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REPORT				Sabot Nationals Report All Sabot Nationals and Sabot Week Regattas start and finish with special ceremonies and ours was no different. Sabot sailors from around Australia gathered in their team uniforms in Robertson Park to participate in the Opening Ceremony. Each zone wears a distinctive uniform which features their zone colours and these colours are also found in the zone flags. Some short speeches welcomed the participants and then the captains from each zone read one of the six lines of the ASPIRE code which was adapted from the AIS code for athletes. Each zone raised its flag and the Australian Sabot Association flag was raised by two of the youngest sailors - Louis Collins and Jessica Tames - representing the future of the class. The Flags are Raised at the Opening Ceremony - Photo by George Stent The ceremony finished with the team captains leading their zone in their team song or war cry. The Invitation Race held the next day ironed out a few issues both for sailors and the Race Committee whose hooter was not loud enough to be heard by all 140 participants on the long start line. Winner of this race was Sean Ott from Southern Queensland one of the favourites to take out the senior title. The Juniors were won by Kurt Hansen and Matthew Long from NNSW who ended up winning every race in the entire junior regatta. Donna Scali had organised a Spit Roast as the first social function that evening and many people commented on the quality of the food as being the best ever at a sabot function. There was plenty to eat and a video of the day's sailing action was shown during the evening. Our neighbours at VYC had loaned us the use of their clubhouse and this proved to be the ideal venue for holding a relaxing regatta with great atmosphere. The first official meeting was also held that night and measurers from all zones thrashed out issues that had changed over the last twelve months. All agreed that the measuring process at the start of the regatta had not only gone very smoothly but quickly taking only one instead of the usual two days. The regatta got underway with Heat One the following day. Sabot Week was sailed in the morning in lighter breezes and the Nationals series took place in the afternoon when the breeze was expected to the stronger although strong winds evaded us the whole regatta and it turned into a light to medium series. The Race Committee experienced problems with the Start Boat which had been loaned for the regatta. A stray rope from the bottom of the Harbour got caught around the propeller of this boat rendering it unusable. Fortunately the 18ft skiff start boat was on stand-by and race officials quickly transferred to 'Rippleside' - a lower boat with a nice high flag mast and a loud hooter. The Senior National Heat 2 gets underway - Photo by Paula Reilly Race Two saw many of the Sabot Week fleet go to the Wing mark in mistake for the Top Mark. Some of them realised their mistake and came back to the starting area and began the race again, eventually rounding all the marks in the required order. It took the Race Committee nearly two hours to work out which boats had done the right course - the system of race control where boat roundings were taken at each mark proved invaluable in this exercise. The ANSC Conference that night made it a long day for race officials but all went smoothly and a new committee was elected to help North Queensland prepare for next year's nationals at Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays. The Lay Day on New Year's Eve gave sailors and officials a welcome break from sailing and a chance to enjoy the fireworks. Heats Three, Four and Five followed in quick success the sunny weather holding but the breeze remaining light. George Stent starts in the light morning breeze - Photo by Paula Reilly. Several protests were heard during the regatta by the National Jury providing a new experience for some of our sailors. These men donate their time to hearing the sailors air their grievances and work out who was in the right in the various incidents. One juror came from South Australia providing us with the necessary requirement to comply with RRS 70.4. Being observed by an on-water jury and sailing under Appendix P was also a new experience for many. It was all part of valuable regatta experience provided by our training class. The Senior Nationals was still wide open going into the final heat, the Junior Championship had been wrapped up, a number of girls were vying for Senior Sabot Week, and Louis and Chester Collins had a firm grip on Junior Sabot Week. Louis and Chester Collins speed towards Camp Cove Beach in 'Explosion' Another Lay Day