12:08 AM Tue 13 Apr 2010 GMT
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'Rod and Martha Harper love Sail Port Stephens - Sail Port Stephens'
andrea francolini
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Rod and Martha Harper have brought their Farr 1106 'Pub Talk' all the way south from Wollongong to contest their first Sail Port Stephens regatta and so far, they are liking every moment they have spent here.
The couple, who are here representing Wollongong Yacht Club said friends had told them how good the regatta was, 'so we thought we'd come and see for ourselves,' Rod said while sipping an after-race ale this afternoon.
Although the hull of the Harper's yacht says 'Pub Talk', Rod reckons it should have IIII after it. 'My first boat was Pub Talk, Martha's mum had a half-cabin yacht called 'Pub Talk' and I called my surfboard Pub Talk,' he laughed.
The name, he explained, came about when friends said they were going to call their yacht 'Blood Sweat and Tears' - and another friend said, 'it should really be called Pub Talk and Beers.' Rod says, 'I really liked the Pub Talk bit, so that's what we've stuck with.'
Asked why the name appears slightly crookedly on one side, Rod replied, 'I painted in a 30 knot westerly - so it's slightly out of whack! I bought her in 2004 and she's been a great little boat.'
He and Martha sailed the yacht up via Pittwater with a stop at Newcastle - just the two of them, as the rest of the crew could not make the whole voyage.
'We had a pod of dolphins escort us into D'Albora Marina when we arrived - it was lovely to have them deliver us here,' said Martha.
Rod was not particularly impressed with their first race at the Sail Port Stephens Regatta; the three islands race, which started off the D'Albora Marina breakwater at 12.30pm.
'We started late and the breeze picked up to 20-25 knots and we were expecting it to die out, but it didn't until the finish and we were a bit overpowered - who cares! We're here to have a good time, but I wouldn't mind beating those two Northshore 38's (Negotiator and Moet),' Rod laughed, talking of the two other entries in the Commodore's Cup, which have made their way up the coast for the regatta.
'If we win, it'll just be a bonus,' Martha reckons.
Check out the daily updates at
www.sailportstephens.com.au
by Di Pearson
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