Garde Wins Parramatta River Championship

Garde won the Parramatta River Championship at the weekend, held by Abbotsford 12ft Flying Squadron.

The northeast breeze seemed to have settled in about 1hr before the start, only to become shifty and inconsistant soon after the gun.

A tight knit group of boats made there way up the first work, to be lead at the first mark by D-unit, with Skoll in second and Garde in 3rd.

Garde got the jump on Skoll during the first down wind leg, and just held second place at the bottom mark rounding.

D-unit and Garde fought it out for the lead over the next lap and half of the race, each taking turns at leading, to only be overhauled time and again.

The battle was also on for 3rd to 6th between Lincoln Crowne, Vantage Real Estate, Skoll and Pennyliss.

D-unit found themselves on the wrong side of luck and unfortunatley got stuck in a large hole in the breeze near the final top mark rounding. This allowd Garde to sneak away for the victory.

Sadly for D-unit, a majority of the fleet would also pass them, moving them back to 6th place.

Vantage Real Estate picked up the handicap.

Results Sheet

Gemmell Sails Takes Opening Inter-club

Gemmell Sails, skippered by Murray Press and guest crewed by Cameron McDonald, won the Upper Harbour Championship at the weekend, held at Lane Cove 12ft Skiff Club.

Gemmell Sails took to the lead soon after the start and kept their nose in front all the way to the finish, despite close challenges from multiple skiffs, in a light and shifty south easterly breeze.

All skiffs went with the big rig option with not a lot of breeze forecast.

While Gemmell Sails jumped to the lead, there was a tussle for the minor places throughout the race, initially lead by Maersk Line and Garde, followed up by Linclon Crowne and Dimension Polyant. Garde had a capsize at the bottom mark to loose touch with the leaders.

Gemmell Sails continued to lead whilst Lincoln, Maersk and Dimension traded places right up to the entrance to the river for the finish.

With anything possible between there and the finish, Gemmell Sails held their nerve to take the win, while Garde caught the gust of the day to be back neck and neck with the others in 2nd place. Their luck continued and carried them through the narrows of the river to steel 2nd place.

Dimension picked up 3rd, with Maersk 4th.

Gemmell Sails also picked up the handicap for their stellar effort, with Maersk Line getting 2nd and Vantage Real Estate 3rd.

Download Results Sheet