The Belmont 16s is well-placed to cause a headache or two for rivals in The Boat Club Australian 13ft and 16ft Skiff national titles in Queensland.
In fact, the Lake Macquarie sailing club will field about 20 entries when the action starts at Hervey Bay from Sunday 5 January.
For one vessel, Swell Racing hit the water early at the weekend and felt right at home.
“It was fairly bumpy and we saw speeds of about 22 knots,” crewman Felix Prince said.
“However, it didn’t feel that much different from a good southerly on Lake Macquarie.
“We’re not too fazed about whether it’s light or windy.
“We’ll just try to be as consistent as possible for the whole regatta.”
As if on cue, the tropical tradewinds arrived with gusto.
But, henceforth, the sou-easters are predicted to temper to around 15 knots on Sunday and abate further as the week progresses.
Entries for the 13ft division stand at 21, while 54 16-footers will hit the start line at 3.30pm for race one.
The venue is neutral for many of the crews as nine years have elapsed since host Maryborough Sailing Club last staged the nationals.
The opening salvo will see past winners Bosker Build (Sarah Lee), Imagine Signage (Nathan Wilmot) and Moonen Yachts (Daniel Turner) all striving for early ascendancy, with IMEI (Joel Beashel) posing a significant threat.
Beashel, 17, isn’t looking too far ahead in the nine-race series.
“It should be pretty fun and pretty tricky racing out there,” he said.
“We’re pretty well-rounded in most conditions so really our ambition is just to be happy with the performance we put in.”
Reigning Australian sprint champion Rod Carter from Insight Building Services/NAVS believes starts and tactics will play a bigger role than the weather.
“The fleet quality is amazing this year, so if you get buried in the second row it will be very hard to claw back a good result,” he said.
“In terms of our expectations, we’d like to finish in the top five but, realistically, we’d be happy with a top 10 placing.
“Looking at the forecast, with the wind lightening later in the week, we feel like we’re pretty balanced across the wind ranges.”
Manly 16s skipper Alex Hart, from Fire Stopping, is keen for plenty of breeze on the open waterway.
“It was good fun out there on Saturday, loved it,” he said.
“We’ve only sailed together six times as a crew, so we’re hoping to improve as the week goes on – maybe a top 15 placing after we came ninth in the NSW titles.”
Harvey Windust, aboard the 13ft skiff EBIX, believes Harken will be the boat to beat, with Cybertech and Sail Media the main dangers.
Sail Media skipper Ben Milham is excited about his prospects.
“We’ve never sailed here before but it looks great out there,” he said.
“We’ll just be aiming for a good start in clear air and go from there.”
The series concludes on Saturday 11 January.
- With Mark Rothfield
For more sports stories:
- Local sailors eye off glory at 16ft Skiff nationals
- ALM: Late strikes cruel Jets’ first victory at home
- ALW: Jets loss marred in controversy following Prior’s red card
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