Early risers for Day 2 of the Super Series at Sail Port Stephens packed an array of wet weather gear in their sailing bags as rainstorms stalked the entrance to the bay just after dawn.
But ultimately it was a case of no jacket required as the sun lit up the 25 nautical mile racecourse from the start off the Nelson Bay breakwall then on a long upwind leg to a mark just south of Broughton Island.
There was little time to take in the spectacular scenery, though, as spinnakers were hoisted for the trip back along the beach and back into the bay.
Peter Lowndes’s well-known Lyons 49 Wine-Dark Sea, despite being the smallest yacht in the Super Racer Cruiser Division, avoided the worst of a wind hole at the bay’s entrance and capitalised on using a spinnaker pole on the essentially elongated windward-leeward course to post its first win of the regatta.
“We saw a lot of funky stuff going on ahead and sailed in the breeze we got and then got a lucky little puff to get through [the hole],” Lowndes recounted. “As we came back through the heads we just did one gybe and made it to the finish on that – the pole made a difference as boats with ‘assyies’ had to do two or three gybes.
Lowndes thoroughly enjoys the Super Cruiser format. “We’re enjoying sailing up here, the camaraderie, the atmosphere and it’s only a day from Sydney,” he added.
The fresher breeze also meant Geoff Hill’s Santa Cruz 72 Antipodes could use its waterline length to advantage, securing second while the Oatley family’s Wild Oats X made another podium appearance.
No boat has travelled further to be at Sail Port Stephens than Richard Freeborn and Alexandra Early’s Hawkeye, a Lagoon 450F. Roughly halfway through a circumnavigation from the UK they heard about a new division for multihulls at Sail Port Stephens.
“We’ve been in Port Stephens for a couple of weeks and we’ve watched the excitement build,” Alexandra said. “It’s been amazing, people watching from the beaches and waving at us. This is a lovely place to sail – the sheer scale of it, it’s marvellous.”
According to reviews the Lagoon 450F is “celebrated for its massive interior volume, comfortable living spaces, and stable, safe, family-friendly design.”
Hawkeye has no fewer than six fridges, two generators, two watermakers, dive gear plus a fully stocked cellar with dozens of premium vintages. Yet the crew notched a very respectable second behind Two Shea, a Lightwave 38 owned by Nicholas Jones.
“We did take the dinghy off and some spare fuel cans,” conceded Hawkeye co-owner Richard Freeborn. “It’s fantastic to be a part of this, the courses around the islands are stunning and tactical.”
BAY SERIES
In off-the-beach results from the Bay Sailing Centre’s Bay Series, with almost 90 entries across the RS Aero, OK, Finn and Mixed Divisions, Ben Austin’s Shoobydoowah claimed three bullets to lead Unwarranted (Graham Baxendale) and Dr Aero (Neil Long).
James Bevis, sailing Jimmy Wong, was almost as dominant in the 14-strong Finn class, sitting on 4pts from three races ahead of Rob McMillan’s NB Sailsports and James Mayjor’s Does my bung look big in this.
Aboard his OK Dinghy Slake, Brett Morris posted 5pts to hold first place overall, with Splinter (Mark Rutherford) and 791 (Mark Skelton) in striking distance on 7pts and 9pts respectively.
After 30 mixed entries greeted the starter, it was the Spiral Smooth Operator that grabbed the overnight leader’s jersey on 18pts. Tim Brazier’s B14 Brazier was best of the rest, perched on 19pts, while The Dolphins are in the Jacuzzi (Steve Donovan) narrowly holds down 3rd spot, and the ILCA6 Kick (Peter Heywood) 4th.
Crews are anticipating a near repeat of the banner sailing conditions for the final day of Sail Port Stephens, a 12-15 north-easterly for the final day’s racing.
Results: https://www.sailportstephens.com.au/results/
Daily video: https://youtu.be/JPMQTe-NKec
Sail Port Stephens is supported by the NSW Government tourism agency Destination NSW, Port Stephens Council and subsidiary sponsors.
