Lightning, thunder, rain and a 104-year-old record broken – the final heat of Manly’s 16ft club championship on Saturday had everything except an actual race.
A huge downpour right at race time brought with it poor wind, low visibility and flashes of lightning, leaving officials with no option but to abandon sailing for the day.
That meant the much-anticipated shootout between series leader Red Pumps Red (Zoe Dransfield/Hugh and Jamie Stodart) and Buckingham Marine Services (Daniel Turner/Gus Williams/Matt Stenta) – three points behind in second – never materialised as history was made on an Armageddon-like Sydney harbour.
Dransfield became the first female skipper to win the club championship in the 104-year running of the event and is also part of the first mixed gender team to claim the prestigious prize.
RPR hinted at what was to come with top 10 finishes at both the state and national championships before crashing through at Manly.
They were a model of consistency, winning four of eight club championship heats on the back of a lot of hard work and desire.
“We’ve trained really hard this season – we’re often the only boat out on the water every Friday afternoon and it’s definitely paid dividends,” Dransfield said.
“It’s been a great season for us. It’s been an absolute pleasure sailing with Hugh and Jamie and we’ve come so far. Jamie brings a lot of energy and is great at making sure we keep the boat flat and fast and Hugh brings so much experience and knowledge.
“It was a bit strange and anti-climactic to win without doing the last race, but a win’s a win and we’re all absolutely thrilled.
“It’s the first female skipper and mixed gender crew to win it and I feel so privileged to be joining some prestigious names on the trophy.
“I coached the end of season forehand race in the juniors on Sunday morning and feel really proud to be able to show them that female sailors can win in such a male dominated sport.
“It’s inspiring to see that the male to female ratio in the junior classes are about 50/50. I’m excited for the future of women in skiffs and feel privileged to be a part of it.”
As for the abandoned race, Zoe added: “It was a bit strange. We went out knowing that we would have a tricky race, with ‘Ruffy’ (Turner) only three points behind us.
“We were prepared to have a full match race and had run through a bunch of scenarios in advance so we were feeling as prepared as possible.
“We got out there and it was quite light and shifty and then a huge storm cloud came in and it was torrential rain and the visibility was really poor – you couldn’t see the Heads.
“It really had a doomsday feel about it and the race committee definitely made the right decision.
“If we had raced it would have been a total lottery with huge wind shifts.”
The 13s’ club championship finale was not as dramatic, with Harken (Heidi Bates/ Orlando Sadlik) crowned champions well before the last heat.
The pair still headed out to the start line before the race was abandoned, bringing an end to a three-year partnership that yielded one national, two state and three club championship titles.
“It’s a bit sad that it’s ended but we’re excited about what we do next,” Heidi said.
Words Adam Lucius
Images SailMedia | Michael Chittenden
@manly16ftskiffs #manlyskiff
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