Woollahra put on a brilliant sunny day for the first round of the NSW B14 States yesterday.
Blue skies and 16 to 20 knots combined with some interesting waves to make for some competitive sailing.
The end of three races, Blue Bandit (Glen and Dylan Cardwell from Kiama) is leading the competition, with two wins out of three races. They managed to just sneak ahead of Why? on the line in Race 2. The Gosford combination of Glenn Stewart and Geoff Jakins was convincing as the pair continue their comeback after a short 17-year break from B14ing.
The Nude (Richie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan) started strongly with a win, but a prolonged swim in Race 2 saw them slip down to fourth in that race. They are on equal points overall with Why? Usain Boat (Nathan Reynolds and Sarah Simmonds) had some pretty exciting downwind runs to sit in fourth place, with The Beast scoring two fourths and a DNF to be fifth after day one. Beast skipper Stan Bland had new B14 owner Adam Chapman crewing, and both agreed they had never been faster in a B14 than yesterday! Adam has bought Daniel Watson’s B-Sting, and will be sailing with his wife Jenny Sriphon, whose sailing experiences began with Learn to Windsurf lessons with Richie and Lissa.
It was a great hit-out before the Nationals and Worlds in Tasmania, which are now only a month away!