Lake Bolac Easter Regatta

The Lake Bolac Easter regatta was a great success with 83 boat registrations and some wind. There were a couple of light days but the whole 6 races were completed. We had 7 Mosquitos so we had our own class but only 2 spinnaker set-ups.

Race 1
1st – Jon Guymer – Prestissimo, 2nd – Ross & Andrew Bennet – No Turbulence, 3rd – Christine Bird – Ictus
Race 2
1st – Ross & Andrew Bennet – No Turbulence, 2nd – Jon Guymer – Prestissimo, 3rd – Phil & Fiona Noone – Dengue fever
Race 3
1st – Ross & Andrew Bennet – No Turbulence, 2nd – Jon Guymer – Prestissimo, 3rd – Phil & Fiona Noone – Dengue fever
Race 4
1st – Ross & Andrew Bennet – No Turbulence, 2nd – Jon Guymer – Prestissimo, 3rd – Phil & Fiona Noone – Dengue fever
Race 5
1st – Ross & Andrew Bennet – No Turbulence, 2nd – Jon Guymer – Prestissimo, 3rd – Phil & Allan Noone – Dengue fever
Stern chaser
Dengue Fever was 3rd cat across the line sailed by Phil & Allan Noone.

Phil, Fiona and Allan Noone flew the spinnaker all weekend and this was great practice for us as we have hardly put the boat on the water this season, and yes we had a lot of fun with it.

The other boat to make an appearance with spinnaker in tow was Gary and Brad Lane, late but better than never. Gary went out and played around and when coming into shore the grin on his face told all. Gary then went on to compete in the stern chaser race, which was great because the race is named in honour of his late father, Jack Lane who was a founding member of our region.

Fiona

Lake Boga Easter Regatta

The Easter regatta at Lake Boga was, as always a great event. The sailing started off a bit slowly with no wind and no sailing on Friday and one early race Saturday then no wind. Sunday the wind arrived and we had 3 good races with another race on Monday morning in a dying breeze for a total of 5 races.

There were 11 Mosquitos. Ridges, Warren-Smiths, Hydes, Floyds, Neesons, Cobdens (x2), Rob Lott, Brett Rowe, John Flower, Matt Kirby and Garry Johnston (12) was let off race duty for one race to have a sail of his new boat. The racing was extremely close with Stuart and Ann Ridge coming out the winners after putting in a blinder of a last leg in the last race. The Floyds (Mick and Tom) were second and Andrew Neeson (with Caroline when he was MkII) third. Every heat had a different winner. There were quite a few crew swaps and some boats changed from MkI to MkII and back again as the weekend progressed.

Some of the sailing highlights were Caroline Neeson crewing for the first time; Philip’s ‘Splash of Brilliance’ winning a heat; Jenny crewing with Gordon in one race; Anthony getting out on trapeze without hooking up (whoops but then his skipper wouldn’t turn around so he had to swim to the boat!); Matt Kirby capsizing in a particularly big gust, which also wiped out the Ridges, was successfully avoided by Mick through a combination of skill good luck, panic and accidental mainsheet dropping; Brett successfully sailing the whole series (having only sailed in one race on his own before) even if they took away the finish boat before he got there in the last race; Ridges manoeuvring right through the fleet the wrong way in one leg to take out 8th place after leading for most of the race; Janet had a spinnaker lesson and Mick and Sarah had a close encounter with a fresh water Dolphin! Look at what you missed if you weren’t there.

Rob Lott travelled to Frankston to pick up the new ‘Association boat’, did a night shift, went home and fixed the boat up, then came up to Boga. No wonder he forgot his sleeping bag.

There was also a large fleet of young kids sailing Minnows, Sabots and Microns. The 5 Microns belonged to club and were available for anyone who wanted to use one. Many of these kids were from the Mossie clans. James Neeson, Sarah Floyd, Brendan Warren-Smith, James and Kate Hyde and Tom Cobden were all out there having a go with a couple of them picking up prizes at presentation time. The two big Warren-Smith boys were looking particularly impressive in their new Ocean Wetsuit gear.

