2018 Botany Bay Easter Regatta – Race Report

Who says it’s always raining in Sydney over the Easter Long Weekend???

This Easter, the sun shone and the kites flew at the 2018 Botany Bay Easter Regatta, held on the waters of Botany Bay under the flight path of Sydney International Airport.

Five teams raced over the two day regatta, 3 from Cronulla Sailing Club lead by TINTO and Steven Wright, 3rd at the Nationals at Sandringham in January, FUN with Jared Macquart current Cronulla J24 rep and Mick Reynolds with SLIPPERY. From Botany Bay came Marc Van Dinter on PINOT with his AUSSEA Sailing Sea Crew and Terry Wakefield on Hop Step the local contender.

Racing got underway in shifty light conditions at 1200 Saturday, TINTO broke away and established them as the boat to beat, PINOT in second and FUN in third, too keep this short, this order was solid throughout the regatta, with FUN and PINOT alternating results.

Day two saw the teams arrive on course with little to no wind however that soon changed when at 1200 the wind came from the NE and we got underway for the final day. TINTO again assumed the lead position all credit going to Steve and his steady crew proving team work and commitment to the cause will always see you through (Best of luck at the Worlds in Italy later this year). PINOT and FUN continued the battle however in the stronger conditions the hardened strong wind and big swell sailors from Cronulla came to the fore with FUN scoring three seconds and even a first in the final race (Look out TINTO, FUN’s coming!!)

Over all, TINTO first with 7 points, followed by FUN on 14, and PINOT on 19. On performance, FUN in first followed by SLIPPERY and PINOT in third.

The J24 Southern Sydney Fleet wish to thank the Botany Bay Yacht Club for conducting the event with special mention to all the volunteer members on start boats, buoy boats, cooking BBQ’s and organising the Bar. Put simply, at this grass root level without volunteers our sailing just would not be happening.

A big thank you also to the supporters of the regatta, Herrick Sailmakers, WetTech Rigging, Infinity Rigging and AusSea Sailing School.

The next J24 Regatta on the calendar is the 2018 Cronulla J24 Winter Championships. NOR is now available on the J24 Australia website and entries will be taken shortly by the Cronulla Sailing Club.