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The Sail Port Stephens – Bay Series was held from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 May.  The J/70 Class competed for the first time at the event as a one-design division with seven boats entered.

The entries comprised three boats that travelled from Sandringham Yacht Club in Victoria and four boats from Sydney, including Jabiru and Swish from RSYS.

After the six races, Swish (Steven Proud RSYS) was the first placegetter, Joust 70 (Rod Warren Sandringham YC) was second and Jabiru (Karyn Gojnich RSYS) was third. Port Stephens is a great regatta venue with a large expanse of sheltered water and unlike Sydney Harbour, no ferries to dodge or power boat wash to contend with.



Sailing conditions on Friday and Saturday were excellent, with 8 to 10 knots of westerly breezes and sunshine on both days. Unfortunately, on Sunday, racing was abandoned due to a gale warning for offshore waters and 30 knots plus winds on the race area.

The Race Committee did an excellent job on the weekend, setting fair courses for all six races that were sailed.  Racing amongst the J/70s was tight, with only one point separating the first two placegetters on the series and a further seven points to third.  The elapsed time for each race was approximately 45 minutes and only a couple of minutes separated the fleet in most races.



As well as enjoying good racing, the crews were able to join in the regatta social events.  The organisers did a very good job of getting everyone together after racing each day with daily results presentations and lucky draw prizes.  Several lucky sailors received $500 vouchers to use at Bannisters Port Stephens. This event will be a permanent addition to the J/70 Class event calendar.



Photos by PromOcean Media.