The Hyde rubber duck (the 30hp version, not the yellow squeaky type) provided non-stop entertainment for the kids, big and small, when sailing wasn’t on doing boogie board drags around the lake.

Things really got serious on the social side of the event. Most of us were camped in one area in a large circle to prevent attack by Indians, and there was lots of eating, drinking, talking and drinking. David Richardson (mossie crew from the old days and potential new owner) and family came for a visit from Bendigo. Jenny put us through a fire drill by setting fire to her tent with the stove and putting it out again before the budding fire fighters armed with everything from dishwater to fire extinguisher arrived.

Mick

Regatta and Botany Bay Challenge – Kurnell Catamaran Club

The lone Mozzie of Tim Shepperd was in a division with Nacra 5.8s and Taipan Sloops. After three windy races on the Saturday (hovering around 20 knots), Tim was lying equal 2nd behind a Nacra (with a 1,3,4 score line). On Sunday morning the wind came in late and light so the spinnaker rig did it’s job resulting in an overall win for Tim in the series. By the time the Botany Bay long-distance race was under way the wind had returned to a good 18 knot breeze again, but unfortunately the course involved very little downwind work so didn’t favour the spinnakered boats. The Mozzie, F18’s and Tornados were beaten on handicap by a Taipan.

If anyone feels like travelling to NSW for some sailing this Regatta can be recommended. At KCC Mosquito sailors feel right at home as the first thing you see when you walk in are large photos of Mosquitos (like the one below) adorning the walls. There is obviously a lot of Mozzie history at this club.

The results are on the KCC web site and to see how the F16 Mosquito compared with the other classes on handicap the results with all divisions combined can be seen by clicking here.

Eden Regatta – Twofold Bay YC

Once again this was an excellent regatta with almost perfect weather and breezes all weekend. Gary and Tim dominated the big cat division (made up of Hobie 16s,17s,18s & 20s) to finish 1st and 2nd. Peter Nikitin put in a hard weekend’s work but had a few too many disasters to contend with.

Around French Island Cat Challenge

Gary Maskiell was the lone Mosquito in this long distance race along with 13 other cats. Taipans and an F18 were the main competition on the water, with slower cats (Nacra14 and Hobie16) doing well on handicap.

The race stared with a LeMans style run down the beach to the boats. Unfortunately because it was a broad reach from the start with the first mark to one side the start was very biased so boats at the wrong end of the beach started off firmly last.

The Hobie Tiger made a good start, got the spinnaker up straight away and headed off-shore, while the rest of the fleet started sailing along the shore. As it turned out the inshore route paid and the Tiger had some catching up to do.

Gary on his F16 Mosquito cat and Simon McKeon on his F16 Taipan 4.9 sloop soon broke away from the rest of the fleet. Whenever the spinnakers were up Gary found he could pace the Taipan. When the spinnakers came down Simon made distance on Gary – this all in fairly light breezes. The Hobie Tiger also got back in front of Gary. Then they came to a narrower section of channel and the wind filled in from behind (South). Gary was enjoying himself sitting inboard wild-thinging with the spinnaker and catching up the Taipan and Tiger. He had done a splendid job and almost caught them up when he overdid it and tipped in.

A quick spinnaker drop and a boat righting and Gary resumed the chase. The breeze started to rise some more and going downwind Gary was catching the Tiger again (not because of extra speed but because he was able to sail deeper angles). Meanwhile Simon on the Taipan took a few bad gybes in the shifty and gusty wind and was caught again by Gary and the Tiger. The gusts were reaching 15 knots by now.

The three were fairly level when Gary was sailing out from the island on starboard gybe and the Taipan and Tiger were coming in on port. At this stage Gary saw ripples ahead of him and realised (too late) he had sailed up a trench. After a running-aground spinnaker-flogging experience Gary scrapped over the sand bar and re-joined the race.

