Over the Melbourne Cup weekend, 11 SSCBC sailors travelled up to Sail Country which is held at Albury Wodonga Yacht Club. This event is quite unique in that all 200 sailors and their families camp at the venue. This creates a great platform for kids and parents to be social in a safe environment.
The racing was split over 3 courses. I was mainly supporting the Optimists which had a few kids originally from Green Fleet. With the forecast being light over the weekend, we decided it was a great opportunity for Holly, Annabelle and James to give it a crack in the Intermediate fleet. In another class, Angelique Gleeson decided it was a great opportunity to move into the Laser 4.7 from the Optimist. It takes a lot of courage to jump from one fleet to another and I was really impressed that our sailors made that jump.
The breeze came in a little heavier than forecast at the start and to everyone’s credit, they stayed out on the course. When the course was laid the breeze dropped off. Sailing on a lake can be challenging for sailors and race management with constant wind shifts and this led to a lengthy Saturday on the water. With an expected glass out on Sunday, sailors were on the water from 12 until 5 and got in 4 races.
Natalie Gleeson had a cracker first day in the Optimist intermediate with two firsts, a four and five, putting her in pole position for the day two.
After sailing on Saturday, there was great live music, BBQs and plenty of fun activities (some in the form of competitive croquet games) to keep everyone entertained. On Sunday morning, it is an early start at 9am and luckily the breeze filled in. Hunter Cunningham decided to make the big move up to Intermediate from Green and join his pals. We got in a total of 2 races before the wind dropped off completely.
Well done to all the Sorrento sailors who made the trip up and represented your Club so well, both on and off the water (Holly Cantwell, Natalie Gleeson, Angelique Gleeson, Annabelle Williamson, James Williamson, Hunter Cunningham, Mike Cantwell, George Aulich, Casey Imeneo, Michael Parks and Camilla Graves). Special mention must go to Holly, Annabelle, Angelique, James and Hunter who all pushed themselves out of their comfort zones and stepped up to the next level and were challenged.
On the results side, Natalie Gleeson was 3rd overall (and first female) in the Optimist Intermediate and Casey Imeneo was 3rd overall in the Radial class. Please see the results here.
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- All smiles
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- The camping ground
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- Sailors in action
David White
