Competitors rig their boats on day one amid ideallic Whitsunday conditions

The Sail Iceberg 2011 NQ Easter Regatta, hosted by the Whitsunday Sailing Club couldn’t have taken place on a better weekend. Conditions were perfect - with clear skies and fair breezes gradually building over the duration of the regatta.

43 boats turned up to take part in this year’s Easter Regatta, with a strong Laser division and a big turnout of junior sailors in Sabots, Optimists and O’pen bics. Five Tasars also took to the water, racing on yardstick in the “Mixed Monos” division against Corsairs and an RS Feva.

This year saw a division of RS100’s compete for the first time in the Whitsundays. The division was filled out with four boats, including one sailed by Performance Sailcraft’s Nathan Ellis, who was on hand to promote the RS100 class as well as lend a hand to some of our Laser sailors.

Unfortunately the numbers in the Catamaran division were down on previous years, due to many of Queensland’s Nacra sailors being away at the Nacra state titles in Bundaberg. Two catamarans – a Hobie Tiger and a Tornado – took to the water to enjoy increasingly faster races as the wind built over the weekend.

A Great Range of Conditions

Day one started sailors off gently with glorious clear skies and gentle 8-10 knot breezes for the afternoon’s two races.

The trend toward light wind continued the next day with morning racing being postponed until the wind picked back up to 10 knots and settled in direction. This time sailors sailed two shortened courses before returning to the water in the afternoon for one full, and one short course race. By this time the wind had picked up nicely with 12 – 15 knots providing some more pace downwind.

Day three saw plenty of excitement! In the morning 15 – 18 knot winds with a healthy dose of Pioneer Bay’s trademark shifts and bullets kept sailors on their toes – and from time-to-time tipped them into the water!

Plenty of weary (and hungry) faces could be seen at lunch - and with the wind building some decided to relax for the afternoon rather than punish themselves in the bigger gusts. The two afternoon races were held in winds of 18 – 20 knots with gusts up to 25 knots providing some very exciting reaches to and from the wing mark!

Senior Results

In the Catamaran division, Brendan Effeny, sailing the Hobie Tiger, took out first place over the team in the Tornado.

Performance Sailcraft were on hand to promote the RS100 class, while a strong laser division rigs for racing on day one

In the RS100 division Nathan Ellis showed his form by taking out first place in all but one race - where Guy Chester from Tinaroo crossed the line first. Second place was a very close call with Mike Tolley finishing one point ahead of fellow Tinaroo sailor Guy Chester. Special note was made at the presentations of the terrific effort put in by fourth placed Jack Chester, who despite many capsizes kept on going.

Prizes were awarded to Laser sailors in two “divisions” – one being the full and radial rigs, and the other being the 4.7’s. Chris Connell, who had travelled all the way from the Gold Coast to take part was the clear winner in the full rig division with a swag of first and second places. Whitsunday sailor Dan Townsend, having only recently stepped into a Laser 4.7 took out the 4.7 division.
When viewed as a single division, the result between Chris and Dan was incredibly close – with the two of them tied on points and Chris taking out first place on countback!

In the laser full/radial division, Bowen’s Tony Buckingham took out second place, followed by Whitsunday’s Steve Townsend. Second place in the 4.7 division was taken by Kevin Noonan, while third went to Ben Osborne from Mackay.

The Mixed Mono division was won by Bill and Jenny Mairs in their Tasar, winning narrowly over Bruce Carter, Jim Hayes and Anne Clark who placed second in their Corsair. Daniel Scott and Steve Gibson took out third place in their Tasar.

There was plenty of close racing in the Junior fleet, with the Sabots dominating early on and the Optimists moving up the field as the wind strength increased over the regatta.

Junior Results

A strong turnout of junior sailors in Sabots, Optimists and O'pen bics were among the competitors

The juniors raced in two divisions - with the younger sailors sailing a shorter course. In the first division on overall yardstick, Emma Barsi took out first place with Jack Turnbull and Cain Williams in second and third place respectively.

Prizes were also awarded to the first, second and third Division 1 Optimists, with Eva Lorenz in first, followed by Brendan Hoffman and Ollie Annear in second and third.

Of the Division 1 Sabots, Emma Barsi won first place with Jack Turnbull, Chris Barsi and Jamie Torplund in second, third and fourth.

Prizes were also awarded to Division 1 sailors on a personal handicap basis, where any sailors who had one a place in the yardstick competition ineligible. Taking out the top spot in the personal handicap was Tim Fryer, followed by Dane Bulder and Lucy Osborne.

In Division 2, overall yardstick, Aidan Gummow took first, followed by John Hatfield (and crew) and Samuel Smith in second and third place.

Thankyou!

The Whitsunday Sailing Club would like to extend a huge thank-you to the volunteers (both on and off) the water who helped make this regatta a success.

Thanks to our P.R.O Tim Parker for an excellent regatta, and a big thank-you to volunteer Shannon Hart who set the courses and was on hand in the safety boat. Joining Tim on the start boat were volunteers Andrew and Heidi, and (on the final day) competitor Kevin Noonan lent a hand.

Running the junior courses were: Jeremy Cooper, with Amthony Hoffman, Dave and Gayna Turnbull, Jim Barsi, John Hatfield (snr), Jeff Osborne and Grey Annear all lending a hand on-water with course setting, time taking and safety boat duties.

