Champagne sailing is a term bandied around by yachties that expresses the glamour and ease of the conditions. This year’s northern leg of the Geraldton Ocean Classic certainly fits that definition. An almost full moon with a mild following breeze and a tame offshore following swell meant it came down to tactics not outright boat speed.

A total of 18 yachts left Fremantle last Saturday in three fleets; Racing, Rallying and the PV fleet. 14 adventurous crews embarked on the journey under racing conditions whilst three enjoyed the more leisurely Rally division. They were ‘Braveheart’, ‘Toroa IV’ and ‘Sadiqi Ra’. The Peter Vlaar ‘Farrago’ fleet was the solitary yacht in shadow of the event just so he could be in Geraldton for Lobster Pot Regatta.

Saturday afternoon saw the fleet split as they sailed up the coast with Indian breaking away in more consistent and solid breeze. Paul Eldrid and the crew of ‘Indian’ enjoyed a late Sunday morning breakfast whilst the remainder converged again off Dongarra in a final push to the finish.
 

Division 1 IRC saw ‘Indian’ comfortably first, in just under 22 and a half hours on elapsed time with Chris Higham and the Youth Team aboard ‘Argo’ taking second on corrected time and Alan Stein’s ‘Dirty Deeds’ rounding out the podium. PHS handicap had similar results with ‘Twitch’ second and ‘Argo’ third.

Division 2 IRC saw David Davenport’s ‘Crush’ do exactly that, taking home first over the ‘Atomic Blonde’ of Mike Finn with Chris Hind’s renovated ‘Sagacious IV’ third. PHS results has ‘Sagacious IV’ first, ‘Crush’ and ‘Atomic Blonde’ relegated to the minor placings. Full results at sportspage.com.au