There now followed some prolonged tight reaching with occasional spinnaker hoists in very shallow water. This was a nightmare for the Tiger of course since it’s enormous centreboards had to be mostly up. Once again the Taipan edged away every time the spinnakers were down, eventually opening up quite a large lead.

In the final beat to the finish Gary and the Tiger were neck-and-neck until the wind dropped again so Gary could no longer trapeze and the Tiger started to get away. There followed a horrible section into the dying wind with a large chop still present and with the rest of the fleet catching up from behind. A second (cat rigged) Taipan went past Gary at this stage (infuriatingly trapezing – why Bob wants a big rig!). However the Taipan’s glory was short lived as he sailed into a dead spot and Gary was able to sail past him again and stay in front to the finish where he ended up 3rd over the line.

When the handicap results came out it seems Gary won it by only a minute and a half from the Nacra14 over a 373 minute race. A very close race indeed!

PlaceClassCorrected time1stF16 Mosquito (Gary)373.012ndNacra14374.623rdHobie16384.324thF16 Taipan 4.9 (Simon)387.96

It was great to see Simon sailing his Taipan 4.9 in F16 format (with the VYC corrected handicap of 71.7) and enjoying it. With the increasing numbers of F16 Mosquitos being seen around Victoria lets hope a few more Taipans are encouraged to bring out their spinnakers.

Yarawonga Australia Day Regatta

The Australia Day regatta at Yarrawonga Yacht club was attended by 4 Mosquitos: John Bursill, Phillip and Anthony Warren Smith, Mick, Sarah and Tom Floyd and Stuart and Ann Ridge. The cat division also included 2x A Class, a Paper Tiger and a Hydra.

The Floyd family debuted Obsession as a sloop and cleaned up big time; winning the division and taking out the Regatta Champions trophy.

Friday evening was spent in the relaxed camping area doing the usual socialising and catching up with the locals. The late working Warren Smiths arriving post midnight just as all others were calling it a night. With a very respectable 1400 hours start on the Saturday, the morning was a fairly low-key affair rigging boats, morning teas, talking, predicting winds and waiting for race 1.

