Sauna Sail

Twelve Mosquitos sailed at the Sauna Sail this year, enough to qualify for our own division and our own start. The wind was light all weekend, and especially shifty and tricky on Sunday. Neil Joiner totally dominated the Mosquitoes by consistently reading the shifty winds.

Race 1 -Saturday pm

Neil Joiner sailed cat rigged for this regatta and in the first race, line honored by 2.5 minutes. Phillip Warren-Smith and Tim Shepperd, sailing with spinnakers, followed only three seconds apart (Philip sneaking past Tim one boatlength from the finish line). On handicap Garry Johnstone, Matt Stone and Robert Lott all finished ahead of the spinnakers.

Race 2 – Saturday pm

In a race where the wind looked like it would stay, it faded badly to cause boats to be DNF because of the sun set rule. Tim & Philip finished first but not far enough ahead to beat Garry & Neil on Handicap – Neil just 12 secs ahead of Garry.

Race 3 – Sunday am

Tim, James Pearse and Matt took off and fought it out until Tim pulled the kite and sailed the obstacle course better to win easily. James and Matt were going well until James forgot the course and had to sail a knock and lost 2 places. Neil snuck past Matt on the last windward work to take 2nd on Handicap.

Race 4 – Sunday pm

A shifty and gusty wind, avg 8 knots with lots of bad air from the East. Way worse than Saturday. The fleet quickly spread out with the spinnaker boats well back to start with. Neil appeared to be using some kind of Black Magic, constantly being in the right place. Every downwind leg Tim and Philip would peg back Neil (while swapping places themselves) only to lose it again on the upwinds. By the last lap Tim had just got in front of Neil only to be passed again on the final run to the finish line!

Race 5 – Sunday pm

Neil was once again doing a cool job of hunting down the wind and the spinnakers were just hanging in behind him. The race was shortened at the windward mark so there was then a long run back to the finish. This final windward leg was too much of a challenge for some, but Gordon Hyde did something right and rounded the mark first along with Garry Johnstone and Bill Pepping. Gordon went on to cross the line first (and didn’t we get to hear all about it after!), while Garry and Neil followed him over the line to pick up 1st and 2nd on handicap, with Bill right behind.

Race 6 – Monday am

Large oscillating shifts, light winds, 5 knots Max, that died at the end. This tested everyone’s patience. Matt, Garry and Neil fought it out on the first windward leg with Clint Burgess close behind. Tim passed all on 2nd reach and went on to build a large lead. Tim finished first over the line, but spent too long parked in front of the clubhouse waiting to finish. Matt passed Neil on the 2nd reach, and these two went on to finish 1st and 2nd.

Drought Buster Regatta

A fine turnout of 10 Mosquitoes attended the Dought Buster Regatta at Port Melbourne YC. There were two back-to-back races each day with windward-leeward courses and a reach to the finish line in front of the clubhouse.

The seabreeze was building as we went out for the first start and fortunately by the time we started it had reached trapezing strength. So ideal conditions for the Mosquitoes, and hard for the cat-rigged Taipans to get away. The two spinnakered Mozzies of Tim Shepperd and Peter Nikitin were clearly favoured by the windward-leeward courses and didn’t look back once they reached the first downwind leg of each race. Meanwhile Bob Wilson, Mick & Tom Floyd, Ross Bennett, Jon Guymer, Tim Kennedy, Andrew Neeson, Garry Johnstone, and Robert Lott enjoyed some close racing, with Mick & Tom showing impressive speed and dominating the non-spinnakered Mozzies.

On Sunday we started a little earlier so it was not quite trapezing weather and the races got off to a slower start. Henry Shepperd sailed the Karma Cat this time and gave Peter a run for his money. The lighter winds didn’t suit Mick’s sloop and he couldn’t repeat the previous day’s performance. Ross enjoyed the light stuff and led the standard mozzies in the final race until Bob snuck past just before the finish.

In the final results Peter was first, Bob second and ex Mozzie sailor Ken Marsh on his Taipan was third.

F16 State Challenge – Portland YC

The three mozzies of Neil Joiner, Matt Kirby and Tim Shepperd had a great weekend racing against the “big” kids. We had 8 races in 2 days mostly in 10 to 15 knots of wind – perfect.

Portland was a great venue, with a sheltered beach and grass rigging area in the harbour. The club did a great job of running the event, timing the races to coincide with the best wind. David and Wendy at the Henty Bay Van and Cabin Park not only provided Neil and Tim’s accommodation but fed us when we arrived on Friday night as well – rabbit stew!

Although the Mozzies were clearly underpowered compared to the F16s, they were always in the race and usually one or two of the F16s ended up chasing a Mozzie to the finish.

