Conditions for this year’s Inverloch Classic Dinghy Regatta, held over the Australia Day long weekend, were near perfect for participants and spectators alike. Saturday morning greeted the fleet with blue skies and sunshine, and even the tide and current behaved out on the inlet. Over the course of the weekend the weather held steady and winds varied from light to moderate, not too gusty and just right for displaying classic dinghies in their element.
Although entrant numbers were a little down on previous years, due in part to the bushfire crisis, a fine fleet of assorted dinghies took to the water competing in four events over the 3 days, including the main regatta race on the Sunday. This left time for plenty of socialising around South Gippsland Yacht Club’s boat yard, clubhouse and down at the beach, topped off with a spit roast dinner on the Saturday night, hosted by the local Scouts, plus Sunday night’s formal regatta dinner providing a relaxed forum for prize giving and a well-received talk by Oliver Hartas of Hartas Productions and our event video expert. Oliver’s video coverage of the 3 days can now be seen on Oliver’s YouTube channel or directly via the links below:
Prizes were awarded for placegetters in the sailing program as well as for presentation of dinghies in various categories as judged by a panel of the entrants’ peers. Special mention goes to Pete Keily in his 124 “Alibi” for a consistent show of sailing expertise, coming first in all 3 races with crews Sam McVilly and Matt Keily. Their ‘search & rescue’ efforts in finding a buried bottle of rum as part of the stern chaser event let them down however, this being found by Ian Milton, although they still managed to cross the finish line first on the return leg! In the junior section, Chloe found the pirate’s stash of lollies buried over on sandy shores across the inlet. In the main race, the Gwen 12 challenge award went to Toby Leppin skippering “Avenger” and in the perpetual Australian Sailfish trophy, Brian Carrol on “Jack’s Toy” took line honours.
John Fairfax was awarded Best Overall Boat with his superb VJ “Walkaway” and the Best Presented Australian Sailfish award went to Peter Weiss and “Fish n’ Chips”. This year we had a good entry of junior sailors taking part in the regatta and Sam McVilly was judged as recipient of the Youth Trophy – great sailing by all! A full list of placegetters is presented below.
Video, photos and other memories from the 2020 event are posted on the SGYC website, so go and have a look around at the links below.
- Archived regatta forms – click below to download each document.
And finally, a big thank you to our generous partners, sponsors and volunteers for all their support in helping to make this event happen in Inverloch.
