The RQ Etchells fleet hosted the second edition of the Noel Paterson Corithian Cup this past weekend and what a spectacular weekend it was, both on and off the water.

We had 16 entries for this year’s edition. Up from Sydney were Jason Antill and his crew on Flirtation (Northern Havoc) and the Minters with Crews Control, while up from Southport were Pegasus (Stephen Broadbent), Sneaky Ninja (Tomoko Nakanishi) and Gusto (Angus Jackson). The gas prices must be biting on the CG as two of them elected to sail up from Hollywell – on the nose all the way apparently. That’s one way to practice your tacking!

Friday’s racing was conducted in an idyllic 10 kt northerly.

Race 1 honours went to Flirtation comfortably ahead of Waterloo Too (Noel Paterson) and TAG (Todd Anderson). Mama Says: Nothing Good Happens After Midnight (NGHAM) (Brad Ginnivan) result wasn’t helped by a DQS settled in the room after a P/S cross incident.

Race 2 saw The Saint (Dave Smith) take the gun after leading all the way around the track. Crews Control were second tied with NGHAM. Racing doesn’t come any closer than that!!!

Race 3 saw Rapscallion (Dave Healey) led from start to finish to take the final gun of the day with TAG back in second for their second podium of the day and Waterloo also grabbing their second podium of the day in 3rd.

With racing so close, if you could get away at the front, you got richer while everyone else was fighting it out for clear air and clean lanes.

The day rounded out with beers and Chris’s famous BBQ chicken wings back on the dock.

Saturday was an early start (0900) in order to be back in time for the afternoons ‘long lunch’. The forecast was for a light westerly/southerly before filling to a moderate southerly around lunch time, but Huey had other ideas and it was already 12 kts and building by the time we are on the course. It was a solid 15 and puffing up to 17 by the start.

TAG won race 4 for their first bullet of the series – 4 races 4 winners. Flirtation were back on form after an 11^th  and 6^th in races 2 and 3 to grab 2^nd ahead of Pegasus.

The final race of the day saw Flirtation grab their second bullet of the series followed by NGHAM and TAG in 3^rd.

The solid breeze meant we were all back in plenty of time to get scrubbed up for the seafood ‘long lunch’ which by some accounts lived up to the name. With close to 100 participants it was an example of the wonderful spirit and camaraderie that exists in the Brisbane Etchells fleet.

Aside from the mid regatta race presentations, there was an enlightening Q&A with club stalwarts Vaughan Prentice and Chris Anderson about their sailing careers including sailing on the Black Jack 100 super maxi programme. The afternoon rounded out* with the presentation of the fleets Pick of the Year trophy awarded to someone who has provided an outstanding contribution to the fleet on or off the water. This year’s recipient was our Fleet Captain Brad Ginnivan who has done a great job for the fleet this including the organisation of this year’s Corithian Cup regatta.

*it seems the afternoon became evening for some once the rum squall came through!!

Sunday was a slightly more civilised start time of 1100 which allowed for the setting of a new record of the most sailors on an Etchells – 48!!  Thanks to Helen for allowing Athena to be put to this test.

The 1100 start did prove to be a challenge for the Crews Control crew who hadn’t been sighted before most of the others had left the dock. It seems they were caught in the rum squall the previous evening!

The light and dying westerly filled into a very pleasant and shifty 12 kt sou’easter on our way out to the line.

Race 6 saw TAG grab top spot ahead of Flirtation with NGHAM in 3^rd and The Saint 4^th. This mirrored the overall positions on the table.

Going into the last race (baring any major issues) it looked like it would be TAG and Flirtation battling for top honours, NGHAM and the Saint for 3^rd .Waterloo Too and Rapscallion were tied for 5^th and with Crews Control just a few points back all hoping for things to go their way in order to sneak into 3^rd.

As you can imaging with was all on at the start. TAG was a fraction early at the pin and had to restart and subsequently fouled Rapscallion resulting in having to do a pirouette, Flirtation, The Saint and Crews Control all got away to good starts and headed left while NGHAM, Rapscallion and Waterloo Too were all back in the pack trying to find clear lanes.
In the shifty conditions, places see-sawed but by the top the final time Flirtation had a narrow lead from Crews Control and The Saint. The fleet had well and truly compressed by the final layline and Waterloo Too and NGHAM managed to find a gap and rounded just behind the leaders.

With a strong tidal flow running down the course Rapscallion were caught out under the fleet and mark and had to gybe out, and to put the final nail in their coffin for the day, hit the top mark. Waterloo Too had managed to get up to 4^th but dropped 2 places on the final run to Pegasus and Knot Easy putting an end to their bid for a podium.

NGHAM and TAG were not able to recover from their mid fleet positions to challenge the leaders either.

Flirtation took their 3^rd bullet of the series ahead of Crews Control and The Saint.

This saw them crowned winners for the series with a 5 point gap back to TAG and The Saint a further 6 back in 3^rd. Congratulations to all.

After another weekend abandoned everyone was rearing to go this week. There were 5 boasts in the water before 10.15!! VC Todd and the TAG crew hit the water for the first time this year, giving us 9 boats on the race course. With Brad out of town, it was a Miller family affair with son Mitch taking the helm of NGHAM nad son in law (to be) on the bow, and by all accounts it was all still happy families afterwards.

And after the Skiffie Lunch on Friday there was a few sore heads and lunch bar takings were down slightly as evidenced by this shot!!

For race 1 the breeze settled in from the SE at 14-15kts with a strong outgoing tide. Those that went right off the start prevailed with W2 having a comfortable lead at the top. Athena was having a blinder and was second around followed by a tight bunch that included Happy Hour, TAG, The Project and The Saint.

On the hoist Happy Hour lost their spinnaker halyard so headed back to the harbour to retrieve it. By the bottom W2 was gone and not to be seen for the rest of the race, Athena had a good run and held on to their second position at the bottom followed by TAG, The Project, The Saint and NGHAM. Bring up the rear were Rapscallion and Knot Easy.

On the beat those that could went right while the back markers fed of the scraps on the left. By the top Athena were narrowly holding second from TAG and NGHAM.

By the finish W2 had an easy win, NGHAM and TAG had run down Athena to take 2^nd and 3^rd respectively as Athena took a well deserved 4^th though Helen is still have nightmares about the one that got away!!

Race 2 started in similar conditions with the leading boats going right. Happy Hour made it back in time for the start after sending Lee aloft at the boat harbour in order to retrieve the errant spinnaker halyard. Rapscallion misjudged the pin and had to gybe out and cross behind the fleet on port.

Once again W2 had a comfortable lead at the top followed by The Saint, NGHAM, and TAG. These 4 had a decent margin over Rapscallion, The Project, Athena and Knot Easy who misjudged a port cross with Athena near the top and had to do a pirouette.

Being another year older as I write this, my memory isn’t what it was and I don’t remember much more about the race other than W2 took another well earned bullet. The Saint took a deserving second and Mitch, getting the hang of steering an Etchells had NGHAM finish a creditable third just piping TAG by 3 seconds.

No doubt about Boat of the Day honours – Waterloo Too.

This author accepts no responsibilities for any inaccuracies, distortions of the truth or outright lies.)