16 March 2010
Text by Peter Campbell
Photos by Aline Van Haren
Get together several sailors from the halcyon days of the America’s Cup, plus a few rugby greats from the All Blacks and Wallabies, put them aboard yachts at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and you have the nucleus of another great Stepping Stone Regatta.
Add in strong support from the owners and crews of some 26 yachts, and the end result in early March was raising almost $60,000 on the day for Stepping Stone House at Dulwich Hill which provides a family structure for adolescents who are homeless. A new project is directing them towards training and positive opportunities to enter the workforce.
Perfect conditions on Sydney Harbour
The Stepping Stone Regatta is an annual event conducted by the Squadron for this most deserving charity, with many members helping organise the regatta, including Past Commodore Rex Harrison. Regatta co-ordinator is Max Connery OAM.
Importantly, the regatta receives support from many members of the RSYS, CYCA, SASC and MHYC. Skippering yachts were the Commodores of three of the clubs, the Squadron’s Bill Wood (Kookaburra III), CYCA’s Matt Allen (Bandit) and Middle Harbour’s Martin Hill (Estate Master). The doyen of Australian racing Syd Fischer, celebrated his 83rd birthday by skippering Ragamuffin to a line honours victory from Charles’ Curran’s Sydney.
Also sailing at the invitation of Rex Harrison was a group of eight Commodore’s from yacht clubs in Vancouver, Canada, and Seattle, USA, on their way to a yachting conference in Perth. They each paid $200, as did all other crew members, for the privilege of joining the Stepping Stone Regatta and enjoying sailing on a glorious day on Sydney Harbour.
Four former America’s Cup crew members of Dame Pattie and Gretel II got together to sail Norm Hyett’s Joanne Brodie to victory in Division 2 – Norm being joined by Dick Lawson, John Freedman and Dr Michael Greenaway, visiting Australia from his home in Connecticutt, USA. “We reminisced about the America’s Cup all around the course, but still managed to concentrate enough to win our division,” John Freedman said after the regatta. “It was a great get-together as well as supporting a most deserving charity.”
Joanne Brodie underway
Joanne Brodie, designed by the late Alan Payne, and winner of the 1960 Montagu Island Race and third overall in the 1961 Sydney Hobart, took handicap honours from Enigma (Garry Connery) and Gecko (Stephen Face).
Crew on Raggamuffin enjoying the racing
In Division 1, line honours went to Syd Fischer’s TP52 Ragamuffin, while on corrected time the winner was Crackerjack (Chris Harper & Dennis Galvin) by just 30 seconds from John & Kim Clinton’s Holy Cow, third going to Allegro (John Taylor).
Crackerjack steaming upwind
As always, it was a fun day for sailors, a competitive race, followed by a friendly get-together at the Squadron to swap stories, and then enjoy a casual dinner and prizegiving, with a fun auction that alone raised several thousand dollars.
Every boat in the fleet won a prize, with many challenges within the fleet, including the traditional ‘Bedisloe’ Challenge between three Farr 40s, whose opposing crews included David Kirk, captain of the winning All Blacks team in the 1987 World Cup, and Richard Harry, 1999 Wallaby front-rower.
Bandit, helmed by Matt Allen won the clash of the Farr 40s in Bandit,but honours among the three Commodores went to Bill Wood in Kookaburra III, finishing sixth overall in Division 1.
Bill Wood helming on Kookaburra III
Max Connery and his team are already planning for next season’s Stepping Stone Regatta – he and Rex Harrison would like to see 30 to 40 yachts competing in 2011.
From Peter Campbell
M: 0419 385 028 or E: peter_campbell@bigpond.com
|
