-By Mark Rothfield-
The 1200km drive north is done and dusted, so too registration and boat weighing. Now, all that remains to awaken Queensland tourist town Hervey Bay from its summer slumber is for racing to commence tomorrow in The Boat Club Australian 13ft & 16ft Skiff national titles.
As if on cue, the tropical tradewinds have arrived with gusto, and crews who braved the conditions today were rewarded with downwind speeds of over 20 knots. Henceforth, however, the sou-easters are predicted to temper to around 15 knots tomorrow and abate further as the week progresses.
Entries for the 13ft skiff division stand at 21, while 54 16-Footers will hit the start line around 3.30pm tomorrow for Race 1.
The venue is neutral for many of the crews as nine years have elapsed since host Maryborough Sailing Club last staged the nationals. The opening salvo will see past winners Bosker Build (Sarah Lee), Imagine Signage (Nathan Wilmot) and Moonen Yachts (Daniel Turner) all striving for early ascendancy, with IMEI (Joel Beashel) posing a significant threat.
Beashel, 17, isn’t looking too far ahead in the nine-race series: “It should be pretty fun and pretty tricky racing out there,” he said. “We’re pretty well rounded in most conditions so really our ambition is just to be happy with the performance we put in.”
One of 20 Belmont entries, Swell Racing hit the water today and felt right at home.
“It was fairly bumpy and we saw speeds of around 22 knots, but it didn’t feel that much different from a good southerly on Lake Macquarie,” crewman Felix Prince said. “We’re not too phased about whether it’s light or windy, we’ll just try to be as consistent as possible for the whole regatta.”
Reigning Australian Sprint champion Rod Carter from Insight Building Services/NAVS believes starts and tactics will play a bigger role than the weather. “The fleet quality is amazing this year, so if you get buried in the second row it will be very hard to claw back a good result,” he said.
“In terms of our expectations, we’d like to finish in the top 5 but realistically we’d be happy with a top 10 placing. Looking at the forecast, with the wind lightening later in the week, we feel like we’re pretty balanced across the wind ranges.”
Manly 16s skipper Alex Hart, from Fire Stopping, is keen for plenty of breeze on the open waterway. “It was good fun out there today, loved it,” he said. “We’ve only sailed together six times as a crew, so we’re hoping to improve as the week goes on – maybe a top 15 placing after we came 9th in the NSW titles.”
Harvey Windust, aboard the 13ft skiff EBIX, believes Harken will be the boat to beat, with Cybertech and Sail Media the main dangers. Sail Media skipper Ben Milham is excited about his prospects: “We’ve never sailed here before, but it looks great out there. We’ll just be aiming for a good start in clear air and go from there.”
The series concludes on Saturday, 11 January. Key regatta sponsors are The Boat Club Hervey Bay, Fraser Coast Regional Council and Fraser Island Boat Charters. More details at the event website.
Cover image – Manley entry, Fire Stopping – Photo by Promocean Media
