12:20 AM Tue 13 Apr 2010 GMT
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'Margaret Rintoul - fun and competition all in one week - perfect - Sail Port Stephens'
andrea francolini
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A broken mainsheet did not stop Graham Buckeridge and his crew from a line honours victory and third place overall in today's opening race of the Sail Port Stephens Regatta - and nor did it stop them from having a good time - although the crew had to call off the sausage sizzle mid-race when breezes peaked at 25 knots and life aboard became a little unruly.
Buckeridge skippered the 18.5 metre Margaret Rintoul V to a line honours win in the opening race of the Commodore's Cup at Sail Port Stephens this afternoon.
The German Frers designed yacht, with the famous name from Middle Harbour Yacht Club has been in the possession of Buckeridge for three and a half years.
'I wanted to buy a boat and I had my eye on Margaret Rintoul V. Stan Edwards (the original owner who represented Australia internationally on multiple occasions with various boats bearing that name), lives just up the road from me and I thought to myself 'if that boat ever goes on the market, I'll buy it,' and I did, with two partners, who aren't with me for this event.'
'Stan had it in beautiful condition; we didn't have to do a thing to it. We were lucky to get Scott Mayer with the boat - he looked after the boat for Stan and sailed on her - we call him 'Margaret Rintoul V's midwife - he's fantastic.'
Back on the broken mainsheet, the yacht's famous navigator, Julie Hodder, said, 'We nearly hit Cabbage Tree Island; we had a massive wind shift with a kite up and we had to get it down pretty quick - and we had to abandon the sausage sizzle, it just got too hard!' Buckeridge interjected, 'Ugly scenes followed!'
Hodder, who has navigated various yachts to many wins, is one of the most respected 'navi-guessers' (the nickname given to navigators) in the business, but she is enjoying the laid back cruising that Sail Port Stephens' Commodore's Cup offers. 'I've done this regatta with these guys before. It's a great regatta and these are fun guys to sail with,' she said.
Hodder, who is in line to become the first female commodore of Middle Harbour Yacht Club, said there were funny moments on the boat today. 'We had three kids sailing with us; two 14 year-olds and a 12 year old - two are sons of a crew member, Stuart Lough, who showed them how to pack a kite.
I don't know if they'll turn up tomorrow, because we have a funny feeling they've packed Stuart's undies and some wet-weather gear in the kite - I guess we'll find out the hard way tomorrow when we use it again,' said an amused Hodder as the barbie was fired up on the back of the boat again.
by Sail Port Stephens Media
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Manly, QLD
