Richard Robertson Landscapes Sailing GP – Event #3
Anzac Day 25th April, 2024
‘Lest We Forget’
The Anzac Day Remembrance Ceremony with host speaker, Vice Commodore Georgina Plumridge, shall be remembered for her heartfelt reflections, in addition to the amazing performance of Celeste Robertson playing ‘The Last Post’ and ‘Rouse’, which echoed through the Marina off the hard stand with chilling emotion. Subtle reminders to us all, that freedom and sailing is a privilege at Blairgowrie; ‘Lest We Forget’
With that in mind, we held the inaugural Lone Pine ‘Two Up’ Mateship Teams Race, in 16-18 knots from the southwest, as a curtain raiser to the feature Sailing GP events.
Combining paired competitor’s scores, in a remembrance race, the highlight was firstly Chris Coglan’s dramatic exit to the race with a rig collapse, followed by a dazzling display from Chris Batty (AUS 1331) to finish first, closely followed by his team mate Gareth James (AUS 1330) in fourth. Combined they would to take out the much sought after team’s mateship title.
The last event (#3) of the Sailing GP series would turn out to be memorable journey, close combat sailing, which resulted in Chris Batty, Dean Taylor, Richard Robertson and Simon Plum, all mixing it up, to all have individual bullets on the day.
At the completion of seven fleet races, scores would be deadlocked at the top of the leader board, but it would be Richie that would qualify first on a tied countback with Simon.
In the RRL Event # 3 Final Race, Richie with focus would charge clean off the start line, and not look back in a classic display of smart sailing on lifting shifts, covering the fleet at all times. However, the day also heralded the arrival of rookie Gaz James to the Wind Warrior fleet; his 2nd place signalling that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the future!
Maw Civil Sailing GP – ‘Grand Final’
The Maw Civil WWSGP Grand Final saw some eager sailors roll the dice off the start line, heading to pressure in the corners, whilst others would back themselves and simply sail the Wind Warrior fast on lifted tacks in the centre with good thought processes. Both could pay off in the shifty conditions, if you got it right!
As race unfolded, the breeze died off to almost 5 knots down the first run, and the entire fleet were within 10 metres of each other…. it was anyone’s game? But as the breeze again freshened to 15 knots, the race would unfold with Richie and Simon streaking away in a battle to the very end. As they came down the last run side by side looking for the last rounding mark to head back up to the finish, either one could win the championship for the year….. in a mere 100 metres of sailing!
They say ‘fortune favours the brave’ and it would be ‘Avalanche’ (AUS 1366) helmed by Simon who backed himself to lead ‘Super Spreader’ (AUS 1335) skippered by Richie across the finish line, by under a boat length in separation. Dean Taylor in ‘Blue Bagger’ AUS 1327 making up the podium in cleverly sailed third place.
Simon would ultimately take out the inaugural Sailing GP Championship for the year by an exciting mere boat length, but the real winner for the day was sailing at BYS, in a new format that produced excitement and laughs right up until the very end.
The Wind Warriors will next be seen at the Wind Warrior Worlds at Lake Macquarie in early November, where we will see the New Zealand fleet in full flight.