The overall and (unofficial) handicap results are here – there are of course no handicaps in F16 racing, this is for the benefit of the VYC handicappers.

PlaceSail NoBoat NameSkipperFromSers ScoreRace 8Race 7Race 6Race 5Race 4Race 3Race 2Race 1
1113Viper 1L GoodallPMYC8.001.001.003.00[3.00]1.001.001.00[3.00]
2404The Pork HuntT BarrettASC13.002.003.001.001.00[4.00]3.003.00[6.00]
3405VertigoM TowellVHYC25.004.002.004.002.005.008.00[9.00][9.00]
3400Formula Cats AusG MaskiellGLYC25.00[13.00F]4.005.00[8.00]6.002.007.001.00
3332Red oneD JamesASC25.005.009.002.00[13.00F][11.00]5.002.002.00
6322Tasi OkiG BarrettFYC31.503.005.00[10.00]7.00[8.00]6.005.505.00
765MacatakJ McDonaldFYC32.006.006.007.006.003.00[7.00][8.00]4.00
81789ImmunityN JoinerGLYC37.508.00[11.00][11.00]4.009.004.005.507.00
93344 PlayC JohnsonFYC43.007.008.008.009.002.009.00[11.00][12.00F]
10259Wear the Fox HatJ DemeoAWYC46.00[13.00F]10.006.00[13.00F]7.0011.004.008.00
111775Karma CatT ShepperdGLYC50.009.007.009.005.0010.0010.00[10.00][10.00]
121740Jurassic KarpM KirbyWYC69.0010.0012.0012.0010.0012.0013.00C[13.00C][13.00C]
PlaceSail NoBoat NameSkipperFromSers ScoreRace 8Race 7Race 6Race 5Race 4Race 3Race 2Race 1
11789ImmunityN JoinerGLYC9.002.00[4.00][9.00]1.003.001.001.001.00
2113Viper 1L GoodallPMYC11.001.002.003.00[5.00]1.002.002.00[4.00]
31775Karma CatT ShepperdGLYC19.003.001.006.002.004.003.00[6.00][8.00]
4404The Pork HuntT BarrettASC23.004.005.001.003.00[8.00]5.005.00[7.00]
5332Red oneD JamesASC32.007.0010.002.00[13.00F][12.00]6.004.003.00
6405VertigoM TowellVHYC32.505.003.004.004.009.007.50[9.00][10.00]
7400Formula Cats AusG MaskiellGLYC35.00[13.00F]6.007.008.00[10.00]4.008.002.00
865MacatakJ McDonaldFYC42.008.008.008.007.006.00[9.00][10.00]5.00
9322Tasi OkiG BarrettFYC42.506.007.00[12.00]9.00[11.00]7.507.006.00
10259Wear the Fox HatJ DemeoAWYC43.00[13.00F]9.005.00[13.00F]7.0010.003.009.00
113344 PlayC JohnsonFYC53.009.0011.0010.0010.002.0011.00[11.00][13.00F]
121740Jurassic KarpM KirbyWYC57.0010.0012.0011.006.005.0013.00C[13.00C][13.00C]

To add to the above here is a list of the competitors with the types of boats they were sailing.

Sail NoBoat NameClassFirst NameLast NameFrom
65MacatakTaipan 4.9 sloopJamesMcDonaldFYC
113Viper 1F16 ViperLiamGoodallPMYC
259Wear the Fox HatTaipan4.9 catJohnDemeoAWYC
322Tasi OkiTaipan4.9 sloopGordonBarrettFYC
332Red oneF16 TaipanDannyJamesASC
3344 PlayTaipan4.9 sloopColinJohnsonFYC
400Formula Cats AusF16 BladeGaryMaskiellGLYC
404The Pork HuntF16 BladeTonyBarrettASC
405VertigoF16 BladeMarcusTowellVHYC
1740Jurassic KarpMosquitoMattKirbyWYC
1775Karma CatMosquitoTimShepperdGLYC
1789ImmunityMosquitoNeilJoinerGLYC

Easter regattas

Somers YC

The Somers Yacht Club Easter regatta saw 65 yachts competing over the Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning. The consisted of 60 club entries and 5 visitors.

Conditions were generally light for the entire series with only occasional trapezing. The Mozzies were racing in division 2 with 24 yachts consisting of 11 club Mozzies, 7 Hobie 16s, 2 Hobie Turbo’s, 2 Paper Tigers, 1 Hobie 14, and a Nacra 16 sq.

Placings were filled with Mozzies for the entire regatta and generally it was Mozzies in the top 6 places. It just wasn’t the weather for Hobie 16s.

