Wallagoot Lake Boat Club members congratulated Jeff Hope for winning the handicap-start race at Wallagoot Lake on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The day began with free sailing lessons, with Sam, Max and Peter all taken out for instructional joy rides.
The wind strengthened throughout the session, beginning calmly and ending with some high-speed thrills and spills.
The wind continued to build throughout the afternoon race, resulting in half the fleet retiring and heading for shore.
Jeff Hope’s Windrush catamaran relished in the strong winds, winning by a good margin over Terry Ubrihien’s Maricat.
Mike Stove, Bob Harris, Luca Dorrough and Alan Holbrook also finished, possibly in that order.
Luca and Tony’s NS14 completely destroyed its jib; the strong winds ripping every panel of the old material.
The club welcomed the Olivers back from their trip to the 2017 Forward Sailing Australian O'pen Cup, part of the Australian Youth Championships, at Henley South Australia.
Reif Oliver qualified in the gold fleet, and finished 20th out of 41 overall.
Denu Oliver sailed in the silver fleet, finished 10th out of 22 overall, and improved throughout the series to score a 3rd in the last race.
Next week two point score races will be held, while a few sailors head down to Inverloch for the Classic Dinghy Regatta.
Organisers said new members were always welcome with free weekly tuition.
For more information about the Wallagoot Lake Boat Club, please see the website wlbc.org.au