by Mick Gwilliams
Rear Commodore - Port Douglas Yacht Club 


The Port Douglas Yacht Club Christmas Cup Regatta also constituted the final two heats of the Club Championship Spring Series and concluded the 2010 Club Championship.

Spring Series leader Ann Sea had only Whitecap as a possible threat to her series lead, but the Christmas Cup was in reach for all six yachts that came to the start.

The fleet faced a variable SE to NE breeze that required constant attention to navigate the course and Ice set the pace in Race 1 closely followed by Magic.

Mistakes by Ice on the second leg allowed Magic to steal the lead taking line honours but corrected time gave the win back to Ice 91 seconds ahead of Magic.

Ann Sea came third and the result left Whitecap in fifth and unable to challenge Ann Sea for the Spring Series.

In Race 2 Magic led from start to finish with an impressive performance. Ann Sea and Ice fought for position ahead of Huahini, Whitecap and Indigo. With Magic’s lead assuring a win, Ice needed to finish in second place to create a tie for the Cup, but Ann Sea stood in her way to claim second with Ice taking third.

Final results for the Christmas Cup are 1st - Magic, (Doug Ryan) on 3 points, 2nd - Ice (Mick Gwilliams) on 4 points and 3rd - Ann Sea, (Tim Preuss) on 5 points.

In the Spring Series after eight races with each competitor able to drop their two worst scores the final results are 1st - Ann Sea on 9 points, 2nd - Whitecap on 14 points, 3rd - Magic ahead of 4th - Ice tied on 15 points.

The Club Champion from the 16 races of the three seasonal series for 2010 will be announced at the Yacht Club on Saturday 18 December.  

The 18 race 2011 Poseidon Sailaway Club Championship kicks off with race 1 on 8 January, and all interested skippers and crew should register their interest with the club.

The event is open to all classes of sailing boat with an array of prizes up for grabs.