2013 Melbourne-Geelong Weekend

On Saturday, a record 61 boats set sail from the north of Port Phillip for the annual ORCV trek to Geelong. The fleet consisted of 23 Division 1 racers, 11 Division 2, 21 cruisers with Spinnakers, 3 without and for the first time, it was great to see 3 multihulls join in the race and we look forward to seeing them race with us again. The weather was overall very pleasant; westerlies, gradually swinging southerly as forecast, 10-20 knots, general sunny although some brief showers on entering Corio Bay. From all the feedback, a most enjoyable sail for all the competitors which is what it is all about! Lots of photos on the Facebook page and they are now all being ported to the website now too (thanks to early Saturday morning efforts by Simon!)

Congratulations to all the winners on the day and to the overall Winter Series winners.

Thanks also to RGYC for being a wonderful host as usual.

Sunday morning saw the running of the inaugural and hopefully continuing Geelong to Melbourne Women Skippers and Navigators Race. The forecast light winds were right on target; 5-7 knots greeted the impressive 26 entrants at 0930 hours for an interesting downwind start. The breeze gradually eased and moved to the south, dropping out completely at times! Even with the course shortened to the Point Richards Channel Entrance Beacon, it still was a challenge for many boats to finish.

Well, that’s it for another Winter Series and now we all have to turn our attention to the more serious ocean events, starting with the ORCV’s return to Portland on Cup weekend in November. The few weeks break now until club summer sailing starts up would be a great opportunity to get a head start on your new Cat 2 Safety Audit and given all the changes to the Special Regulations, that might be time very well spent!