Twenty-nine competitors have returned to the scene of 2016 Raceboard worlds for the 2018 Oceanic and Australian Raceboard Championships, and Moreton Bay Queensland has again delivered spectacular conditions with blues skies and steady winds. The local Dugongs and sea turtles also made an appearance on the racecourse to welcome the sailors.

Day one commenced with ESE winds of 10 knots in the morning increasing slightly to 13-15 knots in the afternoon, with four races completed. Alexandre Rouys of New Caledonia won the first race, with Cam Harrison winning the remaining three races on day one.

Day two delivered similar winds with morning races favouring light wind sailors and the increasing afternoon winds allowing heavier sailors a chance to make some gains. Close racing at the head of the fleet resulted in two wins for Mark Ward, and one each for Richie Reynolds and Justin Lord while Cam Harrison showed consistent form taking second place in each of the four races.

Day Three of the Australian Raceboard Championships, saw the gloves come off for a light wind sailing day of 5-8 knots, well, to be more accurate the gloves went on, with a number of the fleet feeling the effects on their hands and all types of hand protection was seen on the water.

Most interesting has been Cam Harrison's, washing up gloves, he swears by them and given his ranking as leader, they are not doing him any harm.

Today was three races in total and the hoped-for increase in wind, only came through after the sailing had finished for the day, and it wasn't all that impressive at that.
Speaking of impressive, it's great to see so many newer sailors, or sailors new to Raceboards at least, and it was great to have some of them sailing the shorter course which continually kept them in the thick of the fleet.

On Saturday, the last day of competition, it all comes down to the wire, and if bodies and hands hold out, we are aiming for 4 races, the wind is expected to come in, in the 10-14kn range, places will be gained and lost and it's not just the ones at the pointy end who will be fighting tooth and nail, so good luck to everyone.

Results

Photos by Dave Bell