Wallagoot Lake Regatta

[tonyquoll]

Hi,

Apologies to the club for this unauthorised promotion:

An annual regatta is scheduled for March 7 - 8, at Wallagoot Lake, between Bega & Merimbula on NSW's Sapphire Coast.

The lake is relatively small, just fitting a triangle course with 1km between bouys. Nice flat water for going fast. Perfect for 14-16 foot cats I reckon.

The club races I've attended there have been very casual and great fun.

Camping possible at nearby Hobart Beach (Bournda N.P.), Tathra Beach, and others.

[tonyquoll]

Wallagoot Lake Boat Club

2009 Regatta

NOTICE OF RACE

Saturday 7th March & Sunday 8th March 2009

At Wallagoot Lake.

OPEN TO ALL CLASSES

Entries (per boat):

• Postal - received before 27th Feb 2009 - $40 *includes temporary club membership sticker for free parking*

• Pay on the day - $40

Race Times:

Registration: 8:30am– 10:00am Saturday

Briefing: 10:00am Saturday

Race One: 11.00 am Saturday

Race Two: 2.00 pm Saturday

Race Three: 10:00 am Sunday

Race Four: 1.00 pm Sunday

*(Please note: NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service now charge an entry fee of $7 per day into the Bournda National Park where Wallagoot Lake is situated.)

LOTS OF PRIZES, FUN AND SERIOUS RACING!

All classes welcome: monohulls and multihulls, learners and veterans.

Hot showers, food and drinks available at the WLBC during the regatta.

BBQ available on Saturday evening.

For more information contact:

Terry Kirby, Sailing Secretary; 02 64927365

Arild Helland, Commodore; 02 64922402

Alan Holbrook, Club Secretary; 02 64938446

Come and join the friendly Wallagoot Lake Boat Club on the Canberra Day Long Weekend for a weekend of fun filled competitive sailing. The races are smoothly run on Olympic style courses and are open to all classes. Off The Beach dinghies, Cats and Trailer Sailers will all be there.

Come and experience the beautiful Far South Coast of NSW. The pristine Wallagoot Lake is situated half way between Merimbula and Tathra and there is an abundant range of accommodation available in the area or camp on the grassy shores of the lake.

Come and try the BBQ lunches and homemade cakes with freshly brewed coffee or other refreshments during the day and join us for a candlelit dinner overlooking the lake on Saturday night.

Come along and take home some of the numerous prizes donated by our generous sponsors.

We look forward to seeing you there!

[tonyquoll]

Wallagoot Lake Regatta Report

“Here at Wallagoot, we don’t care about who wins, it’s about how much fun you have,” said Commodore Arild at the regatta briefing. The friendly, relaxed atmosphere continued all weekend, with 24 entrants enjoying great racing in perfect conditions all weekend.

The boats were split into 4 divisions; catamarans, fast monohulls (VYC114) and trailer-sailors. Each division had 6 boats each, of many different types.

The catamaran division included Ross on an A-class (YS 71), Tim on a Hobie17 (YS 82.50), Richard on a Nacra 14 square (YS 84.50), Arild on a Windrush sloop (YS 90.5), Max and I on Paper Tigers (YS 91.5). YS = Yachting Victoria Yardstick, from http://www.vic.yachting.org.au/site/yachting/vic/downloads/Yardsticks06_07.pdf

Race 1 was light 5 to 10 knot winds. Ross led early, and won with a substantial margin. Tim, Richard and I all raced closely, with Tim finishing 2nd, and I was just ahead of my dad Richard. Arild was close behind, with Max brining up the rear. On Yardstick I won, followed by Arild and then Tim.

The wind increased slightly in Race 2, to about 8 to 12 knots. Ross again won easily. An early tussle with Tim, Richard and I was split up when I dropped back while doing running repairs to the sail & rudders, while Richard struggled with sail settings on his Nacra. Arild kept up good pace, almost catching the Nacra, but I cut above him and passed just before the line. Max was surprised to find shallow mud along the edge of the lake which took some time to extract the boat from.

Race 3 was sailed in light 8 – 12 knot winds, and consisted of 4 windward returns, with a gate of two buoys to go through at the bottom end. This created lots of interaction between all the divisions, with boats of vastly different speeds rounding the windward mark together. Ross’s A-class led easily, while Tim, Richard and I enjoyed another close race. The 2 bigger cats overtook the Tiger downwind, but with a full sail and hull flying I regained ground to windward. At the finish it was A-class, Nacra, Hobie, Tiger, Windrush, Tiger.

In Race 4 the wind increased to a steady 12-15 knots, which saw the big cat sailors all out on trapeze. The direction shifted with gusts and topography, creating a lift along the western shore during the latter part of the race. Ross was frustrated by lack of speed and the shifting wind, leading all race, but with the others not far behind. Tony & Tim enjoyed a close battle, with Tim’s faster speed negated by Tony’s faster tacks & good start. At the line Tim was in front by about 20 seconds. Arild picked the best way around the course to come in fourth. Richard loved the rare opportunity to get on trapeze, as he usually sails at calm Fitzroy Falls, but was caught by knocks and traffic to drop back in the field. Max enjoyed occasional bursts of speed on the heavy, old Tiger “Why Worry?”, proud of finishing every race.

The regatta results were determined by yardstick calculations, which awarded Tony a clean sheet of 4 wins. Arild came in second with 3 second places and dropping a 4th. Tim came 3rd with a mix of finishing places.

In other divisions, notable winners were a mother & daughter team on an MG, and a well-sailed access dinghy; designed to accommodate disabled sailors. Everyone vowed to return next year, and to try and bring more friends along.

See the club's new website at:

http://geocities.com/wallagoot/

[This message has been edited by tonyquoll (edited 31 March 2009).]