Roamance attracts a win at Magnetic Island Race Week
Congratulations to Gordon Beath and his team onboard Roamance, for securing a win in Div 1 of the Multihull Class at Magnetic Island Race Week. It was the second time Roamance has competed at this event which was a family affair with Gordon’s sister Sally Beath crewing onboard the winning multihull.
RPAYC sailors were crewing onboard several boats at Race Week, including Alice Lydement and Belinda Parkes. Read their recap of Magnetic Island Race Week and view photos from onboard the TP52 j-Bird, Ocean Crusaders below:
It was great fun and a wonderful experience. The winds were so light, the race starts were very delayed waiting for enough wind, but in the end we got away for racing everyday, and it was still enjoyable. Although though our boat, a TP52 J-Bird Ocean Crusaders, needed more wind to power up, we had some great duels with Victoire through the entirety of the series, of which they eventually got the upper-hand.
On the first day of racing, we managed to get line honours and take home second place on handicap (PHS). The rest of the series unfortunately, we couldn’t get across the line before Victoire, the pesky 40 footer, but we were always sailing close behind them, and often had some very tactical tacking duels, where we would be ahead then they were back in front, which made for interesting racing. Unfortunately we didn’t place in the end as our handicap was far too difficult, given the light and challenging conditions, but we still had a great time with an amazing yacht and a wonderful crew.
I also met some of the most amazing women sailors. It was such a fabulous week of beautiful sailing conditions, although light winds, it was hot and sunny everyday, scenic sailing courses, including the final days race around the island, where we finally had some winds reaching up to and just over 10kts, full of entertainment and very friendly welcoming atmosphere. It’s a great regatta for anyone wanting to experience part of the FNQ sailing season. I am definitely keen to go back next year – Belinda Sparkes
Photos credit Belinda Sparkes and Andrea Francolini/SMIRW