Race 1.
Had winds of 0-10 knots with a variety of wind directions. Sarah Floyd had her long awaited outing as a mosquito crew on Obsession, with Anthony Warren Smith also first time crew on Splashes of Brilliance. From the start Mick and Sarah played the wind shifts well and had a commanding lead by the first mark. The rest of us could only follow and hope for a lot of luck or a very favourable wind shift. Neither the luck or the wind shift eventuated. Floyds first with a 4 minute plus winning margin. Ridges second, Warren Smiths third.
Race 2.
had a change to sailing instructions with the cats now doing 4 laps instead of the scheduled 3. A 1000hrs start was a bit of a shock after the previous casual day. Winds were similar to Saturday except the high wind reading probably only reached 7 knots. Local member John Bursill sailing cat rigged was able to start his regatta having spent Saturday fulfilling his duties as OOD. With the less than ideal wind, the race got underway. Nautical Nuts with a reasonable start got out to a slim lead early. Mick (now with 7 year old son Tom carrying out crewing duties) were sitting just behind. John sailing slightly lower towards the shore and moving very fast certainly had us thinking that we may be lacking some local knowledge. “ Lucky Phil’ was not so lucky at the start line with a Paper Tiger parked in front of him. Floyds and Ridges changed lead a few times. Splitting tacks on the third windward had Nautical Nuts slightly ahead at the windward mark. Mick and Tom hit the front on the reach but fell slightly behind just prior to the wing mark. A shortened course saw the race finish at the leeward mark. Ridges ahead of Floyds by a very narrow two boat lengths, with Warren Smiths and John finishing at a rapid rate.
Race 3.
The ‘Flying Floyds’ were at it again on Sunday afternoon, with Sarah back on board having spent the morning crewing on a Castle 650. Winds were once again in the lower ranges with plenty of severe wind shifts. (Ask Phil how many times he tacked on the first reach). Obsession played the shifts very well and made the most of all the limited increases in pressure. For the remainder of the Mossies it was a case of waiting for a miracle to try and win back some of the lost ground. A huge victory to Mick and Sarah ( over 7 minutes) the rest of us were pleased when the race was over. It was even more disappointing to find out on of the A Class had broken the Mossie strangle hold on the top placings by taking a second on corrected time.
Race 4.
Last race for the day, a slight increase in wind strength, maybe 12 knots in the best gusts. Phil with stand in crew Sarah Floyd (sailing groupie) had a good start and was showing some’ brilliance’ on the first windward. However it was Mick and Tom who took the lead and got to the windward mark first and started building on a big lead. The Ridges got on the right side of a wind shift on the second windward and put a big dent in the Floyds lead, Phil and Sarah along with John were on the unlucky side of this shift and lost valuable distance. At the windward mark Nautical Nuts had a near on collision with a Timpenny 670 sailed by fellow Bendigo Yacht Club members and work colleagues. The Timpenny on port, Nautical Nuts on starboard, Timpenny claiming buoy room, then tacking and putting its out board propeller between our bows. No damage was done, however we did manage to sail over the top of the windward mark and drag it 30 metres before freeing it. ( Ann does not recall the exact circumstances but thinks she has a fair recollection of all words exchanged!) The moral of this incident is; the training weekend / rules seminar held at Beaumaris should be attended by Timpenny sailors. Timpenny episode aside, back to the real boats. Obsession went onto another good win, Nautical Nuts second, Splashes of Brilliance third and Out of the Blue fourth.
Race 5.
Monday 1000hrs. Final race, chance for the tailenders to do some damage to the Floyd’s dominance. Shifting, light winds. Race postponed by 30 minutes. Obsession with a fair sort of a start showed superior boat speed to take the early lead. Phil with Anthony back on board went the right way after a less than fabulous start and were within spitting distance of Mick and Sarah at the first mark. Team Ridge and John went the wrong way and were never in the hunt. Splashes of Brilliance kept close to Obsession all race and was able to keep their winning margin down to a respectable time (2min 30 sec). The other two mossies putting in a little distance late in the race; but all too late. Nautical Nuts third, Out of The Blue fourth.

Unfortunately for the second time in the regatta two A Class taking out second and third positions in the cat division broke the mosquito dominance.

A great regatta for relaxing, socialising and sailing, particularly for those of us that don’t have the luxury of water at our home clubs. Thanks to Di Floyd and Sandra Warren Smith for minding the camp, providing morning teas, entertaining family guests and assisting with first aid duties.

Mosquito results.

1st.Obsession2nd.Nautical Nuts3rd.Splashes of Brilliance4th.Out of The Blue

Stuart Ridge

Westernport Challenge

While seven Mozzies were racing at the Sail Melbourne, another four were taking part in the Westernport Challenge, and Bonnie sailed by R. Saw beat 15 other Hobies, Taipans, A-classes and Windrushes to take first place. Well done!

OrderSail NoBoat NameFromClass NameCOR TIMESKIPPERCREW
11750BONNIECYCMosquito80.48R SAW 
2104761MERKOA CONSTRUCTIONSSOMERSHobie1682.4S MORRIST CHUI
31DRUNKNAWNKYWESTERNPORTHobie1683.03L BELL 
4104505THRILLS N SPILLSCYCHobie1683.67C ASHTONS ASHTON
516793POLLOCKCYCHobie1884.52A POLLOCKA BURRELL
6AUS054YURAUGACYCTaipan4.9Cat85.4C SMITHSON 
716646VIAGRACYCHobie1885.83G WOODL MURPHY
8778OUTERREACHSOMERSAClass86.85J KARNOWSKI 
946PAULMERRICKSTaipan4.9Cat86.9A PAUL 
10156NORMA JEANMERRICKSMosquito87.53I GRANT 
111679RISKY BUSINESSSOMERSMosquito88.7B GRISTWOOD 
1215142JUST HANGINCYCHobie1895.8G WARRYI WARRY
1338TENACIOUSCYCHobie16111.98B WALTONM JANSON
DNF1517RACHCYCMosquito A JANSON 
DNF2522SMITHCYCWindrush14SuperSloop G SMITH 
DNF6261THE EDGECYCWindrush14SuperSloop S WILKINSON 
DNS78TACLESSSOMERSAClass A KARNOWSKI 
DNS95459PIER PRESSUREWESTERNPORTHobie16 T LINDRES 

