Australian Raceboard Championships

The startline

The recent Australian Raceboard National Championships 07/08, at Sanctuary Point NSW, delivered two spectacular days of sailing with a mix of light and high winds that tested the endurance and skill of the fleet. As event organiser it was pleasing to see a fleet of approximately 40 sailors battling it out. As a sailor in the fleet it was awesome fun to sail on this great patch of water amongst this skilled fleet.

On Saturday morning the forecast for the day was not looking spectacular with light easterlies predicted. As event organiser I was getting a bit worried. However, “Hughie” (the wind god) did not let us down as he delivered a pleasant 5 – 10 knot breeze that made for challenging sailing with many tactical duels throughout the fleet.

Alisha Kawalla, womens winner

The first order of the day was the Junior sailing and Selection event to choose who would represent NSW at the Youth Nationals in January in Melbourne on the Bic Techno. Glen and Nick set a great course and got racing underway. It was fantastic to see the future of the sport out there strutting there stuff.

Once the junior racing was complete Stewart set a great “Z” course for the senior racing that saw some tactical upwind battles as well as some challenging down hill legs that required a lot of pumping in the light winds. To me at least, one of the best things about the racing on the Saturday was the great upwind competition and tacking duels. In the light shifty airs there was some great lifts to pick up that assisted in these battles to the top mark

A total of four races were run on the Saturday which was a challenge in the light winds. There is no doubt about it by the time the last race was run there were some sore hands from all the pumping. But guys, it was worth it to get the last one done as it allowed us to wrap up that little bit earlier on the Sunday.

At the conclusion of Sailing the BBQ was fired up and a few sausages and beers was had. It was great to see the whole fleet discussing the days racing and debating who was quicker than who and what the breeze would do on the Sunday.

A reach to the bottom mark

Sunday arrived and brought with it the breeze and some hangovers from the night before. Two quick races were conducted in 10 – 15 knots and at last we were moving with pace. By the time race 3 and 4 came around the wind had picked up to 15 – 20 knots and the fun really started. Given that we were travelling so fast Nick had to extend the course so that we weren’t completing it too quickly. Despite this, the winners were still doing the course in approximately 15 – 18 minutes and showed blistering speeds.

One of the new initiatives for the weekend was the silver fleet. This has not been done at our national championships before but to my mind was a great idea as it provides an opportunity for the newer sailors in the fleet to compete with the main fleet and rather than get too far behind sail a reduced course and finish at about the same time.

An all round great event, which can only get bigger and better with new Raceboards on the market and new sense of enthusiasm in the air and plenty of young talent on the rise.

James Grunfelder, Mens winner

RESULTS
The winners in the different categories were as follows:

Overall winner - James Grunfelder
7.5 Metre Division - James Grunfelder
10.5 metre Division – Byron McIlveen
Master – Byron McIlveen
Grand Master – Keith Single
Ancient Mariner – Martin Thearle
Woman – Alisha Kawalla
Junior – Brendon Jenkins