BALLAST HEAD CUP REGATTA 2020
The eighteenth edition of this regatta was held off Island Beach on New Year’s Day. Ten vessels nominated and nine fronted the starter’s flags for a single division race. The 10 knot northerly brought with it a bumpy chop that made transporting the cannon from the beach to the start boat in an inflatable somewhat precarious and the pitching foredeck on the start boat, Rockholm, Brooke McLeays Bertram 28, put paid to any chance of a firing this year! Once again the ‘RIG crew’ did a fine job of setting up tents on the beach for the briefing and the BBQ. Thanks to those skippers who registered their nominations on-line and sent them through to David as this made race organisation much easier but more on this later. This year long standing and well organised RO David Saies was an apology and that duty then fell to me. After a shaky start on radio communications I managed to make and maintain radio contact with the fleet pre and post-start on the usual channel 77. Delays in guest transport and boat allocation saw the start pushed out to 1315 but still soon enough to make this the first sporting contest in Australia for the New Year! With all boats away cleanly in the northerly they headed off on a port tack reach to Rocky Point with Marnico leading them nearly all the way around the race track to take out Line Honours yet again. Her crew, including guests from the beach, gave a rousing rendition of ‘We are the Champions’ as they took the finish gun (a flag dip). In Lap One in close pursuit was Rocksalt with Denby Steele at the helm with Two True a boat length astern with Susan Saies at the wheel along with son Alexander and an otherwise all female crew including four guests from the beach. School’s Out with Adrian Wotton and crew were not far out of the front runners mix either. The remainder were evenly spread out with Trim, the only Kangaroo Island boat in the fleet and a regular participant, chasing all the others but with a keen handicap she was never out of contention for a podium finish. Lap Two saw Two True override a jib sheet around a winch forcing a headsail drop and engine on episode for which they were given a time penalty of 10 minutes ending their chance of anything but a sausage on the beach. Beatrix (Scott Gurner) got ahead of More Magic (John Deniet) and stayed that way to the finish while the others got temporarily parked up at the American River Beacon as the breeze transitioned from a dying northerly into the typical 10 to 15 knot south-easterly. This brought them home in good pressure and closed up the final results in a way that gave everyone a good chance of a handicap podium.
Rocksalt FUTURE OF THE EVENT The event faces an uncertain future unless there is some certainty about resources and organisational accountability and both of these probably need to end up sitting with the CYCSA. Locally, the Kingscote Yacht Club has no keel boat fleet and has no desire or experience to host this event. The local boats moored in American River are loosely associated but do not wish to be the organising authority and their participation has dropped off as nomination and safety compliance has been ramped up by me after discussion with our own Racing Association. To continue the event needs – •
A reasonable sized power boat or non-participating yacht who guarantees to be in the bay on New Year’s Day to act as the start boat. Depending on weather this might mean coming down a day or two early or coming over from Wirrina in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Ideally they should be happy to have the cannon fired from the foredeck given the presence of a suitable person to do this.
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A competent willing person to handle communications, conduct the start, record finish times and work out the handicap results.
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Guaranteed assistance from an ‘Island Beacher’ who has a runabout boat that can put out the buoys on the day and this could be done by the start boat early morning.
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A person to liaise with the American River crew re BBQ and to be on the beach to assist with set up, briefing and nominations on the morning pre race.
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An ‘organising authority’ who can ensure the event complies with requirements for a Category 6 Twilight Race which would then ensure Sailing Australia insurance cover by way of being a CYCSA event. This may not be as difficult as it seems as all yachts this year, bar one, were members of either the CYCSA or RSAYS.
With all boats safely back on their moorings the dinghies hit the beach and the usual friendly banter was exchanged between old friends and new, sailors and guests, townies and Islanders. At the presentation Graeme Footer acknowledged our family’s efforts and particularly my father in keeping this annual New Year’s Day event alive for eighteen years. All in attendance agreed that it was once again a fun day and for those yachts who had made the trip south, well worth the effort of the passage to Eastern Cove for the Christmas break. RESULTS Ballast Head Cup (Fastest) Marnico - Graeme and Gay Footer Ballast Head Trophy (First on handicap) Rocksalt - Denby Steele Jamie Cowell Trophy (Best placed handicap result for a new entrant who does not otherwise place) More Magic - John Deniet. Mike Lane with Cerulean was recognised for being the only multihull in the race.
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