National E

The National E Australian Championships 2017 were held in Wangi Wangi on Lake Macquarie in NSW. It was one of the most hotly contested titles in recent history and the lead changed all the way up until the completion of the final race! Wangi Wangi put on some spectacular weather, with (mostly) sunshine, flat water and winds approximately 20km/h every day which meant that most teams were physically and mentally exhausted by the end. There were some epic battles that were decided right on the finish line, there were shark sightings, a crew fell overboard (not escaping!) and at one point an almighty collision on the start line led to a split in one boat (Magnum, SA) and penalty turns for a number of other boats. Needless to say everyone was kept on their toes all week!

VIC took out the title (Miss Bling – Dan Osinga and Craig Finger), followed by QLD (San Toy – David and Jaya Taylor) and SA came third (Ruthless – David Wise and Jed Fatches). NSW did exceptionally well with a win in C Division for David Alderton and his rotating crews of Luke, Tim and Debbie Alderton – a real family effort! Congratulations must also go to Firewind with Dennis Paton and Peter Humphrey who came 4th overall despite bending their spinnaker pole beyond recognition and also managed to take out the GrandMasters Trophy – the top team with a combined age over 120 years. Costl-E also won an award, and while it is called Nil Desperandum, it goes to the boat that has sailed all races and finished last, Ken Wilson and Tim Sussman deserve a round of applause for their persistence!

The other NSW boats fared very well with Petronella (Will and Emily Jones) coming 7th overall, The Fury (Peter Nixey and Murray Town) in 9th place, Miss Muffet (Laurie and Emily Alderton) in 11th place, Miss Teak (Jim Allen and Sue Halloran) in 12th, Costl-E (Ken Wilson and Tim Sussman) in 12th and although Miss Tickle (Henry and Rufus Harding) didn’t manage to start the series due to injury, they kept their boat rigged just in case, which led to them receiving the encouragement award and hopefully will be injury free to sail again soon!

A wonderful time was had by all and we are looking forward to the 2018 Championships in Portarlington VIC.