Goolwa-Meningie Yacht Race. (S.A.)
Thunder squalls hit Goolwa-Meningie Yacht Race. (S.A.)

SATURDAY 29/11/97
Brought to you by Goolwa Marina

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Sailors of this year’s Goolwa-Meningie race were tested by extreme conditions, including thundersqualls, lightning, rain, over 40 knot gusts, rogue waves sweeping the Murray Lakes from opposite directions, and unmarked commercial fishing nets strung across the course.

20% of the trailable yacht competitors withdrew after the first squall hit the fleet at Clayton, knocking them flat. One boat which not only survived, but revelled in the conditions was the well sailed little Ross 650 "Maasai Rush" ( a locally manufactured design) in only its second race since being lauched. As the fleet lay wallowing or broaching to, she swept out into the lake to lead under spinnaker in a welter of flying spray, surfing at over 14 knots, under perfect control. The boat was crewed by boatbuilder David Hogg of Kanmantoo, Goolwa Marina operator and Yacht Broker Peter Mudge and John Winchester of Adelaide.

Further thunder squalls and heavy rain blanketed the fleet at Point Sturt, during which the crew of Maasai Rush worked the boat through the squalls, surfing at high speed towards Narrung. By the lifting of the second squall, Maasai Rush had surfed into an unbeatable handicap position under spinnaker.

Maasai Rush’s helmsman, David Hogg summed it up well:

"In 30 years of successful yacht racing , including Bass Straight, and Marlay Point races, today’s race in the lake was the most demanding I have every experienced on boat and crew. There were two wave patterns from opposite directions, which caused the waves to stand up. One minute you’re surfing on one, and next you are crashing into a wall of advancing water from the opposite direction. Add that to phenomenal gusts over 40 knots and a wide variation of wind direction. Fortunately, the Ross 650, "Maasai Rush" is an exceptionally light and strong design, with a heavy keel and strong rigging and the crew did an excellent job. Nonetheless for the first time ever, we thought very seriously about pulling out when it got really bad at Narrung. The maze of unmarked commercial fishing nets at Narrung didn’t help either.

The gusts were savage and without warning. It’s not every day that you stretch your sidestay wires by half an inch in one spinnaker run. Experience in sailing here says that you normally get a gust warning with dust blowing off the hills nearby, but not today. We won the race by over 10 minutes on handicap, in record time for a boat of our size, and there was a 30 minute gap to the next boat on elapsed time. This has been a demanding and true test for our locally built product, and we’re really pleased with its safety and performance under all conditions. "

Just before Narrung, the conditions worsened, with even the leading boats reducing sail dramatically. A sailboard competitor was swept off his board and rescued by the Meningie Sailing Club rescue fleet. Shortly afterwards, an aerial search was organised to recover the lost sailboard.

Next day, the storm’s carnage was seen to include a swamped luxury motor cruiser which had run up on rocks at Clayton.

Results: (Released with the authority of the Meningie Sailing Club)

Division 1: (Slower Trailable Yachts)
1st: Hartley 18 (J. Ballagh)
2nd: Sunmaid 20 (J. Barker),
3rd: Farr 6 (M Edgar).

Division 2: (Fast Trailable Yachts)
1st: Ross 650 (Maasai Rush) (D.Hogg)
2nd: Duncanson 26 (S. Teagle)
3rd Southern Cross 23 (B Davis)

Division 3 (Cruising Catamarans)
1st: Seawind 24 (B. Lindsay)
2nd: F 31 Tri (R. Remilton)
3rd: Seawind 24 (J. Kleemann)

Division 3A (Dinghies)
1st: 420 (A Woolstan)
Division 4 (Sailboards)
1st: M Duffield
2nd: L. Newbold
3rd: S. Stevens

Division 5 (Catamarans)
1st: Hobie 16 (W. Mallyon)
2nd: Tornado (T. Crouch)
3rd: Tornado (M Crouch)

Submitted by David HOGG
( Manager of Ross 650 Yachts (PH. 0885385345)

Results submitted with the approval of the race organisers: Meningie Sailing Club.

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