Sail Port Stephens Week - the Commodore's Cup commences

2:56 AM Mon 12 Apr 2010 GMT

'Commodore’s Cup briefing - Sail Port Stephens 2010' Andrea Francolini &copy

The sun's out and the wind is up at Port Stephens where the opening event of the week-long Sail Port Stephens regatta, the Commodore's Cup, is about to commence.

Thirty-five boats split across two divisions will set off at 12.30pm today on course 1, the three islands course, a passage race. With the gusty south-west breeze forecast to max out at 16 knots just before the gun fires, the downwind start will be adrenaline charged, giving school holidaymakers at Nelson Bay plenty to see from their foreshore vantage points.

Following the start of the passage race, the fleet will head out to open water, rounding Cabbage Tree Island, Little Island and Boondelbah Islands twice before an inshore finish later this afternoon, most likely in a sou'easter as the Bureau of Meteorology's Kenn Batt expects the wind to clock left during the course of the afternoon.

Division 1 includes Graham Morton's stunning custom 18.5m Frers designed Margaret Rintoul V, John Clinton's Beneteau Oceanis 50, Holy Cow, and Roy and Jo Brough's Dubois 12m, Once More Dear Friends, which represented Australia at the 1983 Admiral's Cup.

Division 2 includes Mike Roper's Beneteau 42 Ropabull and Kym Butler's Northshore One for the Road.

At this morning's crew briefing, principal race officer Denis Thompson warned navigators to stay on their toes for the entire week due to the tides and shifting sands which can create unforeseen underwater speed bumps for the yachts.

The Commodore's Cup is a PHS series, Thompson joking with crews this morning that 'the handicapper is not on-site; however we know where to find him'.

www.sailportstephens.com.au

by Lisa Ratcliff

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