Sail Melbourne

Seven mosquitos attended the cat classic this year, 4 with spinnakers and 3 without. For the first time we had the two groups of Mosquitos split between two divisions. The cut-off handicap for the fast cat division was set at 80. This meant that the F16 Mosquitos had the pleasure of sailing windward-leeward courses against the F18s, A-classes and Taipans, while the standard Mosquitos sailed with Hobie 17s, 16s and a Nacra 5.0.

It turned out to be quite a physically tough weekend, starting with an attempt to get the regatta under way on Saturday in a rising wind which led the race officer to abandon the race before a lap was completed. This was enough time for a few boats to have trouble and the first of the Mosquito casualties was Stuart and Ann Ridge who tipped the boat in going to windward. While sailing in to shore Stuart came off trapeze and his leg went into the water in front of the centre board. The pressure of the water (as they were still moving fast) forced his leg back onto the leading edge of the board. It was only later when he was back on shore he discovered he had cut his leg badly enough to need stitches which meant that was the end of the regatta for Stuart and Ann. The rest of the day was spent watching the sea boil as the wind, if anything, just got stronger.

Sunday dawned with the promise of a more reasonable breeze, and the promise from the organisers that they would try to run more than three races. The first race got under way in a wind which varied frequently between about 5 and 12 knots. The Mosquitos were constantly in and out on trapeze in these conditions which meant they had to watch the cats with bigger rigs (F18, A and Taipan) sail away in the lulls. However, the Mosquitos made it to the windward mark mid-fleet and once the spinnaker was up started to make their way back towards the leaders. At this stage Peter Nikitin fell victim to the gusty wind and nose-dived his Mozzie, injuring his elbow in the process. Another Mozzie down for the day.

Greg Goodall and Chris Boag in their F18 Capricorn, helped to give Gary Maskiell an interesting race by sailing off to a windward mark belonging to another club and having to return to the course when he discovered his mistake. Greg spent the rest of the race catching up and did eventually pass Gary just before the finish. Gary sailed a flawless race and although he crossed the line 11th he won that race on corrected time, just ahead of Hamish Sinclair on the first A, and Mark Laruffin on an F18 Capricorn. In division two Steve Cobden put in a good race to finish 6th, two places ahead of Andrew Neeson.

A second race was held immediately and the fast cats obviously felt the sense of urgency as they were pretty well all OCS (except for the Mozzies of course!). They were left to cool down while the other divisions started. The wind was a little stronger this time but still horribly shifty and variable in strength. On the third downwind leg for the spinnakered mosquitoes the wind started coming across in bullets from various directions which made the spinnaker handling challenging to say the least. Rapid 90 degree changes in direction were necessary to keep the hull under the rig and at one stage we had an A-class and two Mozzies in a line with the mozzie in the middle’s sails set on the opposite side to the others and all three moving fast. In this race Tim Shepperd found the right flukes in the first windward leg to be the first of the Mozzies at the windward mark (once again mid-fleet against the As and Taipans), and Peter Cobden was not far behind with Gary on his tail. Despite the variable wind, the placings stayed like that for a while, until Gary finally broke through Peter. Tim and Gary ended up 3rd and 4th on handicap behind Timothy Kirkham in an A and Greg Goodall in his F18 Capricorn. The Capricorns had varied results in this race as Greg finished a clear 12 minutes ahead of the first Mozzie, while Mark Laruffin was ahead but miss-counted the laps and finished one lap too early (easily done – it’s not easy being in front).

