Well with the summer sailing season finishing up and winter closing in, its a chance for many classes and clubs to wrap up the season. The Batemans Bay ANZAC Regatta has long been a favourite for competitors around southern NSW and the nations capital.
For the last 30 odd years it has been the finishing point of the NSW Sharpie State Championships. The format has been tweaked over the last couple of years to allow more races to be held in the summer months to ensure conditions remain more favourable and also enhance the social aspect of this already socially dynamic class. Autumn is always a tricky season in Australia, drifters are the norm, or if your lucky you may get some freezing South – sou-east weather that blows dogs off the chain.
Wollongong team Blur, Derek Shepphard, young gun Connor Weare and Tim Rodwell are always near the front
This always creates interest though, with many championships won and lost in the fickleness of Autumn down the bay. We look back to the epic of 4 seasons ago when 3 boats were level on points going into the final race in a drifty South-easter, Todd Curry, Hayden Sellers and Brad Curry on “Truck” had held an advantage most of the series only to have the Saturday racing blown out due to adverse weather while leading by a leg. This put the pressure back onto the “Truck” boys and 12 time champion brothers Michael Forster and Andrew Forster don’t need to many opportunities to claim a titles. Having sailed with a plethora of forward hands over the years, they got the job done in a frantic final race.
“Smoke” Won 11 Championships in a row in the 00’s
This season however Todd, Brad and Hayden have clinched the title with 2 races to spare, showing dominant results and after the 11 in a row from the Forsters are we seeing a new dynasty emerge. It reminds you very much of the early 2000s in surfing where Kelly Slater and Andy Irons went head to head, Kelly an undisputed champion had been defeated by Andy in consecutive world titles while at the top of his game, something that still drives him today. I can’t see Forster and crew going down without a fight and they will be throwing everything at it to claim a couple of bullets in the final heats to take momentum into next season.
2016/17 State Champions TRUCK, Todd Curry, Brad Curry, Hayden Sellers
The championship has been contested by 16 boats so far and will add a couple more over the final weekend. There is a huge youth contingent in the class at the moment with about 40% of the fleet under 25 and a great mix of boys and girls getting amongst the racing and social scene.
“Rocket Fuels” Chris Buchanan, Sam Horn & Steve Hart have been big improvers this season
The format for the weekend is racing being conducted by Batemans Bay Sailing Club as part of their annual regatta. The 2 saturday afternoon heats will conclude the NSW State Championships and a presentation night will be held at the Batemans Bay Resort Big4 caravan park. BBQ, beers and great mates, doesn’t get much better than that and this class does it fantastically well.
OVERALL RESULTS (2 races remaining)
The social side of Sharpies is a huge drawcard
