Well done to all the crews in the Qld Etchells State Championship held at Southport Yacht club 17/18 May. Congrats to Flying Higher and her crew JC Strong Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and little Sebe Cheng, on taking out the championship.

Sailors woke up on Saturday to rain and no wind. The rain cleared for a nice day however the wind refused to play the game and AP went up. While we were waiting, the crew of Flying Higher agreed to do a question and answer session on Etchells and sailing in general. Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and JC Strong generously spent an hour answering questions, which ranged from boat set up to sailing tactics. The fleet really appreciated the tips and information provided, it’s not every day you get to hear insights from world champions and top level sailors.

Well the wind stayed down and AP over A was raised at 1:30. Our Race officer Louise Davis made the call for an earlier start on Sunday to ensure we could get an opportunity for an additional race.

Sunday morning we woke up to sunshine and a good forecast. Briefing was 8 am and the wind arrived just after. All 8 boats headed off through the flat seaway out to the race track. The back drop of the Gold Coast Skyline over blue water in bright sunshine never gets old.

Racing started on time at 10am in 10-12 knots of breeze and light seas. All boats got off to a great start heading out on the 1.2nm course. Throughout the day competition was strong with most boats arriving at the top mark in contention. The fleet would then split with front half of the fleet and the back half having some tight duels. The wind stayed generally in the 150 deg angle with enough oscillations to reward the boats that picked the shifts. The breeze picked up over the day and the last race was run in 15-18 knots with seas of 1.5 m and the occasional 2 m wave. Tough for some. When the third race finished at 1:15pm and the RO decided there was enough time for a 4th race, this was received with mixed feelings within some of the crews, but we all started and finished the 4th race in challenging but great conditions. I can tell you there were some tired, sore sailors that finished the day, however we were all glad we got in some excellent sailing with some great competition within the fleet.

JC on Flying Higher held off some good competition to make 4 firsts for the day. Kane Sinclair(Gen XY) finished second and Paul Minter (Crews Control) was one point behind on third. SYC ran a PHS division and this was also hotly contested by the fleet.

Thank you to every one that competed and to SYC for hosting the event. Thank you to our sponsors North Sails, Bosun’s Locker, Madocke Brewery, GCC Auto Electrics and Monkey Tree Restaurant Tamborine Mountain.

A reminder that entries are still open for the June Mid Winter Regatta here at Southport Yacht Club. June 7-9. We are looking forward to welcoming more boats from interstate as well a host of Queensland boats to this great event.