This year was an exciting rally with the battle of old 1200 and new 1250 forty footers and 1160 newbie surprising themselves with results amongst the leaders. Weather was 10 to 25Kn from the South East with one day lost to a strong wind warning and necessary rerouting.
Overall Rally Winners were Peter Backhouse and Rosanna Avenia on their private Seawind 1200 Duet. Overall Rally Winner takes race position, social participation and vessel age allowance into account. Duets achievement is even more remarkable considering she blew out her main in the second race and the rest of the 40ft fleet class gave her a sporting chance sailing with one reef in.
Race Winners were Keith and Barbara White in their syndicated Seawind 1250 Reflection. They took line honours in every race despite continual pressure from the rest of the fleet. Reflection was first to offer continuing the regatta reefed to give Duet a sporting chance. Great sailing and fine sportsmanship.
1160 Race Winners were Ivan and Jo St Clair on their own charter Seawind 1160 Amore de la Mer. This was their third Seawind Whitsunday Rally and surprised themselves being amongst the race leaders. They had come a long way from newbe sailors a few regattas ago to feeling the rhythm and tuning the performance of their vessel. Actually this realisation is what the Seawind Whitsunday Regatta is all about.
Social Rally Winners were David Straton and Georgina Gibson on their private Seawind 1160 Nimrod. In addition to taking on additional crew for the rally they won the Hawaiian Night event. All this and more while preparing for their Louisiades Cruise later this year.
Newbie Winners were Wayne Berry and Miranda Hao in their Seawind 1160 Sea Dragon chartered from Whitsunday Escape. They discovered Charter Seawinds do well in the rally because they are light compared to private cruising vessels. After getting over too much movement of the helm and learning to feel the rhythm of the vessel they surprised themselves winning the 1160 division in the last race.
Next year is another year to look forward to and plan your participation now. There are more Seawinds to charter in the Whitsundays than any other class . Thank you to our Seawind Whitsunday Rally sponsors Whitsunday Escape and Multihull Central. We look forward to them and you to be with us again next year.