In division two Andrew Neeson sailed the race of his life (well ok, a good race) to finish 4th on handicap behind a trio of Hobie 17s. Steve Cobden became the next Mozzie victim as his rudder box exploded, putting him out of action for the rest of the day.

A third race was held immediately after the second, and the starts went without a hitch this time. The wind, once again, was stronger than the previous race, being about 12-18 knots now. Still just as varaiable and flukey as before though. The F18 Capricorns showed that the more the wind blows the faster they go, and their speed was certainly impressive this time. In what was only a 40 minute race for them they pulled out 8 minutes ahead of Gary, the first Mozzie. In the Mosquitoes Gary led from the start, followed by Peter and then Tim. On each windward leg Peter would make distance on Tim and then Tim would claim back the distance on the downwind leg. It was only after the final downwind leg that Tim finally rounded the last mark in front of Peter and proceeded to cover Peter to the finish. At least that was the plan. Not far up the final windward leg another of those bullets came across which nearly knocked Peter over and left Tim standing on an upside down platform.

In division two Andrew (the last remaining Mozzie) was swatted out of the race with a broken rudder fitting.

Since there was no more time left to run another race that was the end of the series. In the fast cats division Gary ended up first overall in a close competition with an A-class and Greg’s F18. The results of this days sailing made the “Mosquito with spinnaker” handicap of 80 look quite realistic. These three races also demonstrated that the Australian F18s are getting faster and certainly have a lot of speed when the wind gets up.

PlaceTiesSail NoBoat NameSkipperCrewFromAgg ScoreRace 3Race 2Race 1
8 1707Natural ProgressionAndrew NeesonJames NeesonBeaumaris YC24.0012.00C 4.00 8.00
10 769Simply RedSteve Cobden CCSC30.0012.00C 12.00F 6.00
11 1752NAUTICAL NUTSStuart RidgeAnn RidgeAUS36.0012.00C 12.00C 12.00F
PlaceTiesSail NoBoat NameSkipperCrewFromAgg ScoreRace 3Race 2Race 1
1 1768TWICE BITTENGary Maskiell AUS9.004.00 4.00 1.00
10 1775KARMA CHRISTim ShepperdHenry ShepperdAUS32.0023.00C 3.00 6.00
11 1769First TryPeter CobdenKelly CobdenCCSC33.006.00 10.00 17.00
20 1741Red AlertPeter Nikitin Loch Sport YC69.0023.00C 23.00C 23.00F

Colac

10 boats were at Colac and despite fickle wind conditions we all had a good time. 5 of the 10 boats were using spinnakers (2 MkI and 3 MkII). The other 5 were 4 MkIs and a MkII.

We formed a team for the Chug-a-lug skulling competition and were knocked out in the first round by the Ballarat Sharpie sailors. This was actually our game plan as scoffing more than one pot would have been the end of us!

The results are a bit dubious but it’s what we were given by the club.

PosSail #BoatSkipperAgg ScoreR 4R 3R 2R 1
11768Twice Bitten (MkIs)Gary Maskiell4.002.001.00ABN1.00
21781Voo Doo (MkI)Bob Wilson8.001.002.00ABN5.00
31752Nautical Nuts (MkII)Stuart Ridge11.004.005.00ABN2.00
41741Red Alert (MkIs)Peter Nikitin12.003.003.00ABN6.00
51769First Try (MkIIs)Peter Cobden16.008.004.00ABN4.00
61727Atreus (MkI)John Flower19.506.0010.50CABN3.00
71745Obsession (MkI)Mick Floyd22.505.0010.50CABN7.00
81132Wreckless (MkI)Rob Lott23.007.007.00ABN9.00
91775Karma Chris (MkIIs)Tim Shepperd28.409.006.00ABN13.40C
101050Dengue Fever (MkIIs)Phil Noone31.9013.40C10.50CABN8.00

