Port Stephens - Boats grapple strong current as storm passes overhead

1:42 PM Fri 16 Apr 2010 GMT

'Sail Port Stephens 2010 - 16/04/10 - Nervous' Andrea Francolini &copy

The fleet grappled with a strong outgoing tide on their 16.5 nautical mile Nelson Bay Passage Race, which started at Nelson Bay and continued to Little Island, Fingal Mark, Cabbage Tree Island and back to the Nelson Bay finish line.

With the light airs and the outgoing tide, it's little wonder the local boats did well, winning Divisions one and two of the Performance Cruising. Michael Kirby's 'She's the One', an NSX38 from Port Stephens Yacht Club took out 'Davison 1' from another local, Yabby farmer Alyn Ovenden and his 'Let's Go' with Margaret Rintoul V from Sydney in third place.

There was nothing for Matt Bonser to be nervous about in Division two, when he sailed his little Elliott seven 'Nervous' to a win in Division two from Commodore's Cup winner Mainstay, Brad Sewell's Sydney 32 from South Lake Macquarie and Shaw Russett's Windy Passage from Pittwater.

"Bloody hell," Bonser said when told of his win, "Are you sure?" Sure we're sure! Getting over the shock, Bonser was thrilled for himself and his brother Scott, sister-in-law Clare and friend David. "We're just a little Elliott seven metre, so it was difficult in the lump offshore; we bounced around a bit."

"I think when it came down to the shallow water in the bay and the strong current, we were at an advantage. We overtook a few boats coming back into the Bay too, but I didn't know we'd done well enough to win. It was a lovely day's sail and it's great to do well for Port Stephens," the obviously 'Bonser' bloke said after defeating 14 rivals of varying sizes.

In the 12-boat Performance Racing division, Tony Bates from Middle Harbour sailed his Northshore 370 to a win from an Elan 37, Koko, owned by Roy Leslie from Sydney and Team GUE, the Melges 32 of Chris Williams from Sydney, who has won a few sports boats prizes along the way. Secret Men's Business got between Team GUE and the second Melges 32, Rock N Roll, owned by Kim Williams, also from Sydney - the race is on and it's only the opening day.

On a more serious note, competitors will get the chance of a lifetime this evening, given the opportunity to hear Glenn Ashby speak at the Tyrell's Yachties Ball at the Nelson Bay Diggers Club. Ashby will chat with MC Ian Cover, from the ABC's Coodabeen Champions, 'Michael Parkinson Style' on stage.

Ashby, from Bendigo in Victoria, won Olympic silver in the Tornado class at the 2008 Beijing Games and holds multiple word titles in various catamaran classes. He coached the BMW-Oracle team, including fellow Australian and skipper, James Spithill, to their win at this year's America's Cup in Valencia.

Racing continues tomorrow with the Performance Racing division contesting two windward/leeward races from 12.00pm and the Performance Cruising division starting their Passage Race from 12.30pm.

For further information go to: www.sailportstephens.com.au

by Di Pearson

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