Coming out of the extended period imposed on us all due to COVID-19, the Queensland competition calendar restarted with the South Queensland Marblehead Championship held on Sunday 05 July with Lake Sampsonvale Water Sports Association (LSWSA) hosting the event.

\images200706_M1The Marblehead class has seen a resurgence in the last year with a number of new participants and new boats appearing.  Three sailors have purchased new F6's and two  of those arrived just in time for this event, with another yet to arrive.  Both Geoff Morris and Garry Russell christened their F6's at this event and Trevor Fisher unveiled his new Katana.

All week the forecasts stayed the same, 1 to 5 knots from the west for Sunday, A-rigs were checked.  In the first half of the regatta it was really a two boat competition between Greg Torpy and Geoff Morris in a light but fairly consistent breeze.  But about lunchtime the breeze dropped out leaving 'drifter' conditions to finish the day.

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After starting the day with a broken main sheet and a double digit score, Garry Russell slowly improved his position and his confidence with the boat.   When conditions went soft he started stringing wins together bagging four of the last five races!  With little experience with the F6 and no experience at all with a swing-rig, Garry had the boat tune clearly faster and higher than identical craft in the same race and made it look easy.  It's often claimed that very light conditions are a 'lottery', but Garry's results show otherwise.  His consistency in the drifting conditions gave him a South Queensland Championship by the slimmest of margins, but let's admit it, they are the sweetest!

This left Geoff Morris and Greg Torpy to fight it out for the minor placings.  Well done guys!  Any of the top three had a chance at the top trophy at some stage of the event. 

Another notable performer was Trevor Fisher with his new Katana finishing just off the podium in 4th place.  Trevor took out a heat win and that indicates he will be at the pointy end of the Queensland fleet, perhaps a win, after he gets to know the new boat. 

\images200706_m3This event has set up the class for an exciting Queensland Championship in Hervey Bay 12th and 13th September.  The Championship could go to one of many sailors in this very competitive class.  The growth of the M's can be attributed to the efforts of Trevor Fisher and his work in the Queensland Class Coordinator role.

Once again the LSWSA set the standard on event management, the facilities and spirit that it was held in was absolutely first class.

Thanks go to:

Mike Jeffrey - PRO
Bruce Fraser and Andy Havas - Boat Crew
David Black  - Scorer
Bob Worton - Club Secreatry and Event Manager
Trevor Fisher - Marblehead Class Coordinator

Author: QRYA Publicity

 

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