A special mention must be made of our tireless volunteers off the water, with Angela Rae, Tania Watson, Alli Swaine, Jacqueline White, Ian (“Frog”) Davey, Kim Bels and Cheryl juggling many duties in the kitchen and around the regatta.

Bruce Carter helped by organising club charter boats for competitors while Daniel Scott and Steve Gibson lent a hand with the results.

A big thank-you must also go to regatta organisers Jim Hayes and Roger Stewart.

Last but not least: thank-you to all of the competitors for making the trip from various towns along the coast - some even from New South Wales and the Gold Coast! We’re so glad that this year the weather rewarded that travelling with some terrific sailing and some absolutely perfect camping on the waterfront.

See you all next year!

Further Reading

View Results for Senior Divisions

View Results for Junior Divisions

Check out the current list of entries, and if you’re planning on pulling your boat out from under it’s cover this weekend then let us know about it by filling out an online entry!

If you need some added inspiration check out what the weather has been doing here in Airlie Beach.

Cannonvale Beach this morning at 9:50am (21st April, 2011)

After a rainy start to the year, things are finally looking up. The weather in Airlie beach has been fine for the last week, with favourable breezes.

This morning saw very light airs on Pioneer bay, with wind gradually building as the daylight hours tick by. Current forecasts for this weekend are for 5-10 knots in the morning, building to 10-15 in the afternoons.

Sailing conditions on Sunday (the 17th) were perfect, with sunny weather (through some scattered cloud cover) and steady 10 knot breezes and plenty of sustained 15 knot gusts.

Read more in “Who’s Coming” >>

If you’re thinking of joining us this weekend, head on over to our online entry page.

* Hire rates are all inclusive for the duration of the regatta (three days).

For more information, or to reserve a boat, please use our general enquiry form, or phone Jim Hayes on 0400 854 008.

If you decide to come along this Easter, your entries can be registered online via our online entry form at www.easterregatta.com.au/contact/entry. Entering online means your sign up form will already be printed and ready to go when you arrive!

We look forward to seeing you on the water this Easter!

Head on over to the Race Reports page at www.easterregatta.com.au/race-reports for further details. Stay tuned for a general regatta wrap-up and photo’s to be added shortly.

Both documents can be downloaded from the official website at www.easterregatta.com.au/about/nor.

If you decide to come along this Easter, your entries can be registered online via our online entry form at www.easterregatta.com.au/contact/entry.

We look forward to seeing you this Easter - it’s so close now!

A great turnout of boats arrived for the weekend

The weekend’s weather was quite a mix - starting off with a few showers and gusty winds on Friday. The organizers were concerned that the weather may keep a few boats away - but many of the hardy crews and supporters had traveled from as far away as the Atherton Tablelands and Bundaberg, so all were keen to enjoy themselves regardless of the weather.

Competition was amazingly close in the Tasar fleet

Rescue crews were kept busy on both Saturday and Sunday mornings with only 36 of the 65 entrants completing the morning race. The rest either turned back or were towed back to shore.

The Sunday afternoon conditions were much more favorable with moderate 15 to 18 knot southeasters. Everyone was particularly happy to see the sun make an appearance in what turned out to be a beautiful afternoon for sailing.

Great fun was had off the water with plenty of great food and music

Off the water, the Osbourne family (Tim, Maize, Storm, Ruby and Rose) with the help of Whitsunday Sailing Cub chef Allan Tate did a brilliant job of feeding over 120 people breakfast, lunch and dinner over the three days. Sunday dinner saw hungry competitors and their families devour a delicious spit-roasted pig in record time.

There were live bands every night and a lot of onshore fun capping off a great on-water event. Not a single racing protest reached the protest room - an indication of the fun and good-spirited atmosphere of competition.

The organizing committee, consisting of; Jaymie Worrell, Ross McMullen, Jim Hayes, Dale Mitchell and Terry Archer put in countless hours in a first-rate effort, which was greatly appreciated by the Whitsunday Sailing Club executive committee.

Many different boats, many different sailors - a Foiling Moth flys out of the water

The success of this regatta surely cements Whitsunday Sailing Club as a leader in off-beach sailing to match the position of the club in off-shore sailing. Premier annual events, such as Meridian Airlie Beach Race Week and the Great Whitsunday Fun Race now have an off-beach equivalent in the Easter Regatta.

The overwhelming attendance success was put down to the regular email communications and Website, thanks to the great work by Daniel Scott of Resolv.

The club would like to thank all of the sponsors for their support, starting with Concept Tiles and Voice2Net Telecom as naming rights sponsors. We also thank Storage World, Home Hardware, Cruise Whitsundays, Burnups Furniture Court, Quadrant Marine, Marlin Marine, Rick Rose Marine and Whitsunday Marine Management for their support with funding and prizes. Special thanks also go to Tony Logan of Waterline on Shingley for his support with furniture and refrigeration.

Last, but certainly not least, the Whitsunday Sailing Club would like to thank all of the competitors for making the trip to Airlie Beach this Easter. It was a pleasure hosting the event and we hope to see you all back in Airlie Beach soon.

The next Big event for the off beach contingent of the Whitsunday Sailing Club will be the Spring Regatta on the 26^th and 27^th of September this year, but between now and then, our sailors will be off to the other North Queensland events.

See you all soon

Terry Archer
Rear Commodore Off-Beach, Whitsunday Sailing Club

More about the weekend…

See race results here

Leave your feedback about the weekend here