Hugh Evans scores a clean sweep at Lake Keepit Sailing Club mini regatta

Lake Keepit Sailing Club held a five-race series as a mini regatta.

There were two races on Saturday afternoon in ideal sailing condition on a beautifully full dam which is sitting at 99.9 per cent.

READ ALSO:

It was warm and sunny while there was a brisk wind coming from just north of east.

Sunday brought on a strong north-easterly wind with a storm front thrown in there as three more races were conducted.

Evans was dominant from the get-go with two clear wins on Saturday with his laser dinghy.

On Sunday, Evans followed up with three more wins in impressive style to make the regatta his own.

Next best was Breeza farmer Mick Bradfield who could only sail on Sunday as he was busy preparing for the upcoming wet weather.

Bradfield sailed a laser and was giving Evans excellent competition at the front of the fleet.

He came home with three second placings.

Sunday's weather changed to 25 knots of wind along with a cloudy and threatening sky that evolved into a violent storm.

The storm hit the fleet midway through the last race - the Commodore's Shield, no less.

The storm wreaked havoc on the sailing craft, and the race, and as a result only four boats completed the full course.

These four skippers displayed superb sailing skills to weather the storm and complete the course.

Fortunately, all boats and their crews made it safely back to the lake shore.

Commodore's Shield

1st: Hugh Evans (Tamworth) - laser dinghy

2nd: Mick Bradfield (Breeza) - laser dinghy

3rd: Doug Whiteman (Tamworth) - Nacra 5

4th: Robert Kelly (Tamworth) - laser radial

Weekend Mini-Regatta Five-Race Series

1st: Hugh Evans with five wins

2nd: Mick Bradfield with three 2nds

3rd: Drew Green (Tamworth) with his Nacra catamaran

Personal handicap winners for the series were Michael Juchau (Quirindi) and Drew Green who tied in first place.

A massive shout out goes to all competitors for taking part on the weekend and importantly the safety boat crews, considering the violent weather conditions that hit during the last race on Sunday.

All crews were able to return safely to the shore with very little gear damage.

The club also sent out a big thank you to all members for assisting to make this weekend such a successful one.

Next weekend is heat two of the Spring Cup with a 1pm start.

The first heat was held on Sunday, October 31 and was taken out by Bradfield while Evans was second and Tim Corben finished third.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: