It was the first regional IOM event held in WA since the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions and as expected Jackadder was a challenge!
Fifteen sailors lined up for the 2020 Perth Classic on 12th July and the breeze was right in line with the forecast, a 7-12 knot NNE.
Sean Wallis got away to a great start with wins in races 1 & 2 and it looked like it could be a battle for second place however, this was shortlived as he came back to the field with an eleventh in race 3 as Jackadder demonstrated that it is a challenging venue and one that is difficult to master.
As racing continued PRSC sailor Edgar Vitte took charge showing consistency placing inside the top four in each race with Wallis dropping to second and Roger Paul sailing his K2 picking some good shifts and a couple of wins to slide into early contention.
By lunch it was wide open, Wallis & Vitte shared the lead with Glenn Dawson, who started poorly, improving fast to hold third with Paul, Chris Woods & Ian Sherriff ready to strike.
Post the long break, Dawson got his groove on and seemed to be able to master the shifty conditions best with a win in race 9 (his only win for the day) while Wallis scored a 10th finding himself in a precarious position with poor results mounting. At the same time Ian Sherriff pick up two quick wins in races 10 & 11 and then another in race 13 to move into second overall behind Dawson.
Race 14 saw the country boy Michael Cameron get off the start line at the port end and able to hold on to register his first race win which no doubt made his five hour drive from Albany worth it given by this stage he would have been tiring after his 4am wake up to get to Perth in time.
With a couple of races expected to be sailed, the consistency of Dawson had given him a stranglehold on the event as the rest were left to fight out the minor placings with Vitte winning the final two races to claim second overall 5pts behind Dawson and 5pts ahead of Sherriff who finished third.
After a frustrating day of sailing RO Bruce Quail called an end to racing with the sailors taking the advantage of an early finish to enjoy a much needed cleanser.
Thanks to Bruce Quail, Bob Patton, Brian Knuckey and the other volunteers who supported the event and well sailed Glenn, Edgar & Ian.