PBS was delighted to host the World’s first dedicated event for the popular Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 349 on the Sunday of the June long weekend at Middle Harbour Yacht Club. With the forecast for a windy and wet day it was terrific to have nine boats attend with 8 taking part in the 3-race series through the day. Racing was remarkably close with races taking an average of an hour and in every one there were yachts finishing within 20 seconds of each other, and in fact in the final race there was only a 4 second gap between two of the competitors.
The first race took competitors from Clontarf point to Balmoral, then to North head, across to Lady Bay at South head and home. “Pinta Bay” set a trend by taking the lead at the first mark and led the fleet home, but “Sanity” finished exactly 2 minutes behind and with a lower handicap having a standard mainsail took the win, “Eau Well” taking 2nd on handicap and “Angourie” 3rd.
The second race took the fleet to Manly and return with “Pinta” first home and remarkably “Sanity” was exactly 2 minutes behind again, giving then a 2nd win and making it difficult for anyone else to win the series. “Pinta” took 2nd on handicap, while 3rd was taken by “Elysium”.
For the final race the breeze was a solid 16 knots with gusts over 20 and yet again “Pinta” made it home first from a course that took the fleet around Middle Head to Lady Bay, then across to North head and home. “Angourie” were close enough to take the win on handicap, with “Pinta” taking another 2nd place, and “Sanity” getting 3rd.
So, a dominant performance by co-owners Eric Gonzales and veteran 77 year old Jim Lay on “Sanity” to win overall, while Frank Milners “Pinta Bay” was a solid 2nd, their fat-head mainsail not giving them the advantage that they would have had in lighter conditions. Consistency with a 2nd and two 4ths gave William Wades “Eau Well” 3rd overall.
After racing the fleet returned to Middle Harbour Yacht Club to warm up with food provided by PBS and then a prize-giving with medals handed out for the individual race results, then trophies for the overall. We also had spot prizes from PBS and boatcrewgear.com and we thank boatcrewgear for their generous support. Photography for the event was by Mainsheet media and these can be seen on the Jeanneau Australia Facebook page.
Our thanks to MHYC for allowing us to host the event at the club and providing the mark and mark boat. Much appreciated.