Mr Trampoline Midwinters

The Mr Trampoline Midwinter Championships were a bit different to when we last ran the event in 2019. With the redevelopment taking place and having no hardstand/changing rooms, we focused our limited capacity on our local sailors who mainly sail the Optimist and Laser Classes. Sailors were rapt to receive a Mr Trampoline hat at registration. I think most sailors got inspiration on how to battle the cold from watching some of the Sorrento Swim Club swimmers come out of the water in their NutHuggerz!

In saying that, the conditions on Saturday were as challenging as it gets with the forecast saying the breeze would be averaging 25 knots and gusting up to 30 knots. The decision to race in these conditions was made a lot easier when we assessed the sailors’ abilities with Association coaches and had their support along with parents and our very significant and skilled rescue team, who provided a very strong coverage of the fleet. One of those rescue boats was the Victorian Laser Association brand new rib, which was christened by Julia on Saturday morning and named after SSCBC’s Camilla Graves.

John Philpot and his Race Committee team hit the water nice and early and had the course set up so once the sailors hit the water, there would be no time wasted and sailors could keep active and warm. As the forecast predicted, the wind came up to the 30 mark, so there were capsizes and some sailors did need to be towed in, but the sailing team had it covered. A stand out performance was 28kg Tate Cantwell who finished a race when it got up to 30 knots. Both Optimist and Laser classes got in two races on the Saturday and were warmed up by Bernard’s amazing soup, which received endless compliments from the sailors and parents.

On the Sunday, the conditions looked more promising but still pretty fresh. Once again, the fleet waited onshore until the sailing team felt it was the right time to launch the fleet with a few cells passing through. Once the sailors were on the water, racing ran like clockwork. Our Optimist sailors who are heading overseas, wanted a championship sized first beat so they shared a top mark with the lasers who did an extra outer loop to keep them competitive.

In the end, the Lasers got in 5 races, Optimist Open Silver got in 4, and Open Optimist got in 6 races. Aidan Simmons, our two time Optimist Champion, who is heading over to the Optimist Worlds, sailed his last ever Optimist race on Australian waters and it was no surprise what position he finished up!

Click here for full results