Lake Jindabyne Sailing Club was excited to welcome five Optimist racers to compete in its 2024 regatta.

The preparation/youth sailing report:

• In preparation for the regatta, LJSC’s Dinghy Instructors Freya and Hayden Slater arranged some extra training sessions for our Opti racers.
• This culminated in the youth sailors participating in, and finishing, their first club twilight race.
• The instructors also talked with the sailors about trapezoidal course designs, planned for the regatta.

The regatta:

• Three Opti sailors travelled from Canberra Yacht Club and they were joined by two of LJSC’s own youth squad.
• Racers ranged in age from 10 to 15 years old and the more experienced CYC sailors were very welcoming and supportive of the younger competitors.
• CYC also brought along one of their safety boats to provide some extra support for all the youth sailors (thanks CYC!)
• The Race Officer, Hugh Leicester, designed a course length to suit the smaller dinghies within the regatta, and conducted an extra briefing for the youth competitors.
• Racing was held 2km from the launching area, in the middle of the lake, in a more open area, benefiting from (slightly) more consistent winds, but being exposed to some pretty exciting gusts.
• Conditions were wild on both Saturday and Sunday, with wind shifts and extended gusts over 30knots.
• One CYC competitor tore a sail in the Saturday, and LJSC was pleased to loan them a sail for Sunday’s races.
• On Saturday there were two races for Optis and all five computers completed at least one.
• Only one Opti sailor managed to get to the race area, complete the two races and return to shore, all under sail, without assistance (well done Indie!).
• The LJSC sailors were unable to participate in Sunday’s racing, but the CYC racers went back out for another challenging session with two finishers.
• At the award ceremony, the three CYC racers took the top three places and LJSC competitors were congratulated for their resilience, in some very challenging conditions.
• Both clubs look forward to more joint activities for our youth fleets.

The regatta report -

Lake Jindabyne’s snowy mountains regatta was a success and earned Jindabyne the nickname ‘Windybine’ with a constant breeze of 20 knots and gusts over 30 knots. The club was also pleased to host the Hobie 14, 16 and 18 State Championships and the NACRA 16 square State Championships alongside the club’s own regatta, resulting in a total of 67 entries.

There was a significant presence from Wallagoot Sailing Club, Jindabyne’s coastal sister club, and from Canberra Yacht Club, who lent Jindabyne an extra safety boat. Canberra also brought along three of their youth Opti sailors, encouraging two of Jindabyne’s juniors to partake in their first regatta! Lake Jindabyne Sailing Club is very proud of these five young sailors and the bravery they showed whilst out racing in some challenging conditions.

The PRO for the regatta was Hugh Leicester who did an amazing job dealing with the variety of weather, wind shifts and range of boats. Thank you Hugh for your time and sharing your skills and knowledge with members of LJSC.

The first race of the weekend was on Friday evening. The course was very tight, with many boats entered, making for an interesting race, with the faster boats weaving between the slower ones. The evening was finished with an amazing BBQ at the club. Saturday started early with a briefing at 9am about the course with a separate briefing for the Opti sailors and their coaches. The first race was scheduled to start at 10am, but was delayed due to a lack of wind.

When the wind filled, however, it came in with a bang, with the first race being held in a good breeze with kites and hulls flying, making the reach to the finish interesting. The wind continued to increase making the second race rather spicy with multiple capsizes and broaches. The Hobie 14s seemed particularly fond of washing their boats.

After the second race all boats headed back to the club for lunch and to wait out the strongest of the wind, with only one of the Optis managing to sail all the way back unassisted, an impressive achievement! A third race was looking unlikely until the wind started to settle and the PRO called for a third race for all divisions except the Optis, who were deemed to have worked hard enough. The competitors for the third race were significantly reduced with multiple sailors choosing to stay on land either from breakages or battered sailors. The day was finished with dinner at the Banjo Patterson Inn, a sponsor of the regatta.

Sunday stated early again with a briefing at 9am and a start at 10am. The day started off with a light breeze that gradually increased during the first race, causing multiple boats to seek refuge on the island near the start boat. Some of the boats remained ashore for the second race and then came back for the third, including all of the NACRA 16 squares. After the third and final race all boats headed back to the shore to commence packing up with results being finalised.

A total of seven races were completed with one race eligible for dropping. Full results are on the website (https://lakejindabynesailingclub.com)

Winners were as follows:

• Division 1 - Nacra 16 Square + Hobie 18 - John Forbes and Rose Cookson on Hobie 18 ‘Pine Lime Splice’ from Palm Beach Sailing Club
• Division 2 - Hobie 16 + Hobie 14T - David Fisher and Hayley Fisher on Hobie 16 ‘The Barbaloots’ from Palm Beach Sailing Club
• Division 3 - Other Catamarans - Gary Maskiell on ‘The Bees Knees’, a Mosquito Cat with Spinnaker from Gippsland Lakes YC
• Division 4 – Monohulls - Nick Longbottom and Darryl Bentley on ‘Magic Element’ a Tasar from Canberra Yacht Club
• Division 5 – Optimists - Jeremy Jorann on ‘The Real Deal’ Optimist from Canberra Yacht Club

Lake Jindabyne Sailing Club club would like to acknowledge and thank their sponsors, Jindabyne Brewery, The Banjo Patterson Inn, Sacred Ride and Catcovers. In addition thanks to Persisher resort and MidStation Perisher for their supply of food and chefs, and the mountain of volunteers for the weekend, including those from other local clubs, from the safety boats and mark layers to those in the kitchen making lunches and those that worked more behind the scenes on results, the regatta would not have been possible without so many volunteers.

Written by Freya, Elizabeth and Thor Slater.

Full photo album available here.