and an even funnier spectacle for the parents watching from shore!
Sunday's forecast was looking better with the SE easing to 12-15knots and for most of the day that's what we had. We managed 4 races for Gold and Silver in the morning with the green fleet hosting a mini regatta close to shore. Sailors were on the water by 10:30 and we managed 4 races to take the overall series to 7 races for both the Gold and Silver Fleet. Congrats goes to Corrado Dorrington for taking the overall 1st place in Gold and the 2021 Manly Cup Champion. Well worth the trip up from his home club of Torquay, Victoria.
Overall Results:
Gold Fleet (Overall)
1st Corrado Dorrington (VIC)
2nd Ollie Ross (1st NSW)
3rd Jonah Griffiths (NSW)
Gold Fleet (U17)
1st Ollie Ross (NSW)
2nd Jonah Griffiths (NSW)
3rd Sophie Drummond (NSW) (1st Female Overall)
Gold Fleet (U13)
1st Corrado Dorrington (VIC)
2nd Toby McKavanagh (1st NSW)
3rd Samual Dalton (NSW)
Silver Fleet (Overall)
1st Lily Klijn (1st female)
2nd Kaia Klijn
3rd Jamie Gill
4th Tom Callander
5th Emma Webb
Full results available here.