The Aberdeen Boat Club held their annual ABC Opening Regatta on 6-7 September. LBC boasted 14 boats in the race, despite the fact the it was now in a 2-day format. The races were long. The 2 geometrical races (all sausages) on Saturday under Force 2 winds meant that the more powerful boats with light crew dominated the racing. The Hobie Tigers were all so far ahead, they were lapping people by the 3rd lap! The second race on Saturday wasn’t much better, with light winds making the racing tricky.
Sunday brought lovely Force 3 sailing conditions for much of the race.
The long distance course chosen saw our fleet head out from Middle
Island, around Beaufort and out all the way around Waglan, then back
the same way. The water became quite choppy out by Waglan, but the wind
was better. The boats were all over the sea looking for the best route.
It was a beautiful sight!
From LBC, Gabriel Kicks sailed magnificently, helming his Dart 18
without crew (or jib). His recent participation in the Dart 15 UK
Nationals really showed, as his new techniques saw him come in firmly
as the first Dart or Hobie 16 in Race 1. Thomas Cheng and Jimmy Shum
also sailed very well on their Hobie 16s. Race 2 saw Tom Nunan and
Michele Felder respond to their defeat in the first race, edging out
Gabriel and the Hobies. Race day #2 featured the long distance race.
Gabriel had a flying start and proved tough to catch even when the wind
picked up a bit.
The Hobies were able to harness the available wind and cut through
the chop effectively, leaving Tom and Gabriel to battle out the Dart
competition. Coming in to home, they were almost dead even, and across
the line only 76 seconds separated them after more than 3 hours of
racing.
Special mention must go to Thomas Cheng and Clara Ng who sailed
brilliantly all weekend on their Hobie 16. The pair were troubling the
other frontrunners all weekend but had an amazing duel going with Jimmy
Shum and Keung on their Hobie. The 2 Hobies finished next to each other
in every race! In the long distance race they finished only 15 seconds
apart!
Choi and Joe on their Hobie Tiger put in an excellent effort to lock up
the 3rd overall Multihull. They sailed aggressively all weekend and
were regularly up near the front. The Tigers were simply dominant on
the weekend, and plans are already afoot to give them their own
division next year.
