2007 Perth Metropolitan Championships

Hub Bell won the 2007 Perth Metropolitan Championships sailing a consistant series, without having too many slip-ups. The regatta was held at Jackadder Lake, on a bright, windy, autumn day. The breeze blew from the East early in the morning, and was forecast to swing gradually to the south as the day progressed.

 

PRO for the event was Richard Fielder. Richard made his debut in this role, and he managed the skippers, the racing and the event quite well. Gordon Loan managed the scoring. His expertice in this area is greatly appreciated by all.

 

The course was set facing into the morning sun, and the windward bouy right out in the middle of the lake - interesting at the top mark! The racing got underway with a newcomer to the WA scene taking out the first race. Andrew Crocker has sailed One Meters in the UK, and showed a clean transom to the fleet in race one. Unfortunately, minor gear failure hampered Andrew's next few races, but he improved later in the event.

 

Five different heat winners in the first five heats indicated that there would be no room for inconsistancy. Some of the fancied skippers were battling to record finishes in the top three, which was keeping the door open  for the chasing fleet.

 

Unfortunately for Justin McAullay, his Bag managed to nosedive in an early heat, and the deck patch popped off, meaning the boat was taking on water rather quickly. Down she went, and only a complete dunking by Justin managed to retrieve the boat. That put paid to Justin's day, which was a pity, as he has been sailing very well lately. Justin becomes the newest member of the "Goldfish Club".

 

Glenn Dawson managed to have a clash of sporting commitments early on Sunday morning. Having to play in a Grand Final at basketball, meant missing the first five heats. On arrival, there was another contender for the front few places. After taking a race to get up to speed, he managed to reel off seven wins and a couple of second and third places for the remainder of the day. Anything after a Grand Final win meant that he had a good day.

 

All skippers opted for A rigs throughout the day. There were many times when the B rig would have been nice, but there were a few too many holes in the wind to make changing a good proposition. The fleet managed their boats reasonably well in the marginal conditions. We had 12 boats make it to the end of the day, with two of them pulling out prior to lunch. The other two made it almost to the end of the day. The quality of the preparation of the boats is certainly improving each year.

 

Unfortunately for Gary Cotterell and Ivan Tan, some fairly major malfunctions put paid to their day. Gary kindly stayed on to assist Richard in course setting and keeping the event moving. Ivan lost a mast, and worked hard to get back on the water for the last few races, but to no avail.

 

Mention must go to Henry Mareria sailing in his second regatta. Henry managed to see out the day, getting to the finish line 15 times in the 20 races. For a newcomer to sailing, Henry did really well. We were also happy to see another new member in Kevin Noy joining in the event. Kevin shows great enthusiasm, and I'm sure will be around for some time to come.

 

Congratulations to the podium finishers. Hub Bell won from second placed Jeff Green. Glenn Dawson managed to just pip Chris Woods to finish third. Overall, the competitors enjoyed the day. The sailing was competitive and occasionally got a bit willing, but skippers behaved themselves in a sportsman like fashion.