The Musto Sail Freo 2016
on the 22nd and 23rd of October
hosted by the Fremantle Sailing Club
Sunday the 24th of October
The Sunday was going to be a good one. And we knew it.
For starters, the numbers were in with about 175 boats on the water on each day. This is a good regatta! The young man bearing most of the strain was Trav. Burtenshaw having been dropped into the role only weeks ago and doing a fine job. Still you have to give the volunteers a big pat on the back as they were carrying the grunt end of the load.
The breeze was already beginning to flick out of the west at 0900 hrs and a brief wait on the beach proved fruitful as the PRO had the start boats heading out shortly afterwards. Charlie Course, home of the skiffs and Sports boats were first away and we took the opportunity to get over there, towing out various laggard Contenders and 505's.
I had an entertaining hour watching the skiffs soaring across the water and was there when the change came in and the left hand side of the course became a huge plus as the breeze shifted further into the south and fortunes were gained or lost depending on which side of the course you were on. The RO was keen and mean and had set a finishing line that was testing of the skills of the helmsmen; particularly when three or four boats managed to get to the line at the same time. Squeezy! Who's got rights with four boats sharing a tight line?
All was sorted out and no damage done to either pride or boats and racing continued while we made our way to Alpha Course where the rising breeze had put a fair amount of wave chop on the water making it interesting for the smaller craft on the water. Couple this with the slop from the Rotto traffic heading out to sea and the younger set had lots to deal with. The biggest problem on the line appeared to be fairly anxious skippers pushing each other up on the pin end and we saw several disappear over the pin end to round it and then go back to have another go. A couple of restarts in the Opti gold fleet sorted them out and a U flag was hoisted with a pin boat in place. No mercy!
The biggest fleets were the Opti golds and the Open Bics with good sized fleets doing well, but there was a lot of fun with the Opti silvers doing well in the breeze as were the combined Minnows and Flying Ants on the start line.
Then up to Bravo course with the Lasers, Sabers F15's and 420's. We had a good representation of Lasers including the masters from as far afield as Busselton and they were giving it a good try in the 10 to 15 knot breeze. The 420's were looking forward to building their representations for the Worlds coming up in December 2017 at FSC and you could see the younger teams coming together already. And as competitive as hell. Amongst the Laser standards it was good to see Luke Elliott aka Swifto back in town and making it hard for the younger guys but it was only fitting that he should have a go in his native state. (though I guess he was happy that Matt Wearne was driving a Musto rather than a Laser). Amongst the Radial crowd, some of the Saturday mob weren't there for the Sunday and I guess that they had other commitments, but Zac Littlewood held his own amongst spirited competition and took the cake.
Over all, a really good two days on the water and almost makes up for the late nights and early mornings doing the event.
My thanks to Fremantle Sailing Club, the Race team and to Paul Green the on water jury who was good company on the water and prepared to put me in a good spot for a photograph. Of course, without the volunteers and the sailors nothing would have happened and my thanks to them as well. Many thanks to the Event Sponsor; Musto sailing gear and apparel.
enjoy the images and remember that they are available for purchase.
The Sunday was going to be a good one. And we knew it.
For starters, the numbers were in with about 175 boats on the water on each day. This is a good regatta! The young man bearing most of the strain was Trav. Burtenshaw having been dropped into the role only weeks ago and doing a fine job. Still you have to give the volunteers a big pat on the back as they were carrying the grunt end of the load.
The breeze was already beginning to flick out of the west at 0900 hrs and a brief wait on the beach proved fruitful as the PRO had the start boats heading out shortly afterwards. Charlie Course, home of the skiffs and Sports boats were first away and we took the opportunity to get over there, towing out various laggard Contenders and 505's.
I had an entertaining hour watching the skiffs soaring across the water and was there when the change came in and the left hand side of the course became a huge plus as the breeze shifted further into the south and fortunes were gained or lost depending on which side of the course you were on. The RO was keen and mean and had set a finishing line that was testing of the skills of the helmsmen; particularly when three or four boats managed to get to the line at the same time. Squeezy! Who's got rights with four boats sharing a tight line?
All was sorted out and no damage done to either pride or boats and racing continued while we made our way to Alpha Course where the rising breeze had put a fair amount of wave chop on the water making it interesting for the smaller craft on the water. Couple this with the slop from the Rotto traffic heading out to sea and the younger set had lots to deal with. The biggest problem on the line appeared to be fairly anxious skippers pushing each other up on the pin end and we saw several disappear over the pin end to round it and then go back to have another go. A couple of restarts in the Opti gold fleet sorted them out and a U flag was hoisted with a pin boat in place. No mercy!
The biggest fleets were the Opti golds and the Open Bics with good sized fleets doing well, but there was a lot of fun with the Opti silvers doing well in the breeze as were the combined Minnows and Flying Ants on the start line.