Race winners were Race 1 James Pearse, Race 2 Matt Stone, Race 3 Brian Gristwood sailing cat rigged, Race 4 ME (I picked the wind shifts), Race 5 Matt Stone. Minor place getters consisted of the above along with Simon Boadle, Malcolm Kemp and Mal Otto.

Jeremy Pearse had a collision with a Pacer in Race 1 which effectively forced him to retire from the rest of the series. Jeremy was flying his kite and on starboard and went straight into the side of the Pacer also on starboard. Jeremy was unable to see the Pacer with the kite up and the Pacer didn’t see the Mozzie until contact was made. Damage to the Pacer was extensive whilst Jeremy’s Mozzie only appeared to have a small “nose bleed” in the port bow. Hope your Mozzie is well again soon and back in action for the Autumn series.

Bullen Merri

Easter over again. And what a great event it was at Camperdown. Nearly eighty yachts turned up to sail and socialize. Six races in all including Andrew Neeson`s sternchaser win, Hooray for Andrew! His two ankle biter`s also starred at their sailing efforts. Well done James and Caroline!

The weather was extremely kind to us with wind of various strengths in all six races varying from 5 to nearly 30 knots in the BIG puffs. Only race two started in light stuff which became better as the race got going. Race one was the tipper with boats all over the lake upside down.

Two classes ran their states, Cobras and Dolphins, ten and eight respectivley. Both state classes gave the six Mosquito`s someone to chase down, which added to the fun during our own races in mixed cat`s. Ross Bennett (No Turbulence) dominated with five first`s, followed by the rest of us in close pursuit. Robbie Lott, Andrew Neeson, Gordon Hyde, sailing with James and Kate or on his own, John Buzo, Jon Guymer, and Gary Bird, in various order.

John Buzo sailed Presstisimo for one race as he broke a rudder box when he did a rather good cart wheel at the top mark in the previous gusty race. He sailed into second position only seconds behind Ross Bennett with the rest hot on his tail.Gordon and Kate also had a second in the big breeze using their kite to good effect only to lose their rig in the stern chaser when the base pin on the mast broke with a big bang.

Camping was excellent with portable showers, green grass to tent on, and lots of power boat people to also see a super fleet of sail boats enjoying great sailing on the crater lake. At a rough count there where 3 to 4 hundred people at the lake most of the time with it peaking at many more as the days progressed. Many thanks also to the Warrnambool YC for running to weekend so well, Don Allen and his team did a wonderful job!

Jon Guymer

Lake Bonney YC

9 Mosquitos took to the water at Lake Bonney to be faced with very, very light shifty winds for both Saturday and Sunday,causing problems to even get over the start line at times with some wind shifts in excess of 180 degrees and only staying in that direction for a short time.

The seasoned lake sailors, Garry Johnstone and Tim Kennedy showed the experienced sea sailor Darren Kopp how it was done in the first 2 races,then Darren decided to use cassette tape as his wind indicator and took the honors in the next 2 races with Tim and Garry in hot pursuit, until approx 30 metres from the finish line Tim got caught in a “black hole” and let half the fleet over the line in front of him. The race crew so determined to get all 5 heats sailed shortened the course even more than it had been and sent us out again, with Tim getting the jump on the rest of the fleet and revenge for the previous races problems was first over the line in front of Garry and Darren. Brenton Delaine showed he was familiar with the shifty winds and sailed to the head of the fleet overtaking son Beau at times during the weekends races.

Even with the light winds everyone had a good time and enjoyed the Lake Bonney hospitality

Final results were; Garry Johnstone 1st, Tim Kennedy 2nd, Darren Kopp 3rd.

Gippsland Lakes YC (Paynesville)

Saturday, for the “Around Raymond Island” race winds were a solid 25kts, gusting more and seas were a very nasty 1m chop . Only 2 cats started with 5 heading back to shore after getting to the start area and pulling the pin after capsizes and breakages or from just good sense .

Gary was on his FCA Blade and ahead off the start and most of the way beating, but after losing some time getting knocked off the side of the boat and ending up on the back beam 3 times, the Mosquito of Niel Joiner, fresh from winning the state titles, took the lead. Neil had sailed a longer course on the far side of the lake, possibly covering as much as a kilometre extra distance. By doing this he stayed in flatter water and it payed off, taking everyone by surprise. Even the rescue boat realised too late that they would not be able to get ahead of him to lay the gate at Point King. They tried but they couldn’t catch him.

Neil then reached home to Paynesville in a cloud of spray without “needing” to use the spinnaker. Neil now holds the fastest time on record at 54 mins.

