SAILABILITY STATE CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTA 2008

Port Adelaide Sailing Club - February 2 & 3, 2008

 

The 2008 Regatta was held at the new Port Adelaide Sailing Club (PASC) at Largs North on the 2nd and 3rd February. This venue now has a wedge lift and a crane for the launch and retrieval of dinghies and rescue boats, which make this work a whole lot easier for the volunteers. There are also 4 electric hoists for getting people with physical disabilities in and out of the dinghies, and so loading and unloading can be sped up.

 

The event attracted 19 competitors, 10 from PASC, 5 from Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club, 4 from Adelaide Sailing Club and one from Sugarloaf Sailing Club in Victoria. (This is an annual pilgrimage for Martin Waller and his parents and we are always delighted to see them).

 

The weekend started for the PASC on Friday getting the dinghies and rescue boats ready for an early start on Saturday, when competitors could practice between 0900hrs and 1100hrs, this was followed by briefing and lunch, before racing started at 1300hrs. There was very little wind and so it was not worth while going out on the river for practice.

 

However, a reporter and camera crew turned up from Channel 7 to cover the event before going to West Lakes to cover a rowing event. It was such a great opportunity to get TV coverage, that we quickly got some dinghies in the water and at the TV crew’s request arranged a demonstration of the hoist operation. Wayne Crabb kindly volunteered for that and as I was the coordinator, I was duly interviewed. Turns out there was too much background noise during the interview, and so lo and behold, the TV crew turned up again in the afternoon. They needed to do the interview again and this happened near the Marina entrance, with the river in the background. They were able to use the rest of the morning footage and we went to air on Channel 7 following the 6 o’clock news on Saturday. Dennis Walter one of the life members is taking the credit for the TV coverage, as he was kind enough to write the press release for me. Following our thank you letter to Channel 7, we were given a copy of what went to air on that Saturday.

 

Following a delayed start the day went well with 2 heats completed.

 

The Regatta Dinner was on the Saturday night when a wonderful bunch of ladies, from the club, catered for everyone. The lunches on each day were Subway rolls, plus a selection of scrumptious cakes which were also available for morning and afternoon tea.

 

Racing on Sunday went well and everyone enjoyed afternoon tea before the trophy presentations at 1700hrs.

 

River Conditions

Sailing on the Port River is not without challenges such as changes in wind conditions, wind shifts, shallow edges, or the greatest challenge of all, commercial river traffic. The skippers, crews and the volunteers in the rescue boats handled these challenges very well and for the skippers not used to the commercial river traffic, this added a new dimension to their sailing experience. Even the “One and All” came through.

 

Volunteers

No event can be a success without the dedication of the volunteers. I was very fortunate to have the most dedicated bunch of volunteers one could imagine, all 45 of them, plus those from visiting clubs, parents and other support workers.

 

Regatta Results:

 

In the Access 2.3 division the trophies were presented by Ian Evans, representing one of the sponsors; Central Diesel.

1st - Martin Waller from Sugarloaf S.C, Victoria

 

In the Access 3.03 division the trophies were presented by Gary Johanson Mayor of Port Adelaide Enfield on behalf of Paint Supplies who provided shade caps:

1st - Ben Walter, 2nd - Damien Braun, 3rd - Andrew King

 

Thhe Access Liberty division trophies were also presented by Gary Johanson to:

1st - Chris Riordan, 2nd - Craig Clarke, 3rd - Simon Thiele

 

Ian Evans presented the perpetual trophies to:

Yachting South Australia Perpetual Trophy - Martin Waller

ParaQuad Association Perpetual Trophy - Ben Walter

SPARC Disability Foundation Perpetual Trophy - Chris Riordan

 

The Deirdre Schahinger Interclub Teams Perpetual Trophy was presented to the Port Adelaide Sailing Club Team by Deirdre (Rear Commodore, Adelaide SC).

 

Bob Heywood (President Yachting SA) presented medallions to all skippers, crews and the catering ladies

 

 

Margaret Ashton

Sailability Coordinator

Port Adelaide Sailing Club

 

 

Race Results - Sailability South Australia 2008 State Championships

Port Adelaide Sailing Club - February 2 & 3, 2008

 

Access Liberty

Place   Club        Skipper           Sail No          R1      R2    R3      R4      R5      Net Points

1        ASC        C Riordan        853               1        2      1        1        3            5

2        ASC        C Clarke          919               5        1      2        2        1            6

3        GRYC      S Thiele          1398             3        3      3        3        2            11

4        ASC        H Messner       8531             2        4      4        4        DSQ        14

5        PASC      W Crabb          1082             4        5      5        5        4            18

 

Access 303

Place   Club        Skipper           Sail No          R1      R2    R3      R4      R5      Net Points

 1       PASC     B Walter          302                2        5      1        1        1            5

 2       PASC      D Braun           352               1        1      3        2        4            7

 3       PASC      A King             589               3        2      6        3        2            10

4        PASC      J King              1543             7        4      5        4        6            19

5        PASC      J Folland          510               9        11     2        7        3            21

6        ASC        G Hamilton       685               8        7      4        5        5            21

7        GRYC      Y Schramm      344               5        6      7        6        8            24

8        PASC      K Longman      1541              12       3      8        8        9            28

9        PASC      M Williams       682               4        8      11       11       10           33

10       PASC      J Payne           259               11       12     9        10       7            37

11       GRYC      A Selwyn         300               6        9      12       12       11           38

12       GRYC      P Sweetman    505               10       10     10       9        DNS        39

13       ASC        L Barbary         463               14       14     13       13       12           52

14       PASC      M Folland        588               13       13     14       14       13           53

 

Access 2.3 Servo

Place   Club        Skipper           Sail No          R1      R2    R3      R4      R5      Net Points

 1       VIC         M Waller         661               1        1      1        1        1            5