Banjo's Shoreline Bellerive Crown Series Regatta 2022 - Day 1
by Jane Austin 19 Feb 2022 03:31 PST
18-20 February 2022
Lots of traffic in the Racing Keelboat Group in the Banjo's Shoreline Crown Series Bellerive Regatta © Jane Austin
If there's one thing you can be sure of in sailing, it's that Ed Psaltis loves to win.
The skipper of the ambitious and tight-knit team of Midnight Rambler has set the pace in this year's Banjo's Shoreline Crown Series Bellerive Regatta, leading on PHS and AMS in the racing keelboat group, and is looking the goods to win a third Tasmanian AMS Rating Championship in as many years.
Racing keelboat Race Officer Steve Shield set a mixture of courses which were sailed in mostly 10-18 knots, with clean starts and close sailing a feature of the day.
Psaltis described the regatta as one of the best he has sailed in recent times. "We are so happy - we just seemed to have the answer for everything, and our tactician, Andy Davison, was a hero - he picked every shift perfectly, and the team responded like a well-oiled machine. While it was consistent sailing, we also had 24 knots at the top mark and lows of 9 [knots] at the bottom, but we responded to everything, just shifting up and down a gear as we needed," said Psaltis.
After five races, Midnight Rambler is on nine points on AMS, leading Whistler (Drew Latham) by four, and is six points ahead of Whistler on IRC. Filepro (Tim Gadsby) is leading on PHS handicap (22 points) from Midnight Rambler on 25 points.
As Tasmania's summer weather turned it on, so did the competition in the 100+ boat fleet with magnificent sailing conditions on the River Derwent. Following on from a hectic Friday night twilight race which saw a few boats sustain minor damage in the gusty conditions, today's conditions were consistent for most of the day, with fluky gusts here and there.
After three races, Xcite (Robin White), is leading in Division One of Performance Cruising on PHS on eight points, one point clear of The Dog House by Qube Containers (Charlotte Frankcombe) while Cromarty Magellan (Richard Grant) leads on AMS. Invincible (Bryan Walpole) is leading in Division Two on PHS and Detail First (Scott Broadby) is in first place on AMS. Jo Breen, skippering Young Lion, is equal with Detail First on IRC in Division 2.
It was a tough day for Wings Three (Pete Haros) losing his mast from the first spreader late in the day, with Gitana (Scott Sutton) also sustaining some damage. Innovator (Ian Smith / Dean Aberle) leads on PHS in Division 3 while C'est Si Bon (Bill Batt) leads in Division 4.
Will Sargent, the 2020 SB20 National Champion and his team of Eddie Reid, Ed Broadby and Eirini Marios have sailed Pinch into a commanding lead in the SB20 Tasmanian Championship which is being sailed as part of the Crown Series Regatta. The talented youth team leads on PHS and is on ten points on one design, with Export Roo (Michael Cooper) in second place on 17 points, and Mind Games (Phil Reid) and Honey Badger (Paul Burnell) both on 21 points. The scores will close up a bit after the drop kicks in after Race Six on Sunday.
In the off the beach sailing group, Tom Fader sailed his 29er, No Stress, to victory in three of the four races today. Executioner (Grace Hooper) is leading the International Cadet Group while Indy Cooper won three from four in the Laser 4.7s. Chill Out (Edward Steedman) has a six-point lead over Anna Pavlides in the Optimists. Snatch (Kirsty Salter) has snagged three bullets in the Sharpies and youngster James Gough leads the Sailboards on eight points.
The forecast is looking good for magnificent sailing conditions on Sunday.
For the racing program and results, visit here.