Then up to Bravo course with the Lasers, Sabers F15's and 420's. We had a good representation of Lasers including the masters from as far afield as Busselton and they were giving it a good try in the 10 to 15 knot breeze. The 420's were looking forward to building their representations for the Worlds coming up in December 2017 at FSC and you could see the younger teams coming together already. And as competitive as hell. Amongst the Laser standards it was good to see Luke Elliott aka Swifto back in town and making it hard for the younger guys but it was only fitting that he should have a go in his native state. (though I guess he was happy that Matt Wearne was driving a Musto rather than a Laser). Amongst the Radial crowd, some of the Saturday mob weren't there for the Sunday and I guess that they had other commitments, but Zac Littlewood held his own amongst spirited competition and took the cake.
Over all, a really good two days on the water and almost makes up for the late nights and early mornings doing the event.
My thanks to Fremantle Sailing Club, the Race team and to Paul Green the on water jury who was good company on the water and prepared to put me in a good spot for a photograph. Of course, without the volunteers and the sailors nothing would have happened and my thanks to them as well. Many thanks to the Event Sponsor; Musto sailing gear and apparel.
enjoy the images and remember that they are available for purchase.
The Presentations
Saturday the 22nd of October
The day started at a mind numbing 0800 hrs. I was still recovering from working the night before and a cooked breakfast was the way to start the day. Fortunately FSC was serving coffee from 0830 on in the am because it was a definite need. The nor easter was still blazing away and the race was to get the boats onto the water to use the breeze before it died out. ( which fortunately it didn't )
With three courses on offer, the large fleets were well spread out and I was pleased to see a lot of familiar faces amongst the faithful both as volunteers and sailors. I was fortunate to have Paul Green, the course jurist, along side me on the ISAF rib and his knowledge of the fleet on the water was encyclopedic.
The day began with Bravo course and once the RO had settled the course, we were underway and the fleets moved off in succession. We stayed with the Lasers/Sabres/420's and F 15's for the first race and then moved down to Alpha course where the smaller dinghies were in action. Minnows, Optis, Open Bics and Flying Ants were the go and all were handling the rather breezy conditions well. So we stayed for a while and then made the leap to Charlie course on the other side of Fish Rocks down toward the old power station. There we saw Musto's, 29ers and 49ers ( both regular and FX ) with the Contenders and 505's helping fill the group out. Not to be left out we had the Vipers and the SB20's as well and the course was running on a 3 minute start line. Whoooowhee! Get them out fast..
And then I started to pick up the misplacement in some of the sailors..... well I knew Billy Leonard had a cat, but a 49er. No! And then Matt Wearne went whizzing past on a Musto. And handling it rather well too. On a 29er I spotted Conor Nicholas with the lightest skipper he could find... didn't matter though, they were having fun. And then the turn of the day was champion match racer Matt Jerwood buddied up with Pat Vos, though there were a few other notables in the mix as well. The sight of Fang on an FX amused me no end though.
And the wind dropped and swung around into the west. Charlie course got their 6 races in, Bravo pushed in an extra race to get 5 in and Alpha struggled to get their 4 when they had to abandon race three mid way through. Just more time used up.
All set for tomorrow and enjoy the images.
These images are available for purchase. Please use the contact page on the website.
The day started at a mind numbing 0800 hrs. I was still recovering from working the night before and a cooked breakfast was the way to start the day. Fortunately FSC was serving coffee from 0830 on in the am because it was a definite need. The nor easter was still blazing away and the race was to get the boats onto the water to use the breeze before it died out. ( which fortunately it didn't )
With three courses on offer, the large fleets were well spread out and I was pleased to see a lot of familiar faces amongst the faithful both as volunteers and sailors. I was fortunate to have Paul Green, the course jurist, along side me on the ISAF rib and his knowledge of the fleet on the water was encyclopedic.
The day began with Bravo course and once the RO had settled the course, we were underway and the fleets moved off in succession. We stayed with the Lasers/Sabres/420's and F 15's for the first race and then moved down to Alpha course where the smaller dinghies were in action. Minnows, Optis, Open Bics and Flying Ants were the go and all were handling the rather breezy conditions well. So we stayed for a while and then made the leap to Charlie course on the other side of Fish Rocks down toward the old power station. There we saw Musto's, 29ers and 49ers ( both regular and FX ) with the Contenders and 505's helping fill the group out. Not to be left out we had the Vipers and the SB20's as well and the course was running on a 3 minute start line. Whoooowhee! Get them out fast..
And then I started to pick up the misplacement in some of the sailors..... well I knew Billy Leonard had a cat, but a 49er. No! And then Matt Wearne went whizzing past on a Musto. And handling it rather well too. On a 29er I spotted Conor Nicholas with the lightest skipper he could find... didn't matter though, they were having fun. And then the turn of the day was champion match racer Matt Jerwood buddied up with Pat Vos, though there were a few other notables in the mix as well. The sight of Fang on an FX amused me no end though.
And the wind dropped and swung around into the west. Charlie course got their 6 races in, Bravo pushed in an extra race to get 5 in and Alpha struggled to get their 4 when they had to abandon race three mid way through. Just more time used up.
All set for tomorrow and enjoy the images.
These images are available for purchase. Please use the contact page on the website.