18 October 2012
Six Fireballs were present at Largs Bay Sailing Club for the first race of the season proper. A warm day and shifty winds of 5-8 knots greeted the fleet-a welcome change for some, following the wet and windy Opening Day race last weekend. With light winds and current club champions Matthew Carter and Matthew Neale absent, the race was on for young and old.
After a short postponement, the fleet got a clean start. Magic Moose (AUS 14587), sailed by brothers David and Michael Arnold looked good early, but faded quickly after missing a few big shifts. Daryl Carter and Damien Chambers (Raging Ball, AUS 15000) recovered from a poor start to lead at the first mark, with a good combination of speed and tactics. The experienced duo were followed closely by newcomers Adam Common and Fraser Thorn sailing Bit On (AUS 14572), with Invictus (James Murphy and Nick Neale, AUS 14545) third and Magic Moose fourth.
However, a navigational error at the top mark by Raging Ball saw the first three boats head for the bottom mark instead of the wing mark. This had reversed the top four by the time the fleet rounded the gybe mark.
Raging Ball managed to climb one position in the remainder of the race, but the top two were too fast to be caught. Murphy and Neale sailed a smart and fast race to finish second, close behind the Arnold brothers in Magic Moose and well clear of Raging Ball in third.
Final results will be available from the Largs Bay Sailing Club website soon: www.largsbay.yachting.org.au
Michael Arnold.
