I find it interesting that many of the marks for our ocean races are reefs that have resulted in shipwrecks in Western Australia’s past. The Coventry Reef Race is no different with the wreck of the Carlisle Castle occurring there in 1899. Several ocean racing yachts have had close encounters with the reef since the race began as a SoPYC race in the 1970’s, but thankfully this was not the case this year.
Now hosted by Fremantle Sailing Club, 21 yachts contested the Coventry Reef Race on Saturday, with SoPYC members crewing or skippering on at least five of the participating yachts.
The 48nm race began in light 10 knot winds which persisted for most of the day, dropping to 2 knots by the end of the race for some of the smaller Division 2 Yachts. As the faster yachts had already finished before the winds dropped the conditions made it difficult for the smaller Division 2 yachts to place on the leaderboards. Once again navigation proved to be an important part of Ocean Racing with several yachts misinterpreting mark locations.
Despite the challenging winds it proved to be another excellent day on the water for participants, made more interesting by sightings of whales, dolphins, seals and flying fish. We would like to thank FSC, the volunteers and UK Sail Makers for putting on a great event.
The Ocean Racing Section at South of Perth is indebted to its section sponsors, Wilson Marine and Nail Brewing, so please support Chris Pearson’s Chandlery, or choose a Quokka or Nail beer from John’s range next time you are at the bar. Both these guys support many events at our club, not just our Ocean Racing fixtures.
Full results of the race can be found by clicking on the link below: https://www.topyacht.net.au/results/fsc/2025/kb25/successcup/series.htm?ty=15418
