2020 ICWDR – Report

You can find the photos and the Videos from the 2020 Inverloch Classic Wooden Dinghy Regatta here:

2020 ICWDR Gallery

And just for a change, you can read Ian’s report on the whole trip from home to home. I was going to call it ‘There and Back Again’ but that name has been used by a Hobbit evidently, so I have come up with a completely different title:

Definitely NOT There & Back Again

Enjoy, it is a lighthearted and entertaining read.

But now, the Regatta report.

There was beach!

Marvellous.

Last year we struggled at times with a lack of sand at critical times and an abundance of tides, at the wrong times, but this year the club turned on sand and plenty of it and even organised the tides to best fit in with the sailing schedule.

This year saw a reduction in the number of Sailfish that could attend and I know that at least a few boats couldn’t make it due to the fires in East Gippsland and NSW. But we still had twelve boats on the water over the weekend, including a few newbies, which is why we are there after all. The new boats included Peter Weiss on 581 Fish n Chips, Ken Maynard on 600 Helen, Paul Murphy on  875 Jaguar, Brett Ramsdale on 3260 Zippy and an out of the blue arrival with Myles Nott and his son Sky on 641 Capsicum. Each of these boats has a story and each was a delight to see back on the water.

We also had the regular stagers, Chris Cleary, Brian Carroll, Ian Milton, myself, Dale Watson, Chris Drury & Ken O’Brien there as well. As usual the racing was close up the front between Brian, Chris, Ian and Dale, with some great battles between these four over the weekend.

I think that the numbers for last year were probably an aberration. I still can’t quite believe that we had twenty boats there, and this year’s numbers seem to be more what I would expect for future regattas. However I am more than happy to be proven wrong, so start planning now for the 2021 Inverloch Classic Wooden Dinghy Regatta.

It was, again, a great weekend, with good sailing, good company and good food; South Gippsland Yacht Club should be rightfully proud of what it has achieved. Oh yeah, that’s right, there was racing, although that did seem too be happening a long way away from me for some reason.

Saturday morning was all about getting registration done and then getting our boats down onto the beach. As well as this, Bruce! had a new sail (thanks Brian, thanks Terry) and Brian spent some time with me getting the sail sorted out, messing about with rake and general setup.

The day was clear, bright and sunny with a good breeze, and as race time was around high tide there was little chop or tide to contend with. Chris, Brian and Ian raced away at the start and finished in that order with Dale in fourth spot, with the rest of the fleet happily tagging along behind.

Saturday night we had dinner at the sailing club with a spit roast and salads put on by the local Scout troop and beer available on tap from Burra Brewery.

Sunday was a bit busier, with a morning race in conditions like Saturday but with more tide and chop; again the usual four led the way, with Dale sailing into second place behind Brian, with Chris third and Ian fourth. Some of us didn’t make it to the flag and some of us battled on determined to finish, and did. The surprise for the day was the front that blew through while we were having lunch, strong winds with whitecaps out on the inlet along with horizontal rain, but then, by the briefing time, it had gone, leaving overcast skies and a rather messy chop to contend with in it’s wake.

The afternoon race was the Regatta Race and this was won narrowly by Brian, with Ian second and Dale third. Chris Cleary retired after a navigational error ruled him out. Again, challenging conditions out on the water meant there were some non-finishers for the day. The combination of strong wind, tide, waves and sandbars meant a small mistake could very quickly result in a loss of 300 metres or so to the nearest competitor.

Monday came around, as it does, just after Sunday, and the race/social sail was across to Smyths Point, find the treasure (a bottle of rum for the grown ups) and then back to the clubhouse. For the second year in a row the rum was found by a Sailfish representative, this year it was Ian Milton, and for the second year in a row it was found by a non rum drinker! There were some very suspect things happening out on the water, (who did hit the rounding mark five times?), but a good morning was had by all before packing up for the trip home commenced.

Brace yourself Inverloch, we’re coming back next year!

Who was there this year:

Peter Weiss – Fish n Chips 581
Ken M – Helen 600
Myles Knott – Capsicum 641
Paul M – Jaguar 875
Ken O – Cobra 1808
Chris – Janus 1918
Greg – Bruce! 2028
Ian – Apsu 2192
Brett Ramsdale – Zippy 3260
Dale Watson – Super Trooper 3365
Chris Drury – Blowed if I Know 3456
Brian – Jack’s Toy 3461

Plus we had our own video and camera crew turn up on the Sunday, you can see their work in the Gallery under Inverloch CWDR. I for one have found watching the videos really instructive, I now have a list as long as your arm of what I am doing wrong! 🙂

Peter Scott – guest appearance
Hayden Ramsdale – guest appearance