Australian Sailing officials are understood to be considering returning to Lake Macquarie to stage the NSW Youth Sailing Championships in 2019.
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The lake played host to the 2018 titles over the long weekend and participants and their families were reportedly impressed.
Lanee Beashel from the host club, South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club, at Sunshine, said it was a huge undertaking, but the local community ensured the event was exceptional.
“The consensus from people over the weekend is that they’d like the event to come back here next year,” Ms Beashel said.
The level of participation, and the number of visitors that the event brought to the area exceeded expectations, she said.
“We ended up with 326 entries, up from the 288 we had last year.”
The consensus from people over the weekend is that they’d like the event to come back here next year.
- - Lanee Beashel
Even the weather co-operated.
There had been concerns that high winds would prevent sailing on Saturday, and that low winds might threaten the event on Monday.
High winds meant that some races weren’t able to be held on Saturday, but they were rescheduled for Sunday.
“But we were able to race on all three days, and we had people already trying to book accommodation for next year.”
Ms Beashel said it was estimated that the event generated about $200,000 for the Lake Macquarie economy through expenditure on things such as accommodation, meals, petrol and groceries.
“The feedback we get was that people really like the area,” she said.
Ms Beashel paid tribute to the army of volunteers who made the event happen.
“There was more than 120 people from Lake Macquarie who volunteered for the event, and our club had 70 alone,” she said.
SLMASC partnered with Wangi Wangi and Mannering Park amateur sailing clubs to host the event.
Event officials said the state titles not only attracted the best young sailors from NSW, but from all over the country.
Optimist intermediate sailor Jorja Mahoney travelled to Lake Macquarie from Royal Geelong Yacht Club, in Victoria, to compete against a mixed-gender fleet.
Donning a Geelong Cats AFL team rash vest, Jorja claimed seven victories from nine races to easily win the division.
Laser Radial sailor, Max Gluskie, travelled from Hobart and was happy to have a full day of racing on Saturday.
“It was hard to be constant today but everyone was up and down but that’s the name of the game. It was windier later in the day which was good since I like that kind of stuff,” Max said.
Competing on Lake Macquarie was a great way to prepare for the National Youth Championships in Hobart.
“The competition has been great here and it sets us up for the nationals,” Max said.
The event was sponsored by Lake Macquarie City Council.
Local sailors match state’s best on Lake Macquarie
LOCAL sailors performed well at the NSW Youth Sailing Championships on Lake Macquarie over the long weekend.
One of the most promising performances by a local at the event came from 10-year-old Joel Beashel, of the host club, South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club, at Sunshine.
Joel finished 7th in the Optimist open division which featured 82 boats. What made Joel’s result so impressive was that he was competing against outstanding 15-year-old sailors.
Darby Jones, of Lake Macquarie Yacht Club, won the Sabot division
Tom Crockett and his crew Tahnie Caldecoat, from Belmont 16 Foot Sailing Club, won in the high-performance Nacra 15 class which is just one step down from the Nacra 17 Olympic-class boat.
And in the NS14 class, Gosford Sailing Club’s Hayden Hanson and Wil Rivers won from clubmates Mark Murray and Ryan Watt, while Toronto Amateur Sailing Club’s Craig Wright and Jada Clacke were third.
See event details and all results at sailing.org.au
