2012 Cock O'Harbour Regatta Results
The result of the 2012 Cock Of The Harbour Regatta held on the 31st March in a very light South-Easterly looked in no doubt from the opening leg when the A Class catamarans "Sea Frog" sailed by Steve Breaden and "Barracuda" sailed by John Cootes leapt off the starting line and established a commanding lead at the first windward mark. A group of boats rounded that mark some time later that included Nacra 5.8s, F18s, an F16 and also a couple of 16ft Skiffs. It was the skiffs that were to provide the A Classes with their biggest challenge.
As kites were set it was apparent that the 16ft Skiffs being sailed 2-up were much faster downwind in the light conditions and "Kilos", sailed by Anthony "Johnno" Johnson and Graham "Robbo" Roberson, was able to split the A Classes around the downwind mark. However, once back on the wind the A Classes again pulled away from the skiffs as well as all of the other catamarans.
This pattern repeated itself over the four laps of racing, with the A Class cats very quick upwind and the 16ft Skiffs very quick down. Even so, "Sea Frog" was able to pull away by about a minute a lap and eventually won comfortably from the 16ft Skiff "RT Signs", sailed by Arran Gore and Greg Alterator. Next was "Kilos", which lost the runner-up position at the very last mark when it tangled with a lapped VS in scenes reminiscent of the crew's heartbreaking 2nd place in 2008. "Barracuda" came home in fourth.
The light conditions helped the monohulls to dominate the yardstick results taking 12 of the top 15 placings, including the entire top eight. First was "RT Signs" from the VS "Range", sailed by Steve & Mick Sims along with Mark Nugent, from "Kilos" in 3rd. The next 5 places were taken by VSes, headed by "Ol Yella" skippered by ex-Port Hunter club champion Col Gillespie.
| Place | Cock | Yardstick |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | "Sea Frog" A Class Steve Breaden | "RT Signs" 16ft Skiff Arran Gore, Greg Alterator |
| 2nd | "RT Signs" | "Range" VS Steve Sims, Mick Sims, Mark Nugent |
| 3rd | "Kilos" 16ft Skiff Anthony Johnson, Graham Roberson | "Kilos" |
Full results are available - Yardstick_RaceSheet_2012_COH.pdf. (Please let the club know if any of the names are incorrect - some of the handwriting was hard to read!)