Once again Zebra Road Surfacing sponsored the regatta that marks the end of the first half of our sailing season.  Thank you very much Zebra and Andrew and Alison Thompson for your support over the past few years.  Alison went the extra mile again with a fantastic selection of prizes for all the classes and the customary Christmas tree and crackers for all the Optimist sailors.

The regatta was well supported with 65 entries across all the classes.  The scheduled start was set for 10am.  Race Officer Len Davies arrived early with a few other sailors and rowers and they were greeted with a very light southerly.  Those sailors that prefer moderate to light conditions were licking their lips in anticipation at getting back at the heavier wind specialists.  They were obviously unaware that the forecast for the day was a steadily increasing southerly wind.

By the time the racing started at around half past ten the skies were cloudy and the wind was up to around 10 knots.  The switching and gusty southerly steadily increased to around 19 knots by the time the sixth race of the series got underway.   The race officer did a great job in getting all the scheduled races to be sailed.

The Optimist B fleet had an excellent entry and some very close racing with James de Villiers just edging Michael Lambrecht into 2^nd place and Dominique de Villiers finishing with a hard earned 3^rd.  I am sure that the racing will get even closer when the current intermediate fleet join the racing.  The Optimist A fleet also has good racing with David Wilson emerging as the winner this time and once again Emil Feuillette getting the 2^nd.  Dylan Long had to settle for 3^rd this time, while gear failure for Alex Burger relegated him to 4^th position.  The Laser Radials had the biggest class and Brian Hallock fresh back from his lay-off and in his new boat got the win with Ashleigh Crosland in a close 2^nd.

Thanks very much Julie Kilpin & Karl Lambrecht for the fantastic photo’s and Julie for the excellent regatta poster.

Click here to download the results.