It has now been two weeks since the Petersville Regatta, Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron’s premier keelboat event. We set a limit of 60 boats which was fully subscribed, with a record number of 37 visiting boats. That means nearly 400 sailors on the water which makes the Petersville by far the largest event on the BYS calendar.
The 2021 event saw a new format with the dropping of the Racing division at the last minute owing to a lack of entries, which meant all the keelboats were in the Cruising divisions so we only needed one course and one start boat. After the keelboats had started, the course was reset for the sports boats which raced a windward/leeward course. It was a formula that worked well and will probably continue next year.
With five different divisions and multiple handicap ratings in each division, it is impossible to list all the winners here but they are available on the Petersville website, www.petersvilleregatta.com.au.
We handed out nearly 200 prizes and presented 35 trophies over the four days of the regatta. The weather was great, the sailing was great, the atmosphere was great and I am pretty sure our visitors enjoyed themselves. What more can I say?
A 60 keelboat regatta does not come about without some considerable effort from a dedicated team of people. The members of our Petersville Working Group were Regatta Manager, Felicia Brown, Alistar Singh, Gavin Wall, Bel Edmondson and myself. Thank you all. And thank you to all the volunteers on the water plus a few other honourable mentions:
- Chris Wilson Protest Committee Chair
- Anna Lewis and Rosie Cobelas Radio operators
- Ginny Thatcher, Jura Liubinas, Jane McKenzie Prize coordinators
- Dave Sherlock and all the F & B team. Great job!
Finally thank you to our visiting race officers. Glenys Hitchen returned for her fourth Petersville and Bronwyn Evans joined us for her first. As usual, the professional way they ran the regatta was a credit to them.
Almost all of the team have put their hand up to go around again next year and I am already counting down the days!
And, of course, a very big thank you to Petersville Regatta sponsors Fever-Tree, Oatley, Doyle, Musto and Sail Racing.
Phil Beattie
Petersville Race Director
