The Queenscliff Couta Boat Regatta and Queenscliff Classic Yacht Regatta 2009 was conducted on Saturday, 21 February 2009. Conditions were breezy at the start, with a strong ebb tide against a brisk south-southeasterly wind, but settled in the course of the 1½-hour long race.
Handicap winners in Division 2 (small boats) were couta boats Claire C154 (stand-in skipper Mark Bergin) – FIRST, Rosie C114 (skipper Scott Crisp) – SECOND, and Nellie C148 (skipper Russell Watson) – THIRD.
Couta boat Regina C34 was built by Peter Locke on Beach Street in Queenscliff in 1934, sailed to Melbourne, loaded on the coastal trader Casino and delivered to Port Fairy where she fished for couta for many years and was also used as a cray pot boat. She was found in 1984 in Portland and restored. Jeanette Ellis was the only lady skipper who participated in the Queenscliff Couta Boat Regatta 2009, and she won not only the coveted white jumper for the ‘first boat home’ (line honours) but also the Fisherman’s Trophy for the first old boat (>50 years of age) over the line in Division 2.
Handicap winners in Division 1 (large boats) were couta boats Lola C43 (skipper Raymond Bateman) – FIRST, Zephyr C2006 (skipper Peter Sullivan) – SECOND, and Pearl C12 (skipper James Mighell) – THIRD.
Couta boat Romy C2003 was built by the Wooden Boat Shop in Sorrento in 2003 and was originally named after the first owner’s wife Vivienne. The Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club Captain Nigel Abbott re-named her after his daughter Romy, and once again won the white jumper for line honours in Division 1. The Fisherman’s Trophy in this Division however went to the handicap winner Lola C43 whose previous name was Edna. Lola C43 was built by Doug Walton and his 12-year old son Jack at the Rhyll Pier from 1939-1943 and has also been re-named after her current skipper’s daughter.
It was good to see that the old working boats in the fleet were holding their own against recently built racing boats, and this is a credit to the Couta Boat Class Association design rules which attempt to provide a level playing field by restricting design development in this type of boat.
The Williamstown-based Classic Yacht Association of Australia members brought two of their classic yachts to this event, despite having just returned from a major Classic Yacht sailing event in New Zealand, and Mercedes III (skipper Martin Ryan) won over Boambillee (skipper George Fisscher) by a mere 26 seconds on corrected time. The classic yachts started after the couta boats but, because of their size and consequent faster hull speeds, overtook many of the boats in front. This they did in a most gentlemanly manner, as is befitting these beautiful wooden yachts.
Mercedes III is Australia’s first cold-moulded ocean racer, designed by Ted Kaufman/Bob Miller and built by Cec Quilkey. This 40-foot sloop was launched for the Admirals Cup trials and won 9 of her first 14 races in 1966. She has completed many Sydney-to-Hobarts.
All up, there were 25 boats providing a feast for the eye for the public watching along the beach and on the Queenscliff Pier, and plenty of photo opportunity for spectators on Mia Mia, a 25-metre sailing ketch built in Melbourne in 1965 whose aboriginal name means ‘resting place’.
The Memorial Sail-Past on Sunday, 22 February 2009 had special meaning as it did not only honour the fishermen and sailors who are no longer with us, but it also commemorated those who lost their lives in the recent bush fires. Lew Ferrier on his fishing boat Rosebud was on his boat’s foredeck and crews saluted him as they went past him and then proceeded to Portsea Pier and from there to their individual home ports of Williamstown, Martha Cove, Mornington, and Sorrento. An old Tiger Moth plane circled the boats while they were waiting for their start signal, which was given with a proper starting cannon from the end of the Queenscliff Pier by the President of the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum. And, as the first boat rounded the Queenscliff Bluff, the Queenscliff Fort detonated one of its large cannons as a salute – a great gesture.
