Sunday brought a perfect day with offshore E/SE winds moderating in the afternoon to a gently but fluky breeze. FSC were (once again) the perfect hosts, providing a great lunch, the biggest chocolate mud cake I have ever seen and exceptional organisation. Rear Commodore (FSC) Gary Webb also provided his power boat for VIP’s. There were 13 commodores and 13 yachts (well done Dick to organise the boats). As always the draw for commodore and boats was completed before lunch. The race was well fought with Sulphur giving Huckleberry a good race for fastest. It was nearly as keenly fought as the match race for last over the line between Roma II and Seashell, which resulted in a port starboard call on the finish line, there was less than a boat length between the finishing pair.
It was good to see a couple of our female members in charge of the 34’s. Lisa Kerr’s partner Steve is crewing on a delivery in the Caribbean and was stuck in Antigua. They have only had the boat a year, so it was great to see Lisa taking her out for her first trip in charge. Also, Nicola Bessell-Browne took out Arwen. Nicola thought she had the easy job, standing on the coach roof and leaning on the boom, while the commodore sailed downwind. A puff from behind, saw the mainsail back fill, Arwen gybed and Nicola ended up in the water. She was quickly pulled back on board by the crew, didn’t lose a place and rescued two caps that had also gone overboard in the puff.
Unfortunately the Commodore of RPYC couldn’t make it so RPYC Vice Commodore Tony Carter stepped forward. During the draw there were several light heated comments suggesting that RPYC really wanted to win this years 25th anniversary race and had sent in a ringer. Well Tony drew Sulphur, which had only gone back in the water on the Saturday afternoon after an antifoul. As we all know the handicaps are also set by President Dick Newnham. I am surprised that there wasn’t a protest. The amazing thing is that Sulphur has only won once before, the inaugural race in 1981. Well done Tony, Dick and Barbara!
Results
| 1st | Vice Commodore Tony Carter | Royal Perth Yacht Club | Sulphur | Dick & Barbara Newnham |
| 2nd | Commodore Greg Vance | Perth Dinghy Sailing Club | Superstar | Tim Dallas |
| 3rd | Commodore David Watson | Princess Royal Sailing Club | Arwen | Nicola Bessell-Browne |
| 4th | Commodore Malcolm Bryant | Koombana Bay Yacht Club | Swagman | Bill Waldby |
| 5th | Commodore Mark Landwehr | Nedlands Yacht Club | Morning Tide | Jim Putt |
| 6th | Commodore Colin Hall | East Fremantle Yacht Club | Raintree | Bob Porter |
| 7th | Commodore John Anderson | Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club | Huckleberry | Mike Finn (fastest) |
| 8th | Commdore Brian Johnson | Mandurah Offshore Fishing & Sailing Club | Kungari | Geoff Conor |
| 9th | Commodore Guy Skinner | South of Perth Yacht Club | Polaris | Lisa Kerr |
| 10th | Commodore Russell Stephenson | Mounts Bay Sailing Club | Perie Banou III | Col Sanders |
| 11th | Commodore Peter Hector | Fremantle Sailing Club | Roma II | Steve Laws |
| 12th | Commodore Bob Wilcox | Claremont Yacht Club | Sea Shell | John Ruocco |
| 13th | Commodore Kerry Lewis | Hillarys Yacht Club | Individual | John Sanders (owner David Gray) |
Past Results
Click here to read more about the Commodores race
Photos