St Leonards YC

Friday morning’s race saw six A Class, one F18 and one arrow, winds 15 knots, just a perfect way to start a weekends sailing. Friday afternoon winds built to 20 knots plus and that short St Leonards chop. The fleet was the same as the morning except for a Cobden sloop mossie with spin replacing the F18. After an hour all boats had retired, some with breakages. The score at the end of the day was three broken centre boards, one de-laminated deck and a two-part sail.

Saturday morning race started with five to eight knots with a smaller fleet but two sloop mossies with spin’s and the F18 back on the water. The afternoon race was in lighter conditions three to five knots.

Sunday morning’s race was in 12 to 15 knots and the afternoon race was postponed until 4.00pm and sailed in 8 to 12 knots.

No Monday racing so the Mossies sailed up the coast to Indented Head just in time to catch the last race of the Indented Head regatta. We were invited to race by a number of the locals. The cats started first in Div five with the skiffs and the second start didn’t happen because of lack of breeze. Our race was over at the top mark when it was cancelled due to a lack of wind.

All in all at St Leonards six races in every condition from 3 to 20 plus knots a great place to sail. Rigging on the grass at the side of the club with a small fleet of cats and mono’s about 15 or so. Indented Head had 35 plus boats mostly monos and a couple of cats. Both clubs are very friendly and well worth a look next year.

Twofold Bay YC regatta at Eden, NSW

Five cat-rigged Mozzies went along to the Twofold Bay regatta this year and once again Eden turned on beatiful weather and brilliant racing (actually the first race was a drifter but the next three were so good we soon forgot about that).

Philip Warren-smith travelled from Melbourne, Martin Van-Weel came down from Lake Jindabyne, and Peter Nikitin, Neil Joiner and Tim Shepperd came along from East Gippsland.

The racing was very close with Neil, Peter and Tim winning a race each and Gary on his F16 winning the first race. In the end Mosquitoes took the first 3 places in their division with only one point separating them. Tim was on 5 points and Neil and Peter on 6, with Neil getting the second prize on a tie-break.

Race 1 – This was a drifter, though it started out interesting with a big shift before the start that meant we could almost lay the windward mark on Port. During this first leg the wind became more fickle leading to large place changing as we approached the mark, however once we were on the reach and the spinnakers were up the wind kicked in again and we had a great ride downwind. No-one dominated this race and places changed a lot until a lap later when the wind really died out and the fleet spread right across the course. At this point the race was shortened and Neil crossed the line ahead of Peter. Despite swimming earlier and coming from behind, Gary opened up a big enough lead from the Mosquitoes to win this race on handicap – quite a feat.

Race 2 – When we sailed out past the breakwater after lunch we were surprised to find the wind had built to a steady 15 knots (maybe more), and the Mosquitoes sailed to the start line under spinnaker, only just getting there in time to start. The course was triangle-leeward-triangle-leeward-triangle and the course was set so we had a tight trapezing reach to the wing mark and then a spinnaker downwind leg to the leeward mark. Five laps and fast the whole way! Tim led from the start but Neil was never more than a few boatlengths behind and Peter and Philip were also right behind Neil. Neil broke through into first spot twice and Philip also came within a whisker of taking the lead at one stage. In the end Tim stayed in front of Neil for the finish and Peter finished close behind. Unfortunately Philip’s sidestay came adrift on the last lap, otherwise he would have been right there.

Race 3 – Sunday morning started with a 8-10 knot shifty wind which made for another interesting race. The shifts came very rapidly so it was a challenge to decide which ones to tack on and which to sail through. Neil made a very good job of picking the wind while Peter chased and Tim and Philip lagged behind. On the second run Neil’s wind ran out allowing Peter to take the lead at the leeward mark and Tim to round very close behind Neil. Up the next windward leg Peter extended his lead and Tim went through to second. On the final reaches Peter coped with gusts threatening to take him right off the course while Tim chipped away at his lead but in the end he covered Tim to the finish line for 1st place. In this race it was possible to fly the spinnaker on every downwind leg and every reach – non-spinnakered boats had no hope!

Race 4 – Once again the Mosquitoes turned up just in time to get their warning signal, in a beautiful 15 knot breeze. Soon after the start Tim tacked off to the right. This brought him to the first mark just behind Gary and ahead of the other Mosquitoes. On the next windward leg Neil went hard left from the leeward mark and went for the layline which put him in a narrow lead over Tim, while Peter and Philip followed (at a distance). These positions stayed that way for the rest of the five laps and Neil finished comfortably ahead of Tim. The spinnakers were flown on every reach in this race as well (although it was touch and go a few times at the wing mark). This led to some very tired skippers at the end of the day.

As usual Twofold Bay YC had a huge handout of prizes at the end of the weekend with Neil needing to find space in his car for an extra large Esky-on-wheels.

