National E

On the week end of 30th of April, and the 1st of May, the Jack Holt regatta was held at Lake Cootharaba, just 20 minutes north of the sunshine coast in Queensland.

This regatta has been held for quite a number of years, yet the National E’s / Lazy E’s as they were originally known when Jack Holt designed them, have not been regular attendants.

This year the National President and Vice President, made a concerted effort to attend.

What a spectacular place to sail. Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club is located at Boreen Point, which is a quiet hamlet on the western side of the lake, magnificent lake views can be found from either lake side camping or the many houses that were available to rent in the area, The Sailing Club went out of their way to welcome all entrants, and did a magnificent job, the regatta was organized by the Heron Association, who have been the main driving force behind this regatta. Seven races were held over the two days in a range of wind strengths.

Dan Osinga and Craig Finger as well as Ossian and myself were joined by David Taylor from Queensland, which meant we had 3 boats on the water – which also became the Queensland State Titles – about 40 Herons, and approximately 20 Pacers joined us. Being a Jack Holt regatta, everyone started together, and results were based on VYC handicap.

On Saturday we had a fairly relaxed briefing, outlining that 25 to 30 knots of breeze was expected, obviously you couldn’t get the smile off my face, but unfortunately it never eventuated. We sailed in 15- 18 knots of breeze, The E’s obviously blasted away from the other classes, but the short distance of the racing, didn’t always allow us to win on corrected time, Races were only about 25 to 30 minutes long, which meant we had to beat the Herons by about 12 minutes to win on handicap, which surprisingly was rather difficult.

I had also just got my new toy, it was a birthday present, a Velocitek Speed Puck, which gives you instant reading of your boat speed, and l was a little surprised at the speeds that a national E travels at. Upwind in 15 knots we were doing about 6 to 7 seven knots of boats speed, downwind we were doing about 12 to 13 knots, we had a maximum speed of 15 .8 knots on the day.

The results for the E’s were Miss Alignment, Four 1st placings, Miss Bling, three 2nd and a 3rd, San Toy one 2nd and three 3rd.

Sunday produced a very light day, with one race in the morning with San Toy winning, from Miss Alignment, Miss Bling. The afternoon was also light, with the first race won by Miss Alignment, 2nd San Toy, 3rd Miss Bling, and the last race was a cliff hanger with San Toy winning and Miss Bling in second by 2 seconds over Miss Alignment. Overall Miss Alignment won from San Toy to Miss Bling.

On corrected time over the entire fleet Miss Alignment managed a 3rd in the regatta. There were some very high caliber Heron sailors amongst the fleet.

Many comments were made by other competitors over the look of a National E, as many thought we still sailed timber boats with air bags. So, all in all, it was a great promotion for our class.

Over all it was a great event, we came away saying “What a perfect place to hold a Nationals!” 20 minutes from Noosa Heads, but far enough away to avoid the holiday environment if you wanted to. Great sailing waters, great hospitality, a relaxed atmosphere. We also vowed to return for next years regatta, lets hope we can entice a few others to join us.

Miss Alignment E 568
Rick de Jong