Last November a 39 foot yacht was unloaded from a freighter in Fremantle after a journey from Belgium. A couple of weeks later, the owner found time to check the sail wardrobe and following a short sea trial sail off Fremantle the boat was moored at Port Geographe awaiting her first race.

Hardly an ideal preparation for a major regatta!

Liesl, a Beneteau built Farr 40.7 was supposed to give Chris Hogan and crew a week of fun in the South West but she surprised her crew with her performance in the first race and was a chance for a podium finish in the IRC category for Division 1. Indeed Liesl went on to pick up the trophy.

A trio of Geographe 27’s (extended and modified MB24’s) helped set the tone for the regatta with their antics. Mike Davies, Dave Doherty and David Stoopman competed in an “Inaugural Intergalactic Geographe 27 Challenge”, partied loud and long and on the final day lashed all three boats beam to beam and sailed into Port Geographe Marina with a big kite set sideways from the two outside masts and a conventional spinnaker on the centre boat. The three skippers were rewarded with the Capel Vale Cup on Picnic Day.

A record 104 competing boats were split into seven fleets for Race Week, with divisions 1 and 2 consisting entirely of Offshore boats racing under Category 4. Division 3 (under 10 metre performance keelboats), division 4 (under 10 metre displacement keelboats), Division 5 (Premium Cruising – ie spinnakers allowed), Division 6 (JaM) and Division 7 (Multihull) raced under category 6 safety compliance.

Although FSC was not well represented in the racing fleets, the Club’s cruising yachties made up a very healthy proportion of divisions 5 and 6. Ausmaid worked hard for a third overall in Division 1 IRC, picking up a number of fastest times on the way, and Brian Devries enjoyed a consistent week with some good placings for a mid fleet finish.

In the JaM fleet, John Fleming’s UFO 34 Amigo Diablo was top scorer, from Abe Teune’s Aspasia, John Horley’s Kobi, Russell Catto’s Lady Ann II, Jim Putt’s Morning Tide and Steven Millington’s Winifred. Only 8 points separated these boats at the end of a week’s racing!

The “Boat of the Regatta” title went to Mike Forbes’ Spider 28, Venomous. Mike trailed the boat to Geographe Bay from Port Hedland for the second successive year and has already flagged his intention to return next year. “We just love sailing in this place,” he said at the presentations.

The “Bill Lucas” Night Race was one of the highlights. Run in 12 to 15 knots of breeze, yachts were finally able to do some serious sailing after days of frustrating light winds. Racing was very close on the water, particularly among the 36 footers, and handicap results were equally close in both divisions.

Walk on the Wild Side scored a rare line honours/handicap double, with a margin of 41 seconds on handicap over Brian Devries’ Steel de Breeze.

Light winds forced the cancellation of some windward/leeward races so the Race Committee decided to run three races back to back on the penultimate day of the regatta in an effort to regain some lost ground. A steady north westerly of up to 12 knots gave boats a great day’s racing. Racing was close and frantic. At the end of the day there were smiles all round as a weary bunch of sailors headed back to the Marina tavern, a well earned drink and tall tales of their exploits.

Social events at both the Marina and the Geographe Bay Yacht Club were either free or modestly priced. The tavern at the Marina served excellent smorgasbord meals throughout the week and a large marquee at the front of the tavern made a great meeting place for visitors and for early morning race briefings.

The final presentation dinner, held in a giant marquee on the lawns in front of the Geographe Bay Yacht Club, attracted more than 500 guests.

Many competitors booked their accommodation for next year before leaving Busselton – maybe that’s the best guide to the popularity of this unique and laid back regatta in the South West.

Ray Lynch’s Farr 40, Southern Star. At times it led the division 1 fleet	Peter Kennington
Marie Lynnette – David Buzzard	Busselton’s charismatic Nigel Chesterfield-Evans – Cosmic Gift