By Mikayla van Loon
From the windswept waters of Lillydale Lake to the rough seas of Port Phillip Bay, two sailors helped their crew cross the finish line with an impressive handicapped first place win in the Mornington Cup.
Members of the Lilydale Sailing Club (LSC) Jenny Campbell and David Thomas were part of the four-person team who crewed the Cole 43 ‘Minna’ on 14 January, racing from St Kilda to Mornington as part of the Hobsons Bay Yacht Club annual event.
“We just had a magic day out there. Everything seemed to be going just right. Minna likes a slightly stronger wind and we had a slightly stronger wind,” Ms Campbell said.
Despite the rain and the headwind, Ms Campbell and Mr Thomas, captained by Richard Downey, finished the race in four hours and 40 minutes.
“When we did the Mornington race, Jennifer was the navigator for the day and that matters a lot more than it sounds because it’s straight into the wind, so Jenny calling ‘we really need to tack now’ [change direction] is really important,” Mr Thomas said.
This was the second year Mr Thomas and Ms Campbell raced in the Mornington Cup but achieved a much greater finish helping crew a different boat this time around.
“[Minna] was built in 1972 or ‘73 so she’s an old girl. She was built for the Sydney Harbour but she’s been kept in beautiful condition,” Ms Campbell said.
Not expecting to capture the win, Ms Campbell said it wasn’t until the crew had returned to home base in Williamstown that they looked up the results and realised they’d won two divisions.
“Yacht racing is often handicapped so we weren’t the first boat to finish but we knew we had done well. Then all these other boats that are regular rivals started coming across the line and we were like ‘oh we beat them’,” she said.
“It was an incredible feeling. So we were already excited with just that feeling of the boat working well. It was an absolute bonus for us to find out that we won on the day.
“No matter how much you sail for fun, if you’re in a competition it’s always nice to get the win.”
Having only been sailing for two years, Ms Campbell said she has found a magic in both the individual sailing she does on Lillydale Lake but also the pleasure she gets from working with a team.
“[In a smaller boat] you’re completely in charge of what you do right or what you do wrong. You just get out there and it’s just you and the boat and the wind and the water and you don’t get much in the way of waves here but there’s a bit of current coming through,” she said.
“Then there is a magic in being part of a crew. At any given time, you might be only doing one of the tasks on a bigger boat but that’s your part and if you’re doing it just right, that’s a really great feeling too.”
Quickly advancing from trainee to trainer, Ms Campbell has become one of the volunteer instructors at the LSC after school sailing program.
Club president Steve Beitzel said it just shows where sailing can lead and despite being an inland club, there’s some “amazing opportunities” for sailors.
“We can’t offer people as much, we can’t offer them the bay but we can offer them opportunities. That’s what it’s all about. For a little place out here in woop woop, this club has always punched above its weight,” he said.
But to keep up the incredible training on offer, volunteers are needed to continue boosting the supervision of programs, instruct and learn themselves.
More information about how to learn to sail or volunteer can be found on the LSC website lilydalesailingclub.com.au
