The Glenn Yates Cup 2021
Sunday, January 3 saw 28 OK Dinghies from NSW and QLD come together at Wangi Wangi, Lake Macquarie to honour our mate Yatesy who had recently been lost at sea.
Glenn has been greatly missed by all and in particular the spirit of fun and generosity in which he conducted himself. The event was opened with a brief ceremony during which tributes flowed and respects were paid to Glenn and condolences offered to his family.
After signing on and scanning QR codes the fleet hit the water for the first regatta of the new Covid-normal era.
Day 1
Race 1
Long course: triangle, sausage, triangle, dummy work to finish
The first race eventually got underway under a U flag in 8-10 knots from the ENE and a sloppy seaway. Tim Davies and newly crowned NSW champ Mark Skelton lead the local charge off the pin end and made a bee line for the port tack lay line. This proved to be prudent and they were among the leaders to the top mark.
On the first reach in sub-planing conditions some of the OK new comers learned quickly the importance of squeezing the most out of every wave as the slightest lapse in concentration could result in lost places. As always, mark room was hotly contested and the gybe mark was no place for the faint hearted or those with delicate ears.
The race developed into a battle of the Ovington’s with Tim, Mark S and new comer David Clark (from the Sydney Etchells fleet) filling the podium positions in that order. Another new comer, Impulse champion Michael “Browny” Brown was fourth sailing AUS767 in honour of his mate Glenn who in recent years also dabbled in Impulses racing on the lake.
The winning margin was 15 seconds.
Race 2
Long course: triangle, sausage, triangle, dummy work to finish
The breeze firmed to 12 knots, still from the ENE, for race 2. The lads were a little too exuberant at the start and their enthusiasm lead to a general recall.
The race eventually got underway under a U flag on the second attempt. As had been the case previously the left paid at the top end of the course and Tim and Paul Foster got their noses out in front going this way. At the final leeward mark, with only 300m to go, it was Tim comfortably from Paul with Rob Mcmillian breathing down his neck. Paul could see Rob was quicker upwind and elected not to go with Rob when he broke out to the left on the dummy work to the finish.
On the finish line there were scenes of wild jubilation as Rob celebrated his monumental come back and partied like it was 1999. It was indeed a fine exhibition of sailing and determination and the spectacle was as equally justified as it was entertaining.
The winning margin was 6 seconds.
Race 3
Short course: triangle, sausage, dummy work to finish
Same conditions as previous race but with a light rain shower. Rob didn’t muck around this race and virtually lead from start to finish. At the finish it was Rob, Tim, Paul and John “JC” Condie (a recent addition from the Finns).
The winning margin was 22 seconds.
Day 2
Race 4
Short course: triangle, sausage, dummy work to finish
Sensible race management allowed the fleet to wait on shore under AP for several hours until sufficient wind developed to consider a race start. Eventually the AP came down. After sailing to the course area in 5 knots the wind progressively decreased during a series of general recalls. On the third attempt, and under black flag, the race got underway. The pin was biased and right on the gun the wind swung further left. Tim tacked first and crossed the bulk of the fleet easily. Peter “Robbo” Robinson dug even further into the left and found a whisper of pressure as the breeze continued to fade across the course.
Robbo rounded the windward mark first but was deserted by the wind on the first reach allowing JC, Tim, Grant Wakefield, Browny and David to slip through and they started the second beat in that order.
JC extended his lead to win comfortably to win from Tim, Mark, David and Browny.
Winning margin: 1 minute and 8 seconds
The next race was postponed due to lack of wind and the fleet was sent to shore with no further racing possible that day.
Day 3
Race 5
Long course: triangle, sausage, triangle, dummy work to finish
On Tuesday, after another delay waiting on shore for wind, the fleet was eventually rewarded with champagne sailing conditions late in the afternoon when 8-10 knots arrived from the ESE.
On a fairly square start line James Beavis (another Finn convert) and Gareth Wells got good starts at the pin and reaped huge rewards when the pressure came in from the left. As a result they rounded the top mark in first and second respectively. James Pagett started prematurely and was an individual recall.
The pressure softened down the first reach. Mark Skelton who had been deep at the first mark saw an opportunity for gains by driving low and this paid dividends as he made big inroads by the gybe.
James and Gareth continued to sail well upwind around the track but suffered a little on the reaches as the usual suspects made their way up to the pointy end of the fleet. At the finish it was Tim winning from Mark, David, Browny and Paul with James and Gareth 6th and 7th.
The winning margin was 13 seconds.
Race 6
Long course: triangle, sausage, triangle, dummy work to finish
Backing up for the next race the conditions remained unchanged.
The way to go up the first beat today appeared to be to commit to a side, regard the first wind shift as persistent and dig deep into it. Those chasing shifts up the middle out of the start did not tend to do as well. Subsequent beats after the first triangle were longer which created room to take advantage of opportunities up the middle as well.
JC dialled in to this pattern and built an imposing lead in race 6 and continued on to take his second win comfortably from Tim, David, Browny and Mark S.
The winning margin was 30 seconds.
Race 7
Long course: triangle, sausage, triangle, dummy work to finish
By now the day was getting late but as the sun was still high and conditions still glorious the committee went with another long course, starting well after 5pm local time. There were no complaints.
After a clear start the pattern continued with the best of the pressure coming from the left with the Tim, Mark S, David and Browny showing a real liking for the conditions and taking control of the race. These guys had been consistently quick all day.
On the final long beat some nice lifts began to appear on the right also, allowing Mark Rutherford and Paul to get some leverage to come back at the leaders.
In the end it was another race win for Tim followed by Mark S, David, Browny, Paul and Mark R.
Day 3
Race 8
The overnight change brought clouds, a 10-15 knot southerly breeze………and the return of Rob McMillan, who had missed the previous two days with commitments elsewhere.
The final three races were destined to be interesting due to the shifty nature of southerlies as they blow over the top of Wangi point.
Race 8 got underway with Rob showing a clean pair of heels off the pin end in his new NB Air-OK design, fresh off the production line. Rob lead around the course with Richard Howard, Tim and Mark R in hot pursuit.
Rob crossed the finish line first but was denied a hooter as he had been OCS. This handed yet another race win to Tim followed by David, Paul, Richard and Mark R.
The winning margin was 11 seconds.
Race 9
There were huge slants coming out of both sides of the beat in the penultimate race of the series which enabled some fresh faces to be seen out front for a change. Browny, Paul, James B were among the early leaders being chased by Rob, Mark S, Tim, Rich and Mark R.
At the end of the square run, midway through the race Paul had Rob right on his transom with Tim not far behind. Paul got in phase up the next long beat with a big shift coming from the left while and went on to win from Tim and Browny.
The winning margin was 14 seconds.
Unfortunately for Kelvin, Rich and James were pinged as OCS.
Race 10
The final race got underway with a clean start in 12-15 knots.
Tim got out to a nice lead which he maintained around the course. Paul was chasing and would close the gap downwind only for Tim to extend again up each beat.
Tim won yet again with a margin of 14 seconds.
Summing up
The regatta was sailed in a great spirit of sportsmanship and competitiveness and the atmosphere was equally as enjoyable on shore as it was on the water. Tim put on a master class of regatta management and sailing in general. As a result his overall win was impressive and comprehensive.
The race committee was extremely professional and did an excellent job of setting 10 first-class courses given the tricky conditions delivered by Mother Nature.
Yatesy would have been thrilled to see his great mate, Mick sail his boat to a very credible result of 5th overall.
A meeting was conducted to get a feel for where people wanted to sail next season’s Nationals in NSW and a range of options were floated. Watch this space.
