Wayne Culph, Clarence Valley Independent
A warm Spring-day and a fresh sea breeze were the perfect backdrop for the first races of the new season at the Big River Sailing Club.
Keen to take advantage of the recent easing of restrictions, a fleet of 22 boats assembled to contest Heats 1 and 2 of the Handicap Series. Among the starting lineup were newcomers Kevin Armstrong (Weta) and Calum Liddle (A Class) who will add to an already healthy multihull division. Hamish Robertson has also traded his position on the deck for a season in a Sabre Dinghy. Hamish will now compete alongside his daughter Emma but suspects it will be sometime before he can claim bragging rights over the talented junior.
Recent Impulse Dinghy convert Gus Young produced the standout performance of the day, the hard yards during the off-season paying dividends with two good wins from as many races. Peter Schaeffer and Nathan Stanton shared the honors in the multihull division and Jack Hayes relished the fresh conditions to guide his windsurfer to a pair of wins in the Juniors.
Next Saturday September 18 the Club will hold further heats of the Handicap Series with a briefing at 1pm before a start at 1.30pm. A reminder the Club is holding its AGM on the same morning commencing at 10am.
Results
Race 1: Div1 – P Schaeffer, N Stanton, B Eggins; Div 2 – G Young, W Culph, J Harrison; Div 3 – J Hayes, E Robertson.
Race 2: Div 1 – N Stanton, B Eggins, C Rutlidge; Div 2 – G Young, W Culph, N Hayes; Div 3 – J Hayes.
This article appeared in the Clarence Valley Independent, 15 September 2021.
