It was, once again, an incredible weekend of racing at the Great Lakes Sailing Club’s annual Wildcat Regatta. Over the October long weekend, a total of 15 Hobie 14s—consisting of 5 x 14 Turbos and 10 x standard Hobie 14s—hit the water, with equal numbers of male and female helms, a record achievement for the fleet. Additionally, 5 Hobie 18s made the trip to Forster for what has long been one of the highlights of the east coast sailing calendar for more than 50 years.
Mick Butler, Leon Whitworth, Gav Luxton, Darren Schmidt & Andrew McKenzie took to the Turbos for some valuable training ahead of the upcoming State Titles at Mannering Park. Meanwhile, Fletcher, Georgia & Carmen joined the contingent of New South Welshmen for a weekend of high-quality Hobie 14 racing. Some welcome additions to the fleet this year were Courtney Smith & Bridg Raftery, who had just arrived back from 18 months abroad.
Meanwhile, in the Hobie 18s, the Marcovitchs were back for another crack at the title, as were Lindsay, Scott & Tom, and Oli & Geoff. Emily Hendo was back on the 18 once again, this time with partner-in-crime Lilly on the front for the weekend.
Friday afternoon was scheduled for the Earp Island Marathon, giving sailors the chance to reacquaint themselves with Wallis Lake for the first time since the NSW State Championships back in February. Congratulations to Paddy Butler on taking 14-foot line honours, and to Jess & Ado, who brought it home in the F18s.
After a leisurely Saturday morning meander, and a very well-run briefing thanks to the Principal Race Officer extraordinaire Mr Stephen Watt, racing finally got underway at 1:00 p.m. in a tricky south-westerly that shifted as it pleased.
Bridg was busy making new friends after finding herself in a windward/leeward with an F18, while MB dominated the Turbos, taking out the second race on yardstick. Fletcher claimed the first race in the 15-boat fleet, and Gav Luxton had a solid day with two thirds and a fifth.
In the Hobie 18s, Emily & Lilly were going bow-to-bow with Ian & Janica all day, while Oli & Geoff were steadily making gains.
Of course, the real competition began once we hit the shore—who could leave their sails up the longest? No one knew what the prize was, but MB was determined not to lose. Even when he finally dropped his sails, he left them unrolled with the halyard still attached—a true masterclass in commitment. Check out Paddy’s TITV Day 1 debrief.
After a late night for some of the more intrepid sailors—perhaps feeling a little disheartened after Australia’s performance in SailGP—Day Two dawned bright and early.
The Sailing Instructions declared “no racing before 9 a.m.”, yet several cautious heads peeked out well before then. Fortunately, our PRO showed good sense and held the fleet until a more humane hour.
The breeze behaved much like the previous day—light and shifty—but that didn’t stop Macca, Leon & the Turbo squad from wholly disregarding port/starboard on the start line, rolling a fair portion of the fleet. Utter chaos at the pin end in Race 2 heard many a choice word used.
Despite the antics, the leaderboard kept shuffling, and no one could fully dominate. Three races later, everyone agreed a nap was the most strategic next move.
Paddy had a keeper of a day, with two bullets and a drop of a fifth, while Fletcher came away with a bullet, a second, and a drop of an eighth. Georgia had a solid day, leading the women’s division with a third and a fourth ahead of Bridgie Bolewski, while Carmen came away with an all-time best of a second—just a boat length in front of Georgia. Check out Paddy’s TITV Day 2 debrief:
Day Three started slightly later—no doubt helped along by the excitement of the NRL Grand Final the night before. Despite the SI’s once again declaring “no start before 9”, the utter glass-out across Worimi Country had us firmly in “hurry up and wait” mode.
Fortunately, the westerly filled in before long—and blow in it did. With great enthusiasm, sails went up, minor boat dramas were swiftly handled, and we hit the water. One exhilarating race later, a few damp sailors but undampened spirits returned to shore just as the breeze disappeared once more.
Then it was time for boat Jenga as the pack-up began ahead of presentations.
A huge shoutout to Haffner Family, Michael Taylor and the Great Lakes Sailing Club team for, as always, putting on an incredible event. Cheers to PRO Steve Watt and his team for delivering such quality racing, and cheers to the ladies in the canteen for delivering even higher quality food.
We’ll be back—and hope to see even more boats on the water next year!
FINAL RESULTS HOBIE 14S COMBINED
