After a decent break for Christmas and January, TAGS has been back with a vengeance!
The first race on February 6 was fairly light and a chance to clear out some cobwebs as Forza II and Chillout both rounded their own top mark rather than Beashel Buoy, still a sunny summer afternoon on Sydney Harbour makes up for anything.
The following week was the 2025 Seawind Regatta, with the Thursday TAGS race forming heat one of the regatta, and fifteen boats lined up for the start in a 25+ knot Nor-easter (a few less brave souls such as Dream sat that one out) and had an exciting ride around our regular course, most reefed but not all and NOMA (Michael Herrman) took first place closely followed by Mintaka (Richard Fricker) and Sweet Disposition (Simon Cameron) in third. Back to the marquee at Multihull Central where locals and visiting crews got together over dinner and drinks to compare stories from the afternoon.
For a complete contrast the following morning was fairly light and shortly after the start, showers set in and the breeze fell to a very shifty drift, starting from the East South-east, swinging North-east before swooping all the way to Sou Sou-West by about halfway through. Finding a way to keep moving and in the right direction was key. A group came together as the fleet rounded Shark Island on the shortened course, eking out any puffs that could be found and Sea Glass (David Cox) squeezed ahead and was not to be caught. Dream (Tim Pearce) was able to take advantage of raising her centreboards offwind to reduce drag and came closest to chasing down Sea Glass. Then a trio of 1000s finished third, fourth and fifth, Mintaka, Surprise (David Sanders) and Seabbatical (Tara Fitzgerald) proving that they are such reliable performers, a great vintage.
The fleet rafted up in Athol Bight between races two and three for some lunch and more socialising though Fi Pearce on Dream was having to work the phone for some business negotiations, a new take on “Working From Home”.
Finally, a moderate Nor-easter in the afternoon allowed the fleet to power up and have a great afternoon’s racing. Around six or seven boats converged after rounding the top mark and the tussle was on for downwind glory. By Neilsen Park, the pack had caught the heels of Surprise and Mintaka and different skippers chose slightly different lines for shortest distance, best pressure or trying to blanket someone just in front. Dream crept through the larger cats and into the lead trying to maintain clear air amongst rigs twice her size. Forza II (John Reynolds) came flying through the pack with her centreboards up and reached touching distance from Dream’s rudders but couldn’t quite squeeze past. Sea Glass, Spritz (Alexander Tessarolo) and Mintaka rounded out the top five, all finishing within a couple of minutes, great close racing.
Back to Multihull Central for wonderful pizzas, more drinks and the presentation of prizes and a visit from Richard Ward to let everyone know what’s happening with the development of new Seawind models and delivery options. Mintaka took out top honours (must be the mirror ball on the aft deck) with Sea Glass second and Forza II third.
In the trimarans, Brent Vaughan and crew on Air Express were very strong and it was wonderful having Stargazer (Martin Dunlop) race with us for the Friday races. Unfortunately Regatta couldn’t make it up from Cronulla at the last minute to expand the tri fleet. And a shout out to David Braidwood and crew who brought Zoom all the way from Jervis Bay for the event.
Since then we’ve had some great breezes and very close racing from the regular TAGS fleet, with the pointscore getting very close, though David Sanders and the Surprise crew are looking very likely winners, and a tussle for third place between Forza II and Sea Glass, on equal points prior to the last race.
Finally, our commodore, Michael Meehan has been trying to organise a day out for Camp Quality (a charity creating events and community for children impacted by cancer) for a few years. And finally we made it happen. Nine boats lined up to take approximately one hundred children, carers and volunteers out for an afternoon on the harbour on March 22nd after a picnic in Jubilee Park adjacent to the Multihull Central marina. All the skippers, crew and Camp Quality attendees had a very enjoyable afternoon with clear skies and a decent breeze to tour our wonderful waterway. A big shout out and thank you to the boats who could make it, Catty Shack, ChillOut, Sea Glass, Moonglider, Mintaka,Dream, Forza II, Pirate King and Flyer II. Also to Paul Fowler and Aegean Spirit who had engine troubles at the last moment and so crewed with Paul Booth on ChillOut and also made the connection to Brent Isaacson and Flyer II. The plan is to make this a regular event.
