This year the weather gods really did smile on the regatta: not only was it sunny, but the winds were light to moderate, the sandbars (mostly) behaved and there was plenty of beach, even at high tide.
Most boats had arrived by Friday afternoon and by the time the compound was locked for the night there were a lot of Sailfish lined up along the western boat rack, in what quickly became known as Sailfish Alley. This year the regatta celebrated 70 years of the Australian Sailfish, so a good turnout of boats and also people who used to sail Sailfish was expected. Later in the weekend and by popular demand, SGYC presented the title: “a Swim of Sailfish”, which henceforth will be their honorary collective noun!
Come Saturday morning and it was time to complete registrations, hand out regatta shirts and take boats down to the beach in preparation for the afternoon’s racing. In total we over 40 on-water entries this year with the Sailfish, as usual, making up a large swag of that. But we also had Mirrors, Sabres, Moths and a scattering of other classes and classic design boats to fill out the numbers.
With signs up around the town, and through The Glade pointing people towards the regatta, there was a steady flow of interested people around the compound and down on the beach checking out what the event was all about.
Saturday afternoon saw light to moderate winds, increasing steadily as the day wore on. Race one saw the Sailfish take out the top three places, with Bentley Conn on 874 leading from Steven Floyd on 3400 and Chris Cleary on 1918 in third. Close behind them was Craig Ginnivan in his Finn followed by Jonathon Pullman in his scow Moth filling out fourth and fifth places.
Race two was again won by Bentley on his Sailfish as the wind increased slightly but this time Rob Hartnett took out second place in his Sabre followed by Jonathon in his Moth. Fourth place was Jim French on his Sailfish 1806 and fifth was Steven Floyd Sailfish 3400.
That was the Saturday racing done and dusted, it was time to clean up and get ready for the Regatta Dinner, with the pre-dinner entertainment provided by the Wonthaggi Citizens Band. At dinner good food and good company was augmented with door and raffle prizes and there were even quiz prizes. As 2026 marks the 70th Anniversary of the Australian Sailfish, Greg Barwick and Chris Cleary gave a brief talk about the history of the class and how the Sailfish came about, designed as it was by two bayside mates when they were sick of the hassle of finding regular crews.
Sunday dawned, with very few apparent hangovers. So once again it was boats to the beach in preparation for races 3 & 4 of the regatta.
Race three was ‘interesting’ for many. As it had the day before the breeze started off lightly from the east but as the fleet made its way towards the finish line that breeze dropped out all together. It then swung nearly 180 degrees to come in from the west sou’west and that caught out quite a few boats that were between the top mark and the wing mark. As a result final placings for the race received a bit of a shake up. First home in race 3 was Dan Bentley in his Flying Ant followed by Rob Hartnett in his Sabre and Craig Ginnivan in his Finn. Fourth went to Chris Cleary on his Sailfish and fifth was taken by Jim French on his Sailfish.
The breeze continued to freshen for Race 4, but at least it was steady now. First home was, again, Bentley Conn on his Sailfish, followed Steven Floyd on his Sailfish and yet again Craig Ginnivan in his Finn. Fourth was Jonathon Pullman in his Moth and fifth was Dan Bentley in his Flying Ant.
And so to the presentations –
Dennis Ginn Cup for 1st place in the Regatta – Bentley Conn, Australian Sailfish 874, “Lucy”
Jack Carroll Memorial Trophy for 1st place in the Australian Sailfish – Bentley Conn, 874, “Lucy”
Junior Trophy, Community Bank Inverloch – Merjie Simnett and Rowan Fairlie – Mirror “Charlie Brown”
Best Presented Australian Sailfish – 2218, “Westerly”. Built by Chris Cleary and this year sailed by John Dowzard
Best Presented Moth – 8797, “Hot to Trot”, built by John Dowzard (many years ago), restored by Richard Milton, sailed by Christian Knott
Overall Best in Show – Gwen 12 2042, “Aquarius”, restored and sailed by Andrew Chapman and crew Polly Parise
People’s Choice Award – Finn 92, “Mickey Finn”, restored and sailed by Craig Ginnivan.
