Rob Douglass with his team of Garth Bickford and daughter Nic Douglass on Dollop AUS319 took the VX One NSW State Championship win over the weekend with a near perfect scorecard over six races and a nine boat fleet from Cronulla Sailing Club. Class newcomers Zac West, Aiden Mansley and James Hopkins on Let’s Dance AUS243 were runners-up, over their squad coach and Sydney Olympian Nev Wittey, sailing with daughter Tiana Wittey and Jameson Prescott on Unvexed AUS156.
“The scorecard might look good, but it was a tough regatta,” said Rob Douglass. “A full range of conditions, with a building northerly on Saturday upwards of 20 knots, and then a shifty and tricky day on Sunday”.
“As always, it was a pleasure to sail out of Cronulla Sailing Club, such a great bit of water and a beautiful community”.
“It’s so good to see the VX, as a class going from strength to strength. The inclusion of former Olympians, Ian Brown and Nev Wittey at this event, and other really well qualified sailors in our fleet, is a testament to how good the boat is. At the same time, it feels like our team has really improved over the last 12 months. We are looking forward to the challenge of the National Championships at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron in January 2026”.
The first race of the championship got underway in the mouth of the Port Hacking estuary. There was already a challenging wave state, the breeze was set to build, and it was 18 knots. The Race Committee opted for a one lap windward leeward to get the racing underway given the forecast. Chris Dawson with Jan Scholten and Steve Bryant on V-Wagon AUS248 were quick as expected in the breeze, however, they were chased down on the downwind by Dollop AUS319 Douglass, Douglass and Bickford to finish second. Bolt AUS302 skippered by Warwick Rooklyn with Josh Dawson and Katherine Shannon finished third.
For Race 2, the Race Committee opted for a two lap course with the incoming tide. The two Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron boats, AUS156 and AUS243, found their feet after a slower start in race 1 and finished second and third consecutively behind Dollop AUS319.
On the first work of Race 3, also a two lap course, the breeze clocked to the left by 30 degrees, and Unvexed AUS156 were the ones to make the most of the shift and lead around the top mark. After another lap, Let’s Dance AUS243 had smoked into the lead, leaving Unvexed AUS156 in second. Dollop AUS319 sailed through from sixth around the first top mark into third.
By Race 4 the breeze had built and settled well over twenty knots. The race committee opted for a one lap windward leeward to get in the fourth of the day and stay on schedule. The mountains on port tack made for some of the best rides ever on starboard gybe. Most teams reported speeds over 20 knots on the ride downwind.
At the end of the first day, Dollop AUS319 was leading over Unvexed AUS156 and Let’s Dance AUS243, with one discard in play after four races.
It was a quiet start to day two with a westerly in a continual battle with a potential sea breeze and what started as an outgoing tide for the scheduled earlier start of 1100 hours local.
The first attempt of the fifth race was started in the land breeze, but was abandoned just after the top mark when an easterly reached the bottom section of the course. While waiting for a restart, the tide started to change, and the waterway was as unstable as the state of the wind.
As the easterly filled, the course was spun around for a restart, and the racing got away set at 85 degrees with two laps. Again it was the boats representing Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron granted, with a Cronulla local on the helm of AUS156, who read the conditions best. Both all but started on port and headed to the right hand side of the track which resulted in the two top positions around the top mark. A great tussle followed to the finish as the breeze almost died. The Race Committee opted to shorten to one lap, and it was Let’s Dance AUS243 skippered by Zac West and his team taking the win. Dollop AUS319, who were on the wrong side of the course on the first beat managed to salvage the final podium placing and secure the regatta win.
For the sixth and final race the current had completely reversed and was more even across the course. To get in the final race of the series, the Race Committee chose the one lap windward-leeward to finish off the event within the time limit. Most boats started on starboard but were quick to head out to the right hand side which had paid so heavily in the prior race. V-Wagon AUS248 were the first to round the top mark and gybe set, closely followed by Dollop AUS319. They were followed by the two RSYS boats, then Mimi II AUS375 skippered by Lucas Couper all the way from RBYC, who were first to straight set. When the nor’easter filled in half way down the run Dollop 319 were in the best position to line up for it having gybed back to the northern side of the course, along with the two boats that had straight set, Mimi II and Bolt AUS302. This was the order across the line for the last race of the event.
“We at CSC enjoyed hosting the VX NSW States this past weekend, the second time we have hosted the last being in 2023,” said the Cronulla Sailing Club Commodore, Paul Degan.
“We love the boats, and the class, who brought a buzz with them, on and off the water. We would love to have a regular fleet of them here at CSC”.
“As with all sailing clubs, we could not have hosted the event without our awesome team of volunteers led by Jared Macquart. His team included Race Officer Bill Dickson, his assistant Richard Stock and others including, Glenn Smith, Clinton Hood, Bernard Parker, Richard Searle, Bob Sagar, Fiona Campbell, Mitchell Barber, Bronwyn Elford and John Zagame”.
The regatta was sponsored by Vaikobi who provided vouchers for daily prizes and overall winners.
Nic Douglass
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