Geographe Bay Race Week 2026 - Day 3
by TP72 Nautical Imagery 17 Feb 23:42 PST
14-20 February 2026
Well, Day 3 of GBRW26 had a very interesting start! Rumour has it that the Race Director's dog (a cheeky blue staffy named 'Jed') stole the 'wind remote' overnight and buried it in the garden! With the obvious outcome - a classic Geographe Bay glass out!
With morning windward-leewards scheduled for the sportsboats and a passage race of the main fleet, the AP went up at 7am sending a lucky few back to bed for a couple of extra hours of well earned shut eye!
But this didn't deter our avid Flying Fifteen and Viper sailors who were determined to finish the series after an 'alleged' big night out on the town. Amusingly, some of the VX One crews were seen munching on croissants and sipping on long mac's (topped up in true WA fashion - of course) at Geographe Marina's delectable Periscope Cafe, deciding to give the light conditions a miss!
Whilst the main fleet remained under AP, the sportboats managed to push out one final race just outside the marina entrance in a light and shifty easterly, with chief marklayer and Royal Perth Yacht Club stalwart, Travis Burtenshaw saying: "The breeze just wasn't cooperating - it was swinging more than 100 degrees. We had to re-lay the course three times!!!'
However, this final race proved crucial with the Flying Fifteens, breaking their three way tie resulting in Brad and Nat on "Blue Bottle" taking home the regatta win. In the Viper/ VX One fleet it was Chris, Angus and Lucas on the VX One "Protopia" who took home the silverware, despite missing the final race - for a full round up of results from the sportboat course please see the Raceweek website.
With the sportboats out of the way and safely back on their trailers, sailors headed into town for a tasty lunch at one of Busselton's many cafe's and restaurants, before heading down to the yacht club to watch the afternoon's racing.
Over the lunch break someone found the 'remote' and turned the wind back on, with a cheeky 10-15 knot nor'wester filtering in off Cape Naturaliste. As if by design, this put the windward-leeward racecourse for Divisions 1-4 right out the front of the clubhouse, with the start boat only a few hundred meters offshore and next to the iconic Busselton Jetty.
Racing got under way at 1pm with the Division 1, Super 30's and S97's all aimed at the Cape, with the top marks close to two nautical miles out to sea. The resulting spinnaker run back to the inshore, bottom gate created an explosion of colour across a sparkling sea.
The race committee had the first windward leeward done and dusted before 3 pm, but not without some controversy as some sailors decided to show off their match racing skills! However, Race Officer Rod quickly tidied that up and launched into the second race as the breeze moderated a few knots in an ominous sign of what was to come.
Earlier in the day local legend and sailing personality Ben Roodhouse had said: "The seabreeze (sou'westly) has been coming in late this year. The nor'wester seems to be holding it out but at 4 pm it comes charging in". Well, you'll never guess what happened?
Bang on schedule, as the Division 1-4 fleets were on their final downwind leg of Race two, the seabreeze decided to drop in for a guest appearance, leaving the front runners to finish in a dying nor'wester, the middle of the fleet stuck in a windless transition and the back coming down on top of them in a 15 knot seabreeze, close hauled. Of course panic and chaos ensued, making for some very entertaining finishes and an interesting results sheet - ah, the joys of sailing.
But "What of the other fleets?" I hear you ask...
Divisions 5-9 also had an enjoyable afternoon navigating the beautiful waters of Geographe Bay, with RO Dubbo challenging the fleets to a downwind start near the end of the Jetty. Dubbo sent the fleet on an elegant passage race that sent the cruisers back toward the marina before reversing course and traversing a series of marks off Broadwater, creating quite the spectacle from the shore and a magnificent backdrop to the inshore racing. The 4 pm wind shift also caught a few of the tailenders but delivered all the boats a rapid finish.
Just another day on Geographe Bay...
Tomorrow is layday but we're back on again with more windward-leewards and passage racing on Thursday. Enjoy!