Strong wind causes numerous abandonments as two Flying Fifteens tackle the tough conditions

The strong wind forecast for last Saturday forced many skippers to have second thoughts about sailing and abandon their race for safety’s sake.

This left four yachts to venture out in a fresh southerly that piped in around the 22-knot mark with the odd gust up to 25 knots on November 2.

Two Flying Fifteens were pitted against each another in an interesting match race.

Division one yacht Jessie James, skippered by Brett Hawker, gave division two skipper Neil Worrell a 30-minute start in an unofficial race.

The Flying Fifteens saw Aileen Lucas, skippering Crazy, doing battle with Wayne North in Frequent Flyer around a harbour course.

Both boats got away smartly, with North leading by only two to three seconds on the early legs.

They were bowling along under spinnaker at great speed when disaster struck.

North was knocked down in a violent gust and was capsized, with mast and sails in the water.

North said after the race he had never seen a Flying Fifteen capsize before.

It took more than two minutes to right the vessel and resume the race.

North was now the chaser and Crazy had slipped away to take the race by two minutes in a close and interesting encounter.

Neil Worrell, with a skeleton crew on Zuri, was given a 30-minute start by the much larger Jessie James, with Brett Hawker calling the shots.

Worrell had opted to sail under jib and mainsail, whereas Hawker used a spinnaker, which helped bridge the enormous gap.

Slowly but surely, Jessie James closed in and towards the end, it looked like Zuri might just have enough lead to take the race.

Hawker was able to point better on the last leg to the finish line to win by a minute over a struggling Zuri, who did well throughout.

Commodore Rachael Hodgson made Princess Royal Sailing Club history by being the second woman to be elected to the honoured position in 116 years.

Although new to sailing, Hodgson is keen to see more people getting involved in club activities, and hopes to have a successful term in office with her dedicated board of directors.