Sprint Racing
With a good few boats away in Queensland at the Australian Open and Youth Nationals, the first weekend of sailing in 2025 was sprints, and Sydney Harbour put on a sparkling Nor’Easter day. A 12 -15kt breeze had already filled in by the time the course was set, with the promise of it building throughout the afternoon. Course length was set for around 20 minutes each to ensure everyone would have a good a workout and blow away those festive cobwebs.
DBSC seemed to be the only club running races, and competitors were slow to arrive at the Club, but by the briefing numbers had swelled to around 25, split between Full Rigs, Radials and the four or so 4.7’s. Racing comprised the standard 2 lap windward/ leeward courses with a 3 minute start sequence, and as predicted the wind steadily built to around 20 – 25k by the time we had run the 5th race. The run-out tide ensured for bouncy up-winds, but plenty of waves downwind, with a quiet harbour meant the washing machine was switched off leaving the wind to do its work.
The right-hand side of the course paid for the first couple of races with Mike Dunne and Alistair Sutherland taking out the honours in the full and radial rigs respectively. After that Craig Shears, Tim Heath, Martin White and Scott Hunter all featured on the podium.
Numbers were depleted for the last race with the 20kt NE and the run-out tide taking its toll, with the 2 on-water RIBs kept busy throughout the day. There were lots of tired, smiling faces on shore at the end of the day, with Sydney Harbour putting on its best to greet 2025.
Thanks to David Huber (LTRaR), Mark Dagworthy (COTD) and Michelle Power (CoCOTD) for their assistance.
- Andrew Simpson, PRO
