Regatta Report:  The Lakes Resort Skiff Sprint Series  

Easter weekend saw Skiffs Australia run a hugely successful 18ft Skiff
regatta at West Lakes and Largs Bay in South Australia.

Adelaide came alive with seven of the fastest monohull skiffs in the world
hitting the water with crews from interstate, including NSW and WA, taking part
in the event.

Over the Friday and Saturday sailing took place in the picturesque and
narrow West Lakes Rowing course, with fantastic viewing from event sponsor The
Lakes Resort Hotel. The teams took Friday to famiiarise themselves with the
race area and set up their boats, leaving Saturday for racing.

All seven teams found the light wind conditions and narrow race area
quite tactical.

and a group decision to have all 7 skiffs race together instead of the
planned 3 boat knock out series, made for exciting close action...with each
team pushing each other and the rules to the limit

Wind shifts across the course allowed sailors an opportunity to
capitalise on the shifts and gusty conditions as well as show off their boat
handling. With these tricky conditions, each of the seven skiffs had their
glamour moments with positions changing almost every second tack.

Race 1 was taken out, with a spectacular last lap comeback, by young Adelaide
crew on Lexus after the Ella twins, Ella Bache and Ella Bache/DirtyDog
dominated most of the race, swapping leaders, but got trapped on the wrong side
the course, taking a bad shift going to the finish line.

Club Marine and the pink Ella Bachè dominated the racing during the
afternoon with more bullets of wind and an increase in average wind speed. The
new young Top Gun team impressively won the start in one race, leading the
fleet early into the top mark.

Team Bartercard and Squid ink showed good speed and crew work to make
good ground but the closeness of the fleet and short race times had them
fighting for minor places

At the end of the day, the teams were exhausted and retired back to the
event sponsor accommodation, The Lakes Resort Hotel, where many people
commented on how spectacular the boats and event looked, and how great it was
being so close to the action as they relaxed on their balcony or at a table
while enjoying their meal.

Sunday was totally different. The fleet moved to the open water of Largs
Bay in a strong breeze and small chop. All teams had expected less wind and
chose No1 big rigs which made for drama, action and epic cartwheels. The racing
was dominated again by Club Marine and the pink Ella Bache, with capsizes a
common occurrence. Lexus' pursuit of the leaders featured a text book nose
dive, while conditions became too much for some teams to handle with Bartercard
and Top Gun retiring in the final race of the day.

Final results came down to the last race with the local Lexus Team
against the 2 experienced teams aboard Ella Bache Pink and Club Marine, with
the Ella Bache/DirtyDog team opting out of racing with broken crew member.

With a spectacular finish to racing in a perfect freshening afternoon
seabreeze, one point seperated the event winners Club Marine and Ella Bache
Pink

 

 

RESULTS:

1st Club Marine Insurance..Kane Sinclair, Damian Carey, Mark Paparella

2nd Ella Bache...Owen Vale, Michael Ekert, Yianni Furus

3rd Lexus of Adelaide...Alex Bath, Jacob Keough, Minh Pham

4th McLaren Vale Associates III Squid Ink Sparkling Shiraz...Trevor
Dinham, James Murphy, Marcus Cooper, Lynton Trenorden

5th Ella Bache/DirtyDog Eyewear...Greg Paterson, Mitch Benson, John
Black

6th Top Gun Adventure Flights Australia...Alex Blacker, Jacob Bainger,
Lindsay Glaetzer

7th Team Bartercard...Adam Wannan, Shane Houston, Matt Allen

 

 

This successful weekend couldn’t have been possible without the helping
hands of so many people and sponsors.

Great thanks to event sponsor The Lake Resort Hotel at West Lakes for
providing accommodation and breakfast for the interstate sailors, amazing views
to watch the racing, and a wonderful backdrop for our racing. The local skiff
sailors were envious!

A shout out and thank you to our boat sponsors: Bartercard, Top Gun

Adventure Flights Australia, McLaren Vale Associates III Squid Ink Sparkling
Shiraz, DirtyDog Eyewear, Lexus of Adelaide, Club Marine Insurance and Ella
Bache.

Thank you to West Lake Rowing Club for vacating the lake over the
weekend for us and removing the rowing lane ropes.

Special thanks to the local Adelaide ABC News and journalist Nicola Gage
for promoting Skiffs Australia and what Skiffs Australia is aiming to achieve.

Thank you to James Levett, Shane Houston and Brian Outram for the fantastic photos

taken throughout the racing.

Thank you to all the friends and family who stepped in as volunteers on
the day.

Lastly, a massive thank you and congratulations to Adam Wannan at Skiffs
Australia. This weekend is a tribute to Adam and the Adelaide skiff teams for
their endless hard work and persistence over the past 5 years bringing all the
sailors, boats and sponsors together, and making this event possible.

 

Cheers guys

Skiffs Australia

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