preceded Heat Six the final heat which provided some spectacular photographs of our Sabot Week sailors disappearing in the enormous swell generated by the cyclone up the coast. Harry and Finley in 'Bad Boys' 1425 just visible in the swell. Full scratch results for the regatta appear in the results section of the website. Highlights for Vaucluse include: Scratch Senior Nationals 8th Declan Reilly 17th Elliot Scali Junior Nationals 16th Roy Harrison and Andrew Dixson Roy Harrison and Andrew Dixson in 'Do or Die' - Photo by Paula Reilly Senior Sabot Week 24th George Stent 36th William Sayer 39th Martha Swift Junior Sabot Week 1st Louis Collins and Chester Collins 3rd Tom Collins and Chriso Dixson 6th Ned Carter and Conrad Sayer 8th Jack Fagan and Oliver Banks 10th Grace and Ruby Harrison 14th Harry Clarke and Finley Lewis Handicap Senior Nationals 1st Declan Reilly Junior Sabot Week 1st Jack Fagan and Oliver Banks Jack Fagan and Oliver Banks (in photo below with Ned and Conrad in background) - Photo by Paula Reilly The final social function was held that night - a Great Aussi BBQ and once again this was very well attended extra tickets taken up following the success of both the Spit Roast and the very popular canteen which ran daily throughout the regatta. The following morning saw all the teams assemble again for the Closing Ceremony and the Presentation of Prizes. The individual trophies were made especially for the regatta and featured the Wedding Cake which of course is a distinctive feature of our bay, so that in years to come the winners will quickly remember their time at Vaucluse. The perpetual trophies were all engraved with the winners' names in a midnight effort and we welcomed Peter Shipway to present the Lionel Shipway medallions. These are presented to sailors who have shown commitment over many years and been to six National or Sabot Week regattas around Australia. From our club, Declan Reilly received the Lionel Shipway medallion this year. Will McCarthy was the keynote speaker. Will started sailing in sabots at Vaucluse about 20 years ago, going on to win the Flying Eleven Club Championship and more recently the last two America's Cups sailing on Alinghi. He spoke about the preparation that the team undertook in their training for the America's Cup Challenge and took us through the daily life of an elite sailor. A DVD of the latest America's Cup highlights featured some exciting moments when the bowman slipped and ended up clinging onto the bow from below, and later the spinnaker of Team NZ exploding. The regatta closed with the lowering of the team flags and a final singing /chanting of the team songs by each zone. The ANSC flag was handed over to North Queensland the venue for the Sabot Nationals next year. For the Organising Committee the regatta was the culmination of nearly two years' planning, starting with our original proposal to host the regatta at Vaucluse. The Regatta Organising Committee has been meeting fortnightly to ensure that everything would go smoothly. During the regatta, team mangers and coaches met each morning at 8:30am with the Race Committee to discuss shipping movements, ferries, jury observations and general issues that arose during a regatta for nearly 200 sailors. All participants were presented with a gear bag especially designed and embroidered for the regatta and a comprehensive full colour programme which included the Sailing Instructions, a list of participants and an honour roll of past winners as well as many photographs. Our regatta sponsors Channel 9, Winning Appliances, Nick Scali Furniture, LJ Hooker, VISA and Macquarie Bank all featured in the programme and on the large banner displayed at the entrance to the VYC clubhouse. Sarah Collins designed a special regatta shirt and the logo this used also went onto the trophies and heat winners medals. Donna Scali designed a Sabot water bottle for the regatta which was sold through the canteen. We had special stationary for official correspondence and communicated with all the sailors by sms giving them updates of their sailing progress. This was a first regatta for many sailors from our club and many of them received encouragement awards at the daily presentations. But more importantly they have spent a lot of time on the water, and improved their sailing skills. Tom Collins and Chriso Dixson enjoy the new boat We had help from members of every family and even from parents like George Christodoulou whose children were not sailing but who became caught up in the busy atmosphere. This has been an exciting time for our club and we can be proud that we have managed to put on such a successful and comprehensive regatta. Paula Reilly, Regatta Director
Photographs © VA12SC