Torquay SC Australia Day regatta

Numbers where down this year with around 17 cats, mostly Hobies 18’s, 17’s and 16’s, 1xTaipan 5.7 with Spin, Mosquitoes Peter Nikitin (spinnaker) and Tim Shepperd (no spinnaker!) and Gary Maskiell on his F16.

We had two races on Saturday, in an offshore wind starting light and flukey for the first race (Mosquitoes 1st and 2nd) and getting more pressure later until there was enough in the gusts to make Peter Nikitin nosedive under spinnaker (Mosquitoes 1st and 8th). Luckily for Tim he couldn’t get his spinnaker from Lindsay in time for the weekend, because the combination of courses and winds never worked out right for the spinnaker.

On Sunday there was the threat of strong change so the OD decided to hold the coaster to Barwon heads (not as far as Anglesea and in the opposite direction). Once again it worked out perfect for a Mozzie without a spinnaker with a beam reach out and almost but not quite to windward coming back. We were just footing off slightly all the way home, into the waves, flat out on trap and de-powering. What a blast! Mosquitoes 1st and 2nd again.

After lunch we had two more triangle-windward-leeward races in more gusty and shifty winds. Once again the spinnaker didn’t help Peter much, there being only one downwind leg and that was very gusty. Mosquitoes 3rd and 8th in the first followed by 1st and 6th in the second.

It was a good weekend for Mosquitoes so it’s a shame only Peter and myself were there to enjoy it. Torquay SC ran a good series and laid on a really nice meal on Saturday night (so the trailer-park campers didn’t have to go anywhere). Gary Maskiell was there on his Blade and looking fast (until he knocked the sail out of the mast track in the second to last race which put him out of the results). Overall results for the Mosquitoes, 1st and 4th.

Tim Shepperd

Somers YC Australia Day regatta

10 Mozzies raced at Somers Y.C. in the Alan Sanders Memorial Cup, Commodores Cup and veterans trophy. 48 Somers yachts competed in a single division event against their yardstick and individual handicap. Matt Stone (1705) won yardstick overall with Jeremy Pearse (1812) 3rd overall. In the veterans catamaran trophy Jeremy Pearse won with Brian and Adam Gristwood 3rd.

Racing was conducted over the 3 days in predominantly light winds however racing on Sunday afternoon was cancelled with consistent wind at 27 knots and gusts above 30 knots. Two short back to back races were conducted on Monday morning to complete the scheduled number of races.

Peter Foulsum

Yarrawonga Australia Day regatta

Four mosquitoes at Yarrawonga – Andrew Neeson, Trevor Bland and crew (sorry didn’t get her name), Colin McEwan and myself. Both of Colin’s sons crewed on mosquitoes in the first race on Sunday, picking up a first (Colin and Campbell) and a second (Robert and Jack) in that race.

All had a good time with a different winner in the mosquitoes each time. Four different boats, four different hull shapes. Biggest problem was the weed in the pond. I didn’t make the last race so I don’t know the final results but still a good weekend.

Robert Lott


Just to fill you in on the last race at Yarrawonga, I sailed sloop with Jack as crew. Thought I wasn’t going to make the start as one of the centreboards got stuck. Managed to get the board up and bolt to the start line was a bit late for the start but managed to make it to 3rd around the first mark. I overtook the two taipans on the first reach and managed to lead the race until the last triangle when the 1st taipan overtook me and I followed him to the finish less than a minute behind.

Colin McEwan

Westernport Challenge

Six Mosquitoes from Somers Y.C. (Matt Stone 1705, Jeremy 1812 and James Pearse 1791, Brian & Adam Gristwood 1679, Ben Gristwood & Chris Tuck 1500 and Peter Foulsum 1048) sailed across to Cowes Y.C. for the 2008 Westernport Challenge. They were joined by Rod Saw 1750 from Cowes Y.C. to make a complement of 7 Mozzies racing in division 1.

Numbers were down on previous years probably due to the very light conditions and the battle against an outgoing tide. Most launched from Somers at around 11:00 am for a 1:00 pm race start at Cowes. It soon became abundantly clear that going out to sea resulted in a loss of ground. The best way to make ground was to stick close to shore and tack up towards Sandy Point then hope that some wind would eventuate for the passage across the shipping channel to Cowes.

Approximately an hour after launching we had barely cleared Somers township. Wind was fluctuating ENE, E, ESE at a variable 5 knots. By 1:30 pm we were in the vicinity of the sand banks and trying to negotiate a path through into deep water and fast outgoing current. Around this time the wind shifted towards SW and started to increase slightly. Yachts could be seen at Cowes Y.C. that had either been launched from Cowes or had been towed over by supporting patrol boats. Yachts from Merricks and Westernport Yacht clubs had started their journey at around 10:00 am. Conditions were still too light to run a race so we kept persevering with the marathon.

