The coveted Stan Austin Trophy was up for grabs in the Princess Royal Sailing Club’s King George Sound to Gull Rock race with nine yachts from the mixed keel boat fleet contesting last Saturday.
The home fleet was joined by Timora, from Esperance, skippered by Ian McCallum, which made a cracking start and powered away under spinnaker – though not for long as Jesse James, skippered by Brett Hawker, also put on a blistering display and was soon in control of proceedings.
Further back, Stephen Lee was doing well with Flasheart, as was Josh Hughes with Joker, while Mark McRae had Sicarius moving quickly with an extra hand on board.
Stephen Brown had a sluggish start with Mary Maitland while Neil Worrell unfortunately found the mud two minutes before the start but managed to get free to be a contender.
Richard Hodgson’s Escapade was a tad late at the start, as was Alastair Knowlden with Ines.
These two, sailing without the use of spinnakers, trailed the fleet throughout with Escapade eventually retiring while Ines ran out of time.
Jessie James led the fleet back into the harbour a good eight minutes in front of Timora.
It was close between Flasheart, Joker, Sicarius and Mary Maitland as they all had a chance of the minor placings behind Jessie James.
Hawker crossed the finish line to take the race and the trophy, recording the fastest time in a show of force.
Timora finished second but, as an unofficial entrant, the runners-up spot went to Brown’s Mary Maitland.
Joker, which had pipped Flasheart over the line, was third.
Two Flying Fifteens clashed in a harbour course event.
Aileen Lucas, the skipper of Crazy, is having a splendid season so far and the light conditions on Saturday suited her to a tee.
FForever Young, skippered by Simon Lucas, didn’t like the 11-knot southerly and knew well in advance that he would have to sail out of his socks to win.
Crazy surged to the lead but was caught by her rival under spinnaker.
However, FForever Young’s time in front didn’t last long as Crazy regained top spot and was never under much pressure.
Aileen Lucas went on to record a fine victory with the fastest time.
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