Yacht Racing on Pittwater at the Hanse Owners Rally
Next Annual Hanse Owners Rally is on Saturday 31st March 2012
The Fifth Pittwater Hanse Owners Rally organised by Team Windcraft on 26th March 2011 was the largest ever.
Team Windcraft were delighted to welcome over 50 boats (45 Hanse yachts, 5 Moody yachts, one Dehler yacht and one Dragonfly)... so all the Hanse group brands were represented.
A number of owners came up from Melbourne to try their hand at yacht racing.
The Pittwater Rally is a race... but the emphasis is on fun. Around half of the entries were non-racers. Team Windcraft experts jumped on board to help our less experienced owners. Our owners loved the chance to have a go at yacht racing, compare notes with other Hanse group owners, make new friends and just enjoy being part of the Hanse family.
The first race up Pittwater to Hungry Beach was downwind - the Southerly varied from 10-20 knots throughout the morning. This made for a wonderful extras race with some gorgeous spinnakers filling a largely grey Pittwater with colour.
Rob Salterri on Hanse 545 One O Nine was first across the line in the extras race. And John Ball on the 53 foot Hanse Ballistic took line honours in the non-extras morning race.
Lunch anchored off Hungry Beach was a very relaxed affair. Seeing 45 Hanses anchored up in a bay together was quite a sight.
The Southerly picked up to 15-25 knots in the afternoon which made for tight racing in the trophy race. A staggered start with the small yachts starting first kept the fleet tightly packed together.
The trophy race winners were
- 32 foot Adrian Barnes on Liquid Leisure
- 35 foot Ken Wallace on Kemara
- 37 foot Jeff Rice on Hansky
- 40 foot Charles Smith on Bling
- 43 foot Arthur Psaltis on Into the Mystic
- 54 foot John Ball on Ballistic
John and Sarah Ball on Ballistic were the overall winners of the Hanse Owners Rally for the second year running.
John and Sarah always race 2 up - the way Hanse yachts were designed to be sailed. And when you see John at the helm he makes it all look incredibly easy.
With 220 attending the after Rally dinner, the Royal Motor Yacht club was bursting at the seams.
The atmosphere was very relaxed... it was great to see new friendships form after a wonderful day of yacht racing out on the water.
After dinner Team Windcraft introduced a charity called Bear Cottage. Bear Cottage in Manly is NSW's only children's hospice. The facility offers respite and palliative care to children with life limiting illnesses and respite for their families. Jo and Lyle Townsend are parents to Harry, a very special boy with a life limiting condition.
Here's the story of the Hanse 355 for Bear Cottage campaign
More yacht racing photos available at the Team Windcraft Flickr Page
