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Clarence River Sailing Club
Saturday 17th October 2026
Pre Xmas Comp – Race #2

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Clarence River Sailing Club
Saturday 17^th October 2026
Pre Xmas Comp - Race #2

There were plenty of thrills and spills on the Clarence in Saturday’s competition series. A fresh and gusty south easterly hammered crews in the early stages before easing to gentler conditions later on. Three capsizes and a retirement in the first lap took their toll but those remaining enjoyed fast and exhilarating sailing and some very competitive racing.

A variation to this week’s course delivered blistering fast reaches but also more gybes. Gybing can be a challenging manoeuvre at the best of times but difficultly levels skyrocket on days like this. Full marks to all crews who completed the course without incident. With an abundance of breeze assured, officials set a marathon four laps for the catamarans and three for the monohulls. Despite the extended course most crews were back ashore in just over an hour.

Monohulls
Laser skipper Neil Burgess had a near perfect start and led the way throughout the race. Battling the breeze in the early stages Neil sailed hard and kept errors to a minimum. Rival skipper John Nelson elected to sail with his smaller Radial rig. Although less powerful on the downwind legs the Radial is more controllable upwind on breezy days. Both skippers made the most of their strengths and kept in close contact right through to the finish where Neil crossing the line with thirty seconds to spare. However with yardsticks calculated it was John’s day giving him a corrected time win of just over two minutes.

Catamarans
Hobie 18 archrivals Lindsay Cown/Tansie Higgins and Luke Denham/Felicity Higgins enjoyed a great contest with both crews putting in some brilliant sailing. Lindsay and Tansie had an early setback when they hit a mark and had to take a penalty turn however were soon back in the race and pulling out all stops to keep their opponents at bay.Luke and Felicity kept them well covered and were always ready to strike at the first opportunity. Only thirty seconds separated the crews at the finish with Lindsay and Tansie taking out the prize. Top marks to Felicity. Only her second outing and crewing a Hobie 18 is a very steep learning curve. Mosquito crew Greg Lee and Deb Michell took out a well-deserved third place followed by A-Class skipper Ben Higgins in fourth.

See the website for full results and photos.

A big thanks to race official Bob Fish and course controller Neil Burgess.

Sailing is on again next Saturday (24th) for Race #3 of the Pre Xmas Comp.

Visitors or anyone wanting to have a go at sailing are most welcome to come along. Start time is around 1.00 pm each Saturday.

More details on our website. https://crsc.yachting.org.au

Results

Recorded Time	Elapsed Time	YS	YS Cr'd Time	Class	Skipper	Crew	Sail No
Monos	3 laps
01:07:35	01:04:35	118.5	00:54:30	Laser Radial	J Nelson		175287
01:07:05	01:04:05	114.0	00:56:13	Laser	N Burgess		151965
DNF		114.0		Laser	P Zietsch		143427

Cats	4 laps
01:02:20	00:59:20	76.5	01:17:34	Hobie 18	L Cowan	T Higgins	44
01:02:50	00:59:50	76.5	01:18:13	Hobie 18	L Denham	F Higgins	16435
01:19:15	01:16:15	78	01:37:45	Mosquito	G Lee	D Michell	1833
01:35:45	01:32:45	70	02:12:30	A' Class (Vint)	B Higgins		AUS854

17.10.2026 Bob Fish officiating