In contrast to Saturday’s damaging strong winds, Sydney Harbour today turned on perfect sailing conditions as members celebrated the official opening of the CYCA’s summer season of 2007-2008.

The racing event was, of course, the popular Monica Geddes Memorial Trophy – Sydney Harbour Islands Race which took the fleet of 36 down the Harbour to the Sow & Pigs and then back up the Harbour around or past the many picturesque islands that dot our wonderful waterway.

It is also a rare event that takes a racing fleet under the Harbour Bridge, with the spinnaker division boats sailing as far as Cockatoo Island and Snapper Island, the non-spinnaker boats as far as Goat Island.

The Monica Geddes Memorial Trophy also marks the opening of the CYCA’s Short Haul pointscore series, with today’s turn-out indicative of an excellent summer season for the fleet that races mostly offshore, but without extras.

It was a winning start to the season for Sextant, Denis Doyle and Lynne Smith’s X42 which won both the PHS and IRC categories.  

In the larger PHS division, Sextant won by one minute on corrected time from John and Ann Kirkjian’s Jarkan 38 Lady Ann, third place going to the casual entry Saltshaker (Eastsail), four to Jon Short and Miles Bastick’s Farr 34 MRX.

Under IRC handicaps, Sextant won from MRX and Dick Smidlin’s Northshore 369 Trim.

The Monica Geddes Memorial Trophy Spinnaker Division produced some closing racing around the islands, with two Sydney 38s filling the first top placings on corrected time in PHS, Karl Stechmann and Peter Mason’s Blue Chip winning from The Tavern (Jean Guanaria and Ian Macdiarmid). Third place went to Kirribilli (S.Newton/A & J Abbott).

The Tavern reversed the order under IRC ratings to win from Blue Chip, third place going to Warwick Sherman’s Cookson 12 Occasional Coarse Language. – Peter Campbell