A few days ago South Australian yachtsman Jamie Goode’s Farr 30 called Vertigo became the 200th entry for Victoria’s oldest sporting event, amazingly for the second consecutive year, a coincidence the skipper is reading as a positive sign.
Last January the final Festival of Sails fleet tallied 239 boats. Entries for this year’s Festival sit at 221 with the paperwork deadline midnight this Friday, January 15, before a late fee applies. The absolute cut-off for boat owners to register is Monday January 18.
“We always get a late push in the last few days; I’d like to get another 10 entries but regardless of the final count it’s a really great fleet that will be racing across 11 or 12 divisions over the long weekend,” said Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson.
Vertigo is entered in the Rating Series and Goode says: “I really enjoyed the close competition last year, and the adrenalin rush of a big starting line-up. We had somewhat mixed results so we’re back for more!”