The Eden regatta (Click for Notice of Race) is only 13 days away now. This regatta has been a highlight of the season for many years now and is well worth the effort to go there.

For camping, cabin or caravan accommodation contact
The Shadrack Resort or
The Twofold Bay Beach Resort.
There are many other places to stay in Eden.


Eden 2006

G'day Tim,

Hope you have a great weekend at Eden. I would love to go too but I am "Learning" to sail with the scouts at Brighton that weekend. I am a student in G.I.S.B.S. 1 & 2. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

It is harder to R.P.L. than it is to do the course. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

I might take the mozzie down so I can have some fun if we get enough wind. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> If there is a bit of wind I might take some people out and try and get some new members. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Im not going to be able to make it <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Wife is having a weekend away with the girls.
look foward to hear how it goes

Another photo from Eden

Five cat-rigged Mozzies went along to the Twofold Bay regatta this year and once again Eden turned on beatiful weather and brilliant racing (actually the first race was a drifter but the next three were so good we soon forgot about that).

Philip Warren-smith travelled from Melbourne, Martin Van-Weel came down from Lake Jindabyne, and Peter Nikitin, Neil Joiner and Tim Shepperd came along from East Gippsland.

The racing was very close with Neil, Peter and Tim winning a race each and Gary on his F16 winning the first race. In the end Mosquitoes took the first 3 places in their division with only one point separating them. Tim was on 5 points and Neil and Peter on 6, with Neil getting the second prize on a tie-break.

Race 1 - This was a drifter, though it started out interesting with a big shift before the start that meant we could almost lay the windward mark on Port. During this first leg the wind became more fickle leading to large place changing as we approached the mark, however once we were on the reach and the spinnakers were up the wind kicked in again and we had a great ride downwind. No-one dominated this race and places changed a lot until a lap later when the wind really died out and the fleet spread right across the course. At this point the race was shortened and Neil crossed the line ahead of Peter. Despite swimming earlier and coming from behind, Gary opened up a big enough lead from the Mosquitoes to win this race on handicap - quite a feat.

Race 2 - When we sailed out past the breakwater after lunch we were surprised to find the wind had built to a steady 15 knots (maybe more), and the Mosquitoes sailed to the start line under spinnaker, only just getting there in time to start. The course was triangle-leeward-triangle-leeward-triangle and the course was set so we had a tight trapezing reach to the wing mark and then a spinnaker downwind leg to the leeward mark. Five laps and fast the whole way! Tim led from the start but Neil was never more than a few boatlengths behind and Peter and Philip were also right behind Neil. Neil broke through into first spot twice and Philip also came within a whisker of taking the lead at one stage. In the end Tim stayed in front of Neil for the finish and Peter finished close behind. Unfortunately Philip's sidestay came adrift on the last lap, otherwise he would have been right there.

Race 3 - Sunday morning started with a 8-10 knot shifty wind which made for another interesting race. The shifts came very rapidly so it was a challenge to decide which ones to tack on and which to sail through. Neil made a very good job of picking the wind while Peter chased and Tim and Philip lagged behind. On the second run Neil's wind ran out letting Peter take the lead at the leeward mark and Tim to round very close behind. Up the next windward leg Peter extended his lead and Tim went through to second. On the final reaches Peter coped with gusts threatening to take him right off the course but maintained his lead and then covered Tim to the finish line. In this race it was possible to fly the spinnaker on every downwind leg and every reach - non-spinnakered boats had no hope!

This photo taken right after the finish of race 3.


Race 4 - Once again the Mosquitoes turned up just in time to get their warning signal, in a beautiful 15 knot breeze. Soon after the start Tim tacked off to the right. This brought him to the first mark just behind Gary and ahead of the other Mosquitoes. On the next windward leg Neil went hard left from the leeward mark and went for the layline which put him in a narrow lead over Tim, while Peter and Philip followed (at a distance). These positions stayed that way for the rest of the five laps and Neil finished comfortably ahead of Tim. The spinnakers were flown on every reach in this race as well (although it was touch and go a few times at the wing mark). This led to some very tired skippers at the end of the day.

As usual Twofold Bay YC had a huge handout of prizes at the end of the weekend with Neil needing to find space in his car for an extra large Esky-on-wheels.