Race Report Sunday 28 June 2026

All photos by Rod Barnes

Winter Championship / Point Score Races 22 & 23

Sunday morning started cold and overcast, with light breeze shifting around from the south to south-west. There was mist sitting around the harbour and, while it was not exactly warm, it was still a pretty good morning to be out on Sydney Harbour.

The race management team had an eventful start before racing began, with the Jazzman battery flat. This gave the PRO and LtRAR a lesson in Jazzman roadside assistance, which was useful, although hopefully jumpstarting is not something that needs regular practice.

The first course was set racing West towards the Man-of-War Anchorage mooring, off the north of Clark Island and with the start line about two-thirds of the way towards Shark Island. Unfortunately, the breeze shifted hard enough south that the first attempted race had to be abandoned and the course reset. This led to plenty of mark shifting and head scratching from the race management team as we tried to find a course that would hold, with the breeze being knocked around by the passing rain clouds.

Once racing resumed, the fleet was keen to get away and perhaps a little too much. The outgoing tide was not enough to hold the fleet back from the line, with a general recall in each class before the black flag came out. That seemed to settle things down, with the fleet giving the line a lot more respect. Racing then got underway for Races 22 and 23, with some smaller adjustments between races as the breeze continued to shift. Race 24 was not started, with the morning finishing after two races in light and testing conditions.

Race Results - Winter Championship:

ILCA 4:

Race 22: Clifford Gates 1st, Charlie Wait 2nd (only two boats finished)

Race 23: Hiro Jacobsen 1st, Charlie Wait 2nd, Clifford Gates 3rd

ILCA6:

Race 22: Zac Howell 1st, Raphael McLachlan 2nd, Daryl Lawrence 3rd

Race 23: Wakako Kajimoto 1st, Raphael McLachlan 2nd, Daryl Lawrence 3rd

ILCA7:

Race 22: Healy Ryan 1st, Quentin Burns 2nd, James Tudball 3rd

Race 23: Healy Ryan 1st, Quentin Burns 2nd, Grant Lovelady 3rd

Race Winners - Point Score Handicap:

ILCA4: R22: Clifford Gates, R23: Charlie Wait

ILCA6: R22: Megan Ross, R23: Daryl Lawrence

ILCA7: R22: Sam Slattery, R23: Quentin Burns

Final results for the 2026 Winter Series:

Please check the Sailor App for complete results.

Also, a friendly reminder to sign on before racing, as several boats confessed after finishing that they had not, giving the race team a few extra mysteries to solve.

A big thank you to Rodney Barnes as PRO/Instructor, David Murphy as COTD, Alessandro Buzzatti as CoCOTD, and Daryl Lawrence as Handicapper.

- Ryan Aldrich, LtRAR