Race Report - Saturday 4 October 2025

All photos by Geoff Boscoe

SPrint Racing

Twenty-six members wisely chose to spend the Saturday of their October long-weekend at DBSC, resisting the allure of the NSW ski fields and the temptation to visit Perth to watch the Wallabies play the All Blacks (it was raining and the Wallabies lost).  They were rewarded with an afternoon of sprint races on a sparkling Sydney Harbour and a shifty 8-12 knot ESE breeze.

Our youth sailors were missed while they competed up at Toronto, but we welcomed back Scott Finlayson from his World Masters campaign in Italy.  Competitors were powered up by the superb pre-race fuel provided by Kate and Michelle, who filled the large void in the canteen left by Paul and Shirley—a huge thank you!

Five short, sharp sprint races were run.  The tricky breeze and short course kept the racing close, demanding that skippers kept their heads (and brains) out of the boat.

In the ILCA 6 fleet, Sylvie Stannage left everyone else to fight for second place when she was competing. Her excellent performances kept her enthusiastic, on-water fan club entertained, while Alistair Sutherland and David Airey battled hard for the minor placings. Juliun Doumit snatched the final race win, closely followed by Kate McHugh.

The ILCA 7 races were very evenly contested with Murray Stone, Quentin Burns, Conor Kellett and Luke Parker taking turns in claiming line honours.

Thanks to our on-water team of Daryl Lawrence, Patrick Black and Omer Konakci, assisted by your Correspondent, for making it all happen pretty smoothly.

- Geoff Boscoe, PRO