2003 Colac Annual Regatta

From left - Rohan, Greg, Sam, Mic, Simon, Ned and Aaron.

The weekend of December 6 and 7 saw nine Moths take part in the Colac Annual Regatta, held on Lake Colac, about 2 hours drive West of Melbourne. With the promise of sunny weather and good winds, 3 South Australians made the trek over (Greg Wise, Sam Neeft and Ned Dally) to Victoria to compete, and they were not let down with beautiful sunshine greeting everyone on Saturday morning. A large contingent of cat sailors had taken over most of the rigging area, with numerous A Class, Taipan and Mosquito cat's, however the Mothies soon made their presence felt with our sheer numbers - not seen in any Victorian Regatta for quite a number of years.

The Invitation race was sailed in a light shifty North Easterly with 5 Moths racing, including a Scow sailing in the Junior division. The A Class were away first, then 3 minutes later the rest of the cats, then 3 minutes after them came the Moths. By the first mark the leading Moths had caught up to and overtaken a large number of the 2nd division cats, and this was basically the story until the shorten course flag was hoisted much to the relief of the sweating Moth sailors. Approaching the top mark for the first time, a leading Rohan asked Mic which mark was ours, to which Mic replied "the one on the right!". Rohan chose the mark to the left which was in fact the cat's upper rounding mark, and so sailed the wrong course but later disqualified himself after winning the race. Mic later admitted his reply to Rohan's question may have been more of a loud whisper than a holler....

Invitation Race results:
1st Mic Boode
2nd Aaron Gregory
No third

Heat one was eventually started in 2-3 knots Saturday afternoon after a postponement due to lack of breeze, and on the start line Rohan found himself in trouble after a Laser decided to park himself on the start line and consequently capsized on top of the start boat. He withdrew from the race not long after as to make it back to Melbourne in time for a Xmas party. This let Mic slip away to a win over Aaron.

Heat 1 results:
1st Mic Boode
2nd Aaron Gregory
3rd Greg Wise

Saturday evening saw the "Laser Challenge", a round robin series using 3 tired looking Lasers sailing over a very small course next to the pier. The heat winners advanced to the finals and the 2 losers were knocked out. Ned and Greg both had a go and unfortunately Greg's 92kg frame combined with his first Laser experience was a bit of a handicap and he was knocked out of his heat. Ned somehow made it through to a second heat after an incredible amount of collisions in his heat saw all 3 advance. Unfortunately Ned's luck ran out in his subsequent heat - must have been the extreme boredom of sailing the Laser in the 5 knot winds causing his concentration to wander. Aaron Gregory (former 5 time State Laser Radial Champion) ended up in the match racing final against A Class world champ Glenn Ashby. In a thrilling race full of aggressive tactical manoeuvres and the odd bending of the rule book, Aaron crossed the line in 1st place and won himself $100 prize money which he later "liquidated" at the bar.

Sunday morning again saw beautiful sunshine and much nicer winds. Rohan strapped on is hydrofoils for the morning race sailed in a nice 7 - 12 knot Easterly and demolished the fleet, overtaking all the 2nd division cats except for one single handed spinnaker flying Mosquito. The look of sheer amazement on the faces of the other sailors as he went screaming past them 4 feet out of the water was a sight to behold. Ned Dally also managed to get himself run over by a trailer sailer during the race and yet still managed to hold off the ever present Greg Wise.

Heat 2 results:
1st Rohan Veal
2nd Mic Boode
3rd Ned Dally

Heat 3 in the afternoon saw the breeze dropping slightly, and in a mad state of total indecision, Rohan finally left the beach with his hydrofoils in place. The wind gradually dropped throughout the race meaning Rohan could not foil at all, however he sailed well enough around the 2 lap course to be first over the line with Aaron close behind followed by Mic who went for a risky flyer to the left on the beat to the finish. Simon Redford also sailed extremely well in this race, who was pacing the top guys on the first lap.

Heat 3 results:
1st Rohan Veal
2nd Aaron Gregory
3rd Mic Boode

With only the last 3 races counting towards overall points for the regatta, the final results were: 1st Mic Boode, 2nd Simon Redford, 3rd Rohan Veal. With these 3 races also forming the first 3 races of the Victorian State Titles, Mic now finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being right up there with Rohan in a Championship series. Will he crack under the pressure and let Rohan or Aaron slip ahead of him? We'll have to wait until early March when the Inverloch Regatta is sailed.

2004 Inverloch Annual Regatta - Part II

The long weekend of March 6/8 and 8 saw the second half of the Victorian State Titles take place at Inverloch. The location was chosen as it is where the very first Moth was designed, built and sailed by Len Morris 75 years ago. Eight Moths showed up, including the Father / Son team of Ken and Zac Douglas in their beautifully preserved scows, and Greg Wise also made the trip over from Adelaide.

Weather for the 3 days was generally light to moderate winds, with the Inverloch current catching most competitors out during mark roundings. With an incoming tide, the rounding of the top mark meant that you had to sail at least 5 boat lengths past it, tack quickly, and if you were lucky you’d just make it around the mark before being swept into it by the strong current which at times was up around 5 knots.

• Download overall results for the Inverloch Regatta (PDF - 75Kb)
• Download the March 2004 Moth Balls newsletter (PDF - 223Kb)

2003/4 Victorian State Championpships - Overall Results*