Bill Fenton
A fleet of 20 boats with 40 crew competed in the first race of the year for the Tweed Valley Sailing Club last weekend, in a light and shifting easterly wind.
Several new junior crew, recently graduated from the TVSC Learn to Sail course, joined the fleet for their first taste of racing. They will be skippering their own boats in the race next Sunday sailing Sabots and X3s.
Dave Chester and Isaac Poulsen on Hobie 16 Sledder finished first, completing the 10km course on the Fingal reach in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Sledder’s skipper had just returned slightly bruised and battered after 13 races competing in the Hobie National Titles on Hervey Bay where he finished 28th out of 58.
Second in the multihull’s were Toby and Anna Poulsen, three minutes behind.
First in the monohulls was NS14 Tornado (Bill Fenelon and Sienna Pullen), only 12 minutes behind.
Tornado led from the early stages and was never challenged, finishing five minutes ahead of Radical Phase (Glenn Slight and Kynan Luescher) and third-placed Zazen (Adam Hurt and Tom Busbridge).
Tornado got the points for the NS14 Class Championship this time but Glenn and Kynan are still sitting safely at the head of the table and, with only one race to go, Tornado will have to wait until next season to challenge them.
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