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TASMANIAN SHARPIE ASSOCIATION

2011 SWANSEA WORLDS WRAP UP

Firstly, thanks to Burkey and Vicky, without them the regatta would have been buried, as well as Rowdy, Amanda, Batty and Neil Wiseman for their on course support. Not to mention the fans on Tubby spearheaded by Rebecca Fleming and photography by Gerard Horseman (photo’s coming soon on www.gerardhorsman.com ).

Saturday – After rendezvousing at the boat ramp in Swansea, the stage was set for a big day of racing. With the formalities in order, the first race, a pursuit, was started with the Head, ( Lewis and good mate Euan who supports the greatest football side in the land, THE POWER ) with dad, Dave Golding, leading the charge, closely followed by the Buzzwagon with Australia II sail maker, David ( I need a guide dog after hitting every boat on the course), Rees. The newly formed crew in the City Limits, lead by big front man Rod (I’ll need to practice my sculling ), after nearly losing to the girls in the chug a lug, but I have a red car which matches the boat beautifully, not to mention Ben (I have slotted in fantastically onto the sheets ) and perform like the great Neil Harrison or Justin Cordell Wells, with John (whistler ) Genders, in charge of the red machine! Julian (moth extremist) Salter, along with Madelyn ( I couldn’t stop smiling ) Salter and dad, Steve (good to see you back in the class ) on the Gun Smoke, lead the usual culprits on Get Smart, Tim (been in a paddock over winter) Muir, with long time front man Marcus (I don’t know what trouble is until wife Liz has another two kids ) Carter , with special performance from rock star sheet hand Charlie (I love punching the sky and abusing the crowd when I play ) Donnelly. Nick (it takes me an hour to get into my sailing gear ) Fleming and the great Scissor was joined by Claire ( look better than Cyril in a wetsuit ) Cunningham on the Dump Truck. The Hump crew lead by star sheet hand Nick “Hollywood” Carter and Drew (can steer a bathtub and still win) Latham fresh from recent success had a big handicap for the conditions.

After some trouble up the first work, the Head and Buzzwagon, were overtaken and the finish came down to a nail biter with the Get Smart putting it in the tide to claim victory by a second from Gun Smoke, Dump Truck and One Hump.

The remaining races for the day saw the Hump stretch their legs with Flem’s consistent sailing having him in clear second place on the total points.

As Reesey has indicated beers in the car park lead to beers back at the Swansea motor inn, which lead back to the car park thanks to a starring role from Andre ( I save my best for when wife Tor is not around ) DeClerk. Must also say a big hello to Wellsy, Wazza and Honda who felt a bit left out on the Saturday night, as they thought they had already been forgotten, after getting out of the class to increase their piles by sitting on a cold deck in offshore yacht races.

The freestyle board event went ahead after a short delay on Sunday morning, due to a rig being retrieved from the bottom of the bay, with help from the PRO’s GPS. This lead to some fantastic thrills and spills in front of the jetty as well as on the jetty thanks to big Jonesy! Little Jonesy also had a spectacular wipe-out in knee deep water. Perennial boat slut and international man of mystery Reesey was fantastic, throwing everything into the competition, but unfortunately there could be only one winner and Stu Tanner took the chocolates.

Rumour has it that old salt Cyril was a bit underdone coming into Sunday’s racing, thanks to a few frothies back at the CYC (Camel Yacht Club). Once again the pursuit was staged and this time the Get Smart crew took the win.

Back to racing and in a bizarre twist the Humpers jumped into the Head, and vice versa. As was witnessed by the hundreds of spectators, the Head had just moved past Flemo’s Dump Truck and was looking to be a dream run before the infamous word “Picioane” was released. In an instance their world came crashing down as they dropped the rig and the title was looking in serious jeopardy. At this point the Get Smart boys lifted a cog and Flem handed over steering duties to Claire, and the young fellas on the Hump produced a beautiful hard fought second.

Also finding some fantastic form and confidence from two builders including one boat, onboard was little Madelyn. Using the rules to her advantage she demolished the competition and will certainly be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years. After sitting on the beach and watching the action the Humpers minus Hollywood, jumped on board as he and fiancé Gemma were practicing for later life by spearheading the Swansea crèche.

The last race, a dash for cash was to be the decider and it was great to see the City Limits boys get up for a win. In second, little Mads on the Gun Smoke, followed by Get Smart, Buzzwagon, One Hump and Dump Truck, while the Head boys took out the windsurfers due to the old girl breaking in half!

With the series settled, presentation night was held at the newly opened CYC, with plenty of alcohol on ice, and Charles on standby, the night turned into a ball tearer! In fact the phonebook came out at 4 in the morning and a number of interstate members were tried to be reached. Sorry to Tony Turton, Mal Higgins and Ian “Grinder” Davidson who unfortunately could’nt take our calls. On the other hand it was fantastic that Chris Nicholson could have a chat, and he was extremely happy that Tim and the boys had gotten up on Get Smart, with Madelyn Salter on Gun Smoke second, with the Hump/Head boys rounding out the top three.

All in all, the consensus was that the weekend had been a big success and will look forward to a few interstate boys flying down to have a sail on the magnificent waters of Great Oyster Bay in the coming years.

See ya soon
Swansea Regatta Office!