Sailors rave to festival
The Australian Sailing and Cruising Club celebrated its 17th annual regatta last weekend with perfect weather and a miraculously close finish.
Six crews in Elliot 6.0 keelboats took part in the annual event which consists of five races from Rushcutters Bay across the harbour and back again.
The day started slowly, with teams struggling to gain momentum from a measly two knot wind, but it all turned around, with a hearty wind picking up in the afternoon.
In theory it’s a serious competition in that some of the people in it have gone off and done the Sydney and Chicago Gay Games and raced national competitions, but it was still pretty relaxed, acting Vice Commandeer of the ASCC Neil Cossor told Sydney Star Observer.
Last year’s runner-up skipper, Dale Collings, was keen to knock off the 2008 defending champion, skipper Gavin Dagely, and it was a dead heat between those two going into the final race.
At the end of the day, Gavin and crew held onto their title, with Dale’s team pipped by one point, but all of that on-water rivalry was soon forgotten as everyone got together for a post-race drink and presentation dinner.
