A small group of our sailors (pictured above) ventured north for the SNSWSSA Zones held at Vaucluse over the last weekend. Everyone including the parents had a fantastic time (especially the evenings at CYC where discussions ranged from non-gossiping religions to the pros and cons of swapping kids).
The weather was rather atypical with strong westerlies of 18 - 20 knots gusting at times to 30 knots. This led to the abandonment of the last race on Monday. Victoria perfomed remarkably well with George Davies winning the Regatta. Second place was taken by our Queensland friend Sean Ott, and third place went to Jeremy O'Connell.
Alison Dale, Oliver Kalpokas and Kate Jenkins also sailed in the regatta and performed well. We had Will Phillips (hot 49 sailor and ex-Sabot sailor) as our coach. Will turned from coach to legal representative and advocate when a dispute arose over "Victorians touching Course Marks". 'Quiet and gentle' Will was quickly replaced by 'rough as guts' Will. This new Will was able to enlighten the Race Committee about certain mark roundings and eventually reverse 2 DSQ's. Kate was distraught at having to miss one race (20 - 25 knots) due to an unfortunate problem with her rudder, but seemed to recover her good spirits while watching Ollie execute a brilliant high speed nose dive and sumersault when returning to our private beach at the end of a thrilling race.
All five sailors were able to experience sailing on the harbour at the upcomming Nationals venue. They saw firsthand the challenges of sailing in a strong tidal stream, as well as the frequently shifting wind directions at that part of the harbour. They also have an insight into the rather complex logistics of sailing at Vaucluse with its 2 ('Black" and "White") clubs, Gibsons Beach in the middle, and limited access to pretty well everywhere. Any sailors / parents contemplating the trip up to Sydney for the Nationals should make a point of having a chat with some of those who went up for the Zones.
To polish off what I hope have been some great holidays, we will be sailing this weekend at SYC. Coaching will commence with some fitness training and will finish will the SYC Grand Prix Race.
See you all on Sunday,
Cheers,
Mario Kalpokas
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