With a very strong breeze on Saturday for the Gill Next Gen Couta Boat race, it was decided the conditions were too dangerous, so racing was postponed until 1030 Sunday morning.
Plenty of activities still went ahead Saturday afternoon, with the grand opening of the Lacco Beach Club, team racing inside the moorings, including a few capsizes which entertained the crowd. The stand up paddle boarding competition included two heats and then a final. The results were:
1st: Will Phillips
2nd: Sam Phillips
3rd: Ben Gray
Sunday 17th Jan, crews were onsite early at 0900hrs, ready to race in the resail of the Couta Boat race at 1030hrs. With much more favourable conditions, with an ideal 10-15 knot breeze, 17 boats were rigged and ready to go. The Next Gen committee worked hard to mix and match crews to fill the boats and take into account last minute crew changes. Well done. The sailors enjoyed a competitive yet fun 75 minute race, before returning to the deck for the much anticipated presentations and price giving.
The Next Gen initiative has certainly grown over the past three years and we would like to thank the driving force, David White and the Next Gen committee:
Jack Abbott
Will Phillips
George Aulich
Tom Klemens
Tess Lloyd
Charlie Dixon
Madie Gray
Hamish Hurley
Thank you to all the supporters of this incredible event, including:
Gill
Couta Boat Association
Rhonda Trotman and JTA Health Safety and Noise Specialists
Tonia Grimshaw-Lloyd and the Mentone Park Child Care and Pre School
Donna and Peter Osbourne
The Wooden Boat Shop
Raw Materials
Shareen Joel
The results were:
Division 1
1st Zephyr C2006, 2nd Whisper C92, 3rd Nepean C08
Line Honours: Bella C2016.
Division 2
1st Jessamine C1922, 2nd Fiona C81, 3rd Aliscia C33
Line Honours: Jessamine C1922.
Thank you to Gill for the amazing prizes. 1st place received a set of crew jackets, line honours a set of sailing bags, and 2nd place in the handicap, sailing gloves for each crew member.
