Fifty-seven boats contested the Beyond Bank Regatta which was hosted by Batemans Bay Sailing Club over the weekend of April 28th and 29th. Crews came from Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and everywhere in between. Saturday was not the most pleasant day with light winds in between the showers that passed over the course and a sloppy sea which made life difficult for the committee boat crew at anchor in the middle of the Bay. Sunday was worth waiting for with sunny conditions and a consistent 10 to 15 knot breeze.
On the offshore course there were strong fleets in the Lightweight Sharpie, 505 and Laser classes. The other boats were grouped into divisions which raced each other on yardsticks based on the known performance of each type of boat. The Hansa class raced on the more sheltered waters between Snapper Island and Corrigans Beach.
The Lightweight Sharpies featured a close contest between “Truck” skippered by Todd Curry which won on a countback from “Smoke” (Michael Forster). There was a more clearcut victory for Daniel Keys and Daryl Roos sailing “Intergalactic” in the 505s. The Laser class was taken out by Tasar legend Rick Longbottom, who sails a Laser in his spare time. The big dinghies division was won by former Tasar world champion Rob Douglass who had borrowed a Flying Dutchman and linked up with James Burman for this regatta. The small dinghies division was won by Lachlan Brown sailing his Spiral Dinghy “Humbug”. In the trailerable yachts there was only one crew, BBSC’s very own Alan Rees and Dave Gibson sailing “Tradewind”, and they won convincingly.
The big cats division was taken out by the Hobie 16 “In the Moment” crewed by James Rhodes and Noah Skewes. The small cats division was actually a contest between a cat and two trimarans, with the Hobie 14 catamaran “Macboat” sailed by sailmaker Adrian Mills coming out ahead.
In the Hansa dinghies there was a popular winner in Tish Ennis who was quick to praise the sailors with disabilities who competed in this class with some of the boats being specifically modified.
The regatta was made possible by the many volunteers who put in their time and skill over the course of the weekend. These included onshore manager Robin Davey, chief number cruncher Terry Paton, crews from Yachting ACT and YMCA Sailing Club in Canberra who provided rescue boats, BBSC power boat owners and their crews who positioned the course markers, the long suffering committee boat crew aboard “Clarence the Clocker”, the Sailability committee boat crew including Race Officer Michael Leydon who ran the inshore course and Principal Race Officer Phil Yeomans who came down from Sydney to run the event.
Full results are up on the BBSC website www.bbsc.org.au.
– Lachlan Brown
