This year marked the 12th Performance Boating Jeanneau Rendezvous!
Indulging ourselves sailing on the beautiful waters of Pittwater, we also celebrated Jeanneau’s 60th year and Performance Boating’s 15th year representing the brand. Twenty-six yachts attended varying from the race bred Sun Fast 3200 “Solstice”, to the luxurious Jeanneau 57 “Picasso”.
After a briefing at Royal Motor Yacht Club there were three starts, the first for a cruising division, followed by Red division for those that rarely compete, and then blue for those that are regular twilight or club racers.
Despite the forecast the day was beautifully sunny, though the light S ‘Westerly died out completely very shortly after the start so the planned sail to Refuge Bay was shorted to Coaster’s Retreat.
At Coasters the fleet picked up moorings or rafted up and were delivered buckets of fresh prawns courtesy of PBS, and chilled wine courtesy of Cosine Shipwrights and Rogue wines.
After a leisurely lunch and swim yachts gathered off Soldiers Point in a light South Easterly for the return to RMYC. The return was quicker than planned as the breeze went into the East, which gave us all an enjoyable sail down Pittwater with the fleet of Jeanneau stars looking amazing from the committee boat as we moved to the finish line.
Results for the racing divisions were calculated using the low points system and the combination of the two race results to give the following overall places:
Blue Division:
1st “LuLu Belle” Peter Lewis Sun Odyssey 37 Points 1.5
2nd “Pinta Bay” Frank Milner Sun Odyssey 349 Points 4
3rd “Nightingail” Ben Spannenberg Sun Odyssey 409 Points 7
4th “Accountability” Murray Thompson 44 Deck-Saloon Points 8
5th Nirvana’s Kitchen” Leon Wilson 45 Deck Saloon Points 13
Red Division:
1st “Tango” Ian Higson Sun Odyssey 36i Points 5
2nd “Crazy Knot to” Eugene Clewitt Sun Odyssey 349 Points 6
3rd “Allegria” Philippe Laurans Sun Odyssey 36i Points 7
4th “Sundance II” John Hancock Sun Odyssey 379 Points 9
4th “Buggalugs” Jeremy Clarke Sun Odyssey 36.2 Points 9
The results were very close with a tie for fourth in Red division… I suspect these two will be all out next year!
Trophies were awarded to the first three places in each division, and spot prizes to all yachts attending. We also awarded the “Amazing Grace” perpetual trophy for line honours, kindly donated by Willie White three years ago. The winner of the trophy was the magnificent Jeanneau 57 “First Picasso”, despite a scare in race two where they were almost pipped home by Neil Baird’s Sun Fast 3200 with only one second between them!
Without sponsors these events wouldn’t be the success that they are. We would particularly like to thank The Quays Marina for their generous prize and use of their RIB, White Bay 6 