Tally Hobbs 2025 – Regatta Report
Monday February 10 might have come as a relief for competitors and race officials alike after the annual Tally Hobbs Regatta that spanned the preceding Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Racing commenced late-ish on Saturday afternoon with the river traffic starting to clear and the cricket all but decided.
A healthy fleet of 26 boats managed to introduce their own brand of chaos and congestion in the light south-westerly and those who engineered some clear water reaped the better results. Fresh from his win in the Australian Championship, Nick Jerwood teamed up with Ian Lane to win races one and three and David Yu and Chris Nelson from Royal Freshwater Bay won race two. Other notable performances were Adam Semple and Chris Thuys scoring a second in race two and Andy and Anne Knowles getting the same result in race three.
The post-race catering was befitting the quality of the racing with finger food and other refreshments served dockside before retiring to the shade of the centreboard clubhouse for results followed by dinner of roast meats and salads as organised by our social khaleesi, Mary-Anne Reid.
Sunday mornings are, normally, the make or break for any regatta with a softening easterly throwing a spanner in the works. Not so on Sunday February 9, with a fresh and shifty westerly allowing the fleet to start on time and enjoy the longer courses and still provide plenty of close-quarters entertainment around the marks for those watching. Nick and Ian stuck with the plan and won all 3 races and the regatta overall. The stronger breeze was more to the liking of Hamish Carnachan and Peter Mudford, from Royal Freshwater Bay, who finished second overall and David and Chris third overall.
Hamish and Muddi’s consistent improvement through the regatta had them take out first place in the Consistency results. closely followed by Mike and Paul Dunbar (or is that Bruce and Gary?) in second place. Great to see third place in the consistency standing taken out by Colin Smith and Andrew Morgan from Port Bouvard.
More dockside refreshments thanks to “chef du jour” Richard Blaquiere capped off a great weekend of one design sailing.
Thanks to Race Officers John Rooke and Martyn Compton and their respective start teams and to the faithful volunteers who drive support boats, lay courses and ensure everyone gets home safely.
A gallery of photos here (courtesy of Bernie Kaaks and Brian Cross) is available here. You can also view some drone footage here and here (courtesy of Jim Henry).
The overall results can be viewed here and the consistency results are here.