Forster Wildcat Regatta – October 2003

The two Mosquitos of Gary Maskiell and Tim Shepperd made the long trip from GLYC in Paynesville to GLSC near Forster in NSW, and as it turned out the drive was well worth the effort. Around 100 cats turned up for the event, making the rigging, parking, camping and socialising all very cosy! There were large fleets of F18s (who were holding their nationals at the same time), Hobie16s, A-classes and Taipans. The Mosquitos, who were using spinnakers, sailed in the miscellaneous large cat division with a collection of cats including Taipan 5.7s, a Nacra 5.8, four Tornados, and Hobie 18s and 20s. This was a useful event to judge the performance of the spinnaker rig, as the Mosquitos shared the start and course with the Taipans and A-class cats as well, so it was possible to measure ourselves against many different types of cat.

Saturday’s racing started off with not much more than 10-12 knots of breeze and windward-leeward courses were being used, which suited the spinnaker rig well. Just about everyone on the course immediately discovered that the Mosquitos had extraordinary speed on the downwind legs, and any cats sailing without spinnakers were really no contest. Even the F18s did not make any impression on the Mosquitos downwind. On the upwind legs the Mosquitos were pacing the mid-fleet sloop Taipans and losing very little on the leading cat-rigged Taipans. In the miscellaneous division the Mosquitos finished 1,2 and 1,3 in the two races that day with Tim and Gary sharing the honours and a Tornado getting ahead of Tim on handicap in the second race.

On Sunday the wind picked up and Gary was fired up! We started the day with a triangle wind-ward return race which gave us a fast two sail trapezing reach to the wing mark followed by a tight spinnaker reach to the bottom mark. Gary finished the first lap with the leading Taipan sloops and the Tornados while Tim was close behind with the Taipan cats. A short work followed by a fast downwind leg to the finish gave Gary a comfortable win after which he never looked back. Two more windward-leeward courses were run that day and Gary just got faster and faster, with a perfect score (Tim obviously not trying hard enough!). Tim got two more seconds and a 3rd (with a Tornado in front again), that day

On Monday we were looking forward to the 20-25 knot wind that was forecast but nothing happened, and after a drift out into the lake the committee boat sent everyone back to shore. Shortly afterwards the racing was cancelled for the day and that was the end of the event. The race committee had made a very good decision as the wind stayed resolutely somewhere-else while everyone packed up.

After the first day’s racing there were mixed comments about the Mosquito’s performance and the fact that Mosquitos (supposedly a dead class) were at the event at all. One reason for making the trip to NSW was to raise awareness among the NSW cat sailors that the Mosquito is still very much alive and kicking, and indeed getting better all the time. One person said to us, after talking with some of the Taipan sailors, that “You’re as popular as a pork chop in a Synagogue”.

By the time Sunday’s racing was over, the Mosquitos were clearly making a big impression with lots of people asking a lot of questions and taking away flyers about the boat. Glen Ashby wanted a sail on one and said that from watching the Mosquitos in action this weekend he thought they would be faster than the A-class downwind. There were ex-Mosquito sailors (mostly now in Taipans) who were delighted to see the boats performing as well as they did.

Thanks to Great Lakes Sailing Club for putting on a very friendly and well run event, and thanks to Gary for doing all the driving.

Tim Shepperd

Summary

DateVenueNo of MosquitoesBest placed Mozzie
October 4/5/6Great Lakes SC (NSW)2Gary Maskiell
Dec 6/7Colac YC10Gary Maskiell
JanYarawonga Australia Day Regatta4Mick Floyd (1st)
Feb 14Westernport Challenge4Rod Saw (1st)
Feb 14/15Sail Melbourne7Gary Maskiell
Feb 14Torquay SC7Gary Maskiell
Feb 14Around French Island race1Gary Maskiell
Feb 14/15Twofold Bay YC3Gary Maskiell
Feb 21/22Kurnell Cat Club (NSW)1Tim Shepperd
Feb 28Altona YC9All
EasterBoga, Bolac, Gippsland11, 7, 4?, ?, Tim Shepperd
24,25 AprilBatemans Bay SC1Gary Maskiell (1st)