At 3:00 pm we arrived at Cowes Y.C. The club announced that a briefing would be held shortly and racing would be scheduled to start at 3:30 pm. The wind shifted again to due S and started to increase in strength to approximately 8 knots. Due to the reduced numbers, all catamarans started together with Mozzies in division 1 and completing 4 laps of a trapezoidal course.

Racing was tight among the top 4 Mozzies. Local knowledge paid dividends for Rod Saw who held out Matt Stone closely followed by James Pearse who pipped Jeremy Pearse on the line by 1 second. The rest of us had our own personal battles against Hobie 16s and each other. Official results haven’t been published yet but as soon I see them I’ll post them as well.

The sail back to Somers was a much easier event with a beam reach in 10 knots of freshening breeze from the SW. Again it was against the incoming tide but I would say that this time it was more enjoyable. Even had a visit from a friendly dolphin. We arrived back at Somers Y.C. at approximately 6:15 pm so it was 7 hours on the water.

A big thank you goes to club patrol boats that sent the entries over to Cowes in advance, escorted us across, towed the monohull entries, watched us race and escorted us back home.

Peter Foulsom

Loch Sport – Spinnaker State Titles

The storms, lightning and rain all circled Loch Sport on Sunday allowing us a perfect day’s sailing and six races expertly run by Loch Sport Boat Club.

Seven mosquitoes competed for the Spinnaker State Title and this time only one non-spinnakered boat sailed by Simon Clavin took part.

We started the day with two races before lunch, over a rectangular course which looked like this:

The wind started off at 10 knots and Peter Nikitin bolted away at the start. Tim Shepperd worked his way past Peter by the windward mark though. After leading to the first leeward mark Tim forgot about the second windward-leeward and headed to the finish. Neil Joiner and Peter Nikitin dutifully followed. When Tim realised his mistake and saw the others following he was tempted to just continue on the wrong course and see how far he could take the fleet. But in the end he headed up and tacked for the windward mark and Neil and Peter followed suit with Neil now in front. On the next downwind Tim picked up a good line of wind and passed Neil again to steal the first 1st for the day. Peter was followed over the line by Gordon Hyde in 4th.

In the second race Peter Nikitin made no mistakes and led from start to finish to score what was probably the most convincing win of the day. He was followed by Neil in second place again while Tim was followed this time by Philip Warren-Smith in 4th. By the end of this second race the wind dropped away almost to nothing as the leaders crossed the line, and it almost immediately began to fill in again.

After taking on some ballast (a fine lunch organised by LSBC from the local bakery) we set out in a 12 knot breeze which was slowly rising. In the stronger breeze Peter Cobden (the only sloop in the fleet) and Philip started to enjoy themselves some more while Neil notched up his first win. Philip and Peter C. made no mistakes to take 2nd and 3rd while Peter N. and Tim were unable to catch up. Jeremy Pearse had a few teething difficulties sailing his new boat which had only been rigged for the first time that morning. This resulted in a swim at the leeward mark and a long struggle to right a leaky mast.

By now we were enjoying a 15 knot breeze which had swung slightly to the left making the first reach tight and final reach almost broad enough to carry the spinnaker. The slightly odd angles did have some skippers heading for the wrong mark at times but no-one was ever seen actually rounding the wrong one.

Once again Peter C. enjoyed the stronger breeze to round the windward mark first and lead down the reach and into the downwind leg. Unfortunately a massive nose-dive under spinnaker spoiled that result for them. Meanwhile Neil went on to notch up another 1st, 2nd then 1st to wrap up the series by two points from Tim. Peter finished the series with a string of 3rd’s to secure him 3rd overall.

Results

RankBoatSailNoHelmCrewR1R2R3R4R5R6Total
1Immunity1789Neil Joiner (2)211217
2Karma Cat1775Tim Shepperd 13(5)2129
3Bee Alert1790Peter Hikitin 31(4)33313
4More than a Splash1794Philip Warren-Smith (DNC)4244519
5Air Apparent1520Gordon Hyde 4(7)665425
6Try Hard1805Peter CobdenTom Cobden6535(DNF)DNC27
7 1812Jeremy Pearse 56(DNF)DNCDNFDNC35

YV Catamaran Championship

Eight Mosquitos went along to what sounds like a tough day of racing at McCrae YC (Sunday’s racing was abandoned). Congratulations to Mick and Tom Floyd who came first in the Mosquito’s division and second overall – the best result yet by a Mosquito at this event.

Report (by Mick Floyd)

The eight Mossies at McCrae were; Gordon and Kate Hyde and Mick and Tom Floyd sailing MkII, Bob Wilson, Rob Lott, Simon Clavin and Andrew Neeson sailing MkI and Peter and Tom Cobden and Phil and Anthony Warren-Smith sailing MkII with Spinnaker. The idea of the regatta is firstly to have a multi class event under the auspices of Yachting Victoria specifically for catamaran sailors. They also run a Dinghy and Trailable series. Secondly it is the prime method YV use to check the current yardsticks for all the catamaran classes. There were 50 entries with 19 A Class and 10 Taipans, the 8 Mossies then a scattering of Hobies and a few Arrows and Paper Tigers and 1 Tornado so it was a pretty reasonable turnout for Mosquitos and shows the relative strength of the class here in Victoria. We could easily have had a few more boats so next year we should aim to do even better.

There were 3 races scheduled for Saturday afternoon and another 3 for Sunday morning. The weather forecast for Sunday was looking pretty bad so we were warned to expect 4 back to back races on Saturday which is what we got. Each race went for about 60 minutes and there was not much time in between so it was a pretty big afternoon. The conditions were excellent with about a 15 knot breeze for the first 3 races and slightly less for the fourth race. Sunday it was raining – it had been bucketing down since Saturday evening – and although the wind had abated a bit from about 30 knots at 7am the sailing was eventually cancelled officially due to poor visibility. I don’t think there was one person complaining, no-one was looking forward to putting on wet cold gear and going out in the rain!

We (Tom and I) had a great day when everything just seemed to come together. Our boat speed was excellent and we didn’t stuff up to often. We led all the races from start to finish virtually and finished the day with 4 wins (Div 2). The Cobdens got through us once after a couple of screaming downhill legs under spinnaker but we were able to peg them back again upwind. Bob also passed us once after I biffed a mark with the tiller extension and had to do a 360 but we were also able to pass him again with boat speed. Bob was second in our division with 3 seconds and a DNS (too tired to stay for the last race). Andrew stepped in to fill the void. He improved all day starting with a 5th place then a 4th, 3rd and finally a 2nd to give him third place in the division (1, 2 and 3 for Mossies). Gordon and Kate also didn’t sail the race although they had been doing pretty well all day. Both Rob and Simon didn’t have a very successful day with both of them pulling out during the second race with boat damage and missing the last two races. The two spinnaker boats both went very fast downhill but couldn’t make enough ground to be successful on corrected time.

The final results had us second overall after a problem with the results at the presentation was sorted out. This was a bit disappointing. They had forgotten to drop the worst result and had to re-do the presentation and sort out the mess. The results were pretty close with only seconds separating the top boats on corrected time. 2nd, 3rd and 4th all finished on equal points and a count back was required to determine the final placings. 

NSW State Titles

Two Victorian Mozzies travelled North to join the five NSW Mosquitoes for their first State Titles in a long while. Kurnell Catamaran Club (with a long Mosquito history behind them) ran the event along with their annual Top Gun Regatta. The Mozzies were joined by another 50 A-class, F18, F16, Taipan and Nacra cats.

Although we started off with good trapezing conditions and 30 knots were promised on Sunday the wind was mostly 8-10 knots. The eventual winner of the NSW titles was visitor Peter Nikitin, although Ben Cutmore pushed Peter hard and stole two first places on Saturday. Will Booker worked hard to get everyone to the event and organise a collection of prizes, and walked away with a 1988 vintage bottle of “Mosquito Wine” presented to him by KCC.

Div 2 Aggregate Scores (MOSQUITO NSW STATE TITLES 2007 – KCC 27th & 28th October 2007)

RankDivisionBoatClassSailNoHelmCrewClubVYR1R2R3R4R5R6R7TotalNettNotes
1Div 2Bee AlertMosquito1790Peter Hikitin Loch Sport Boat Club841.0(2.0)2.01.01.01.01.09.07.0 
2Div 2Top GunMosquito1704Ben Cutmore Palm Beach84(DNC)1.01.02.02.02.02.017.010.0R1 Did not sign on – Elapsed 00:39:02
3Div 2Blue TongueMosquito1806Cameron Wiklund Palm Beach842.03.03.0(4.0)3.03.03.021.017.0 
4Div 2JIVEMosquito1588William Booker KCC843.04.0(DNC)3.04.04.04.029.022.0 
5Div 2White RabbitMosquito654Alex Thornton Palm Beach844.0(7.0 DNF)7.0 DNS7.0 DNS7.0 DNSDNC5.044.037.0 
6Div 2 Mosquito687Karl Herman Mannering Park84(7.0 DNF)7.0 DNS7.0 DNS7.0 DNS7.0 DNS5.07.0 DNF47.040.0 

2007 Australasian Master games

The 2007 Australasian Masters games was held at Adelaide sailing club from 7th to 12th October with Darryn Kopp, Garry Johnstone ,Peter Nikitin, Tim Kennedy, and Jon Guymer competing. The practice race was sailed in a 15 knot breeze which tested a number of the old sailors that had not sailed since last Easter.

Race 1 was sailed in 15 to 18 knot winds with lumpy seas. The start saw all the boats at the pin end. Darryn had a good start followed by Peter and Garry . Garry gave Peter a hurry on when he crept up behind him and nearly ran up the back of him. Darryn won, Jon 2nd and Peter 3rd. Garry Johnstone led the Paper Tigers astray by trying to do another lap.

The 2nd race was sailed in the same conditions with Darryn 1st, Peter 2nd and Jon 3rd. Race 3 saw a completley different wind pattern of 5 to 15 knot breezes and shifty winds. Peter 1st, Darryn 2nd and Garry 3rd.

Race 4 was sailed in light and shifty winds . We all started on a starboard tack led by Peter. Garry was forced onto a port tack being stuck 4 deep at the start line but was able to sail into a good wind which gave him an advantage and led the 1st lap. Rounding the bottom mark Garry sailed close to shore followed by Peter. Darryn decided to sail out to sea and reached the top mark first followed by Garry, Peter and Tim. Jon had problems losing his rudder during the race.

Race 5 and 6 was sailed in 10 knot winds but lumpy seas. Darryn won both races. Peter and Gary had good competitions swapping 2nd and 3rd places. Races 7 and 8 were abandoned due to severe winds.

All the Mossie racers enjoyed social drinks, barbies and daily rundowns over a few bottles of red. We tried to convince Ken Robinson to join the Mossies.

Peter Nikitin 

 ClassSail NoBoat nameHelmCrew12345678NettDropPointsPlaceTieBreak
1Mosquito1782BulletKopp Darryn 11(2)111  7251  
2Mosquito1790Bee AlertPeter Nikitin (3)21332  143112  
3Mosquito1733Touch N GoGarry Johnstone (9)53223  249153  
4Mosquito1787Try AgainTim Kennedy 4(6)4444  266204  
5Mosquito1755PrestissimoJon Guymer 246(10F)55  3210225  
6Paper Tiger2915VendettaRussell Jolly 73(9)668  399306  
7Paper Tiger2734QuickmarchRobert Newmarch 6(10F)5597  4210327  
8Hobie 16108530SidewinderBarrie Evans 5(8)7886  428348  
9Paper Tiger3011Wild ThingGlen Partridge 87877(9)  469379  

Season opener at Lake Bonney

The LBYC held its opening regatta in near perfect conditions. Whilst numbers were down on previous years, enthusiasm was high as we experienced consistent breezes of 15 – 20 kts, with a few 25’s thrown in for good measure!

The season was opened by the club’s Vice-Commodore Mark Pfennig, which was followed by the traditional sail past. Once we had Mark safely back on shore to finish rigging his boat for the afternoon’s racing, the preparation signals were sounded for two relatively short back-to-back afternoon races to blow any cobwebs off the boats that may have remained after the trip to the lake.

Race 3 on Sunday commenced at 9.30am. The breeze sprung up quite early, and gradually built all day, surprising even the locals who all thought Sunday’s racing would be considerably lighter than the previous day. The courses were longer than in the first two races, which appeared to confuse a few of the front runners. This allowed those in the middle of the fleet to instantly hit the lead, proving that racing involves just a little more than merely following the leader!

Race 4 was scheduled at 12 noon, but was postponed for a half hour to allow everyone to catch their breath. The breeze freshened slightly more, resulting in an awesome ride from the north-easterly to the southerly mark on the flat water.

Sail NoClassBoat NameSkipperR1R2R3R4
2974Paper TigerCarbon CopyT Bawden3153
1707MosquitoNatural ProgressionP Dunk5216
1782MosquitoBulletD Kopp1DNF31
2076Paper TigerTalismanJ Eshman4465
1732MosquitoJust Do ItS Thomas7544
1763MosquitoNebuchadnezzarM Pfennig2DNF72
1714MosquitoHagarB Partridge838DNF
1720MosquitoBorrowed EgoB DelaineDNF62DNF
68TaipanWhite KnucklesK Luitzes6DNSDNSDNS
1799MosquitoInfectedG Davies9DNF9DNS
1600MosquitoScrewballsBr DelaineDNCDNC10DNF