Round 2 of the Manly Junior NSW State Championship

11:50 PM Tue 17 Nov 2009 GMT

'Manly Juniors lined up at Manly Yacht Club and Manly 16's - 2nd Round of the Manly Junior State Titles' Linda Connor

Round 2 of the Manly Junior NSW State Championship 2009-2010 was held at the weekend and hosted by Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club.The weekend also coincided with the 50th Anniversary celebrations for the Class with a celebratory function jointly hosted by the Skiff Club and Manly Yacht Club. Over 300 past and present MJ sailors were in attendance to celebrate Ralph Tobias and his iconic Australian designed and built training dinghy.

Ralph himself was in attendance and delighted the audience with his speech explaining what lead to the inspiration to design the dinghy in the first place and why it has a snub nose.

Much fun was had by all with the festivities including a spectator ferry, a slide show containing photos of some 2,500 Manly Juniors dating back 50 years and even a historical display that included MJ1 on loan from The Sydney Heritage Fleet. The children had a great time on and off the water as well with excellent sailing conditions and swimming and jumping off the club jetty, while old friendships were renewed and many reminisced about their experiences growing up and learning to sail in a Manly Junior. Most discussion centred around how the Class has continued to develope over time thus making the Manly Junior the most successful, and only, three sail training dinghy on the water. A dinghy that teaches the importance of using all three sails and builds team work between skipper and crew.

The racing was held in ideal conditions with a 10 to 15knt nor easter on Saturday morning with the first race held in the sound off Middle Harbour and the afternoon race held in Manly Cove. On the Sunday there was a fresher 15 knot SE which produced some great rides under spinnaker and some very close racing.

Nicholas Connor and Fergus Stabback sailing 2770 'Wet 'N' Wild' from Middle Harbour 16' Skiff Sailing Club went into the weekend with a two point lead in the series following the first round. Consistent sailing saw them make a clean sweep of the weekend with firsts in each of the three races. Ryan Wilmont and Simon Murnaghan sailing 2780, and as yet unnamed, from Manly 16' Skiff Sailing Club also sailed consistently and finished second in each of the three races. Jim Colley and Tom Colley sailing 2755 'Bullet' from Avalon Sailing Club were next inline and come away from the weekend a very close third in the series.

The third and final round will be held at the end of February 2010 at Point Wollstonecraft Sport and Recreation Camp on Lake Macquarie where expectations are that 70 plus boats will attend..

Nick & Fergus coming into the finish of the 4th race - 2nd Round of the Manly Junior State Titles - Linda Connor

For a full list of results click here:
www.manlyjunior.asn.au/Events/0910NSWStates/0910NSWResultsOverall/0910NSWMainScratchOverall/tabid/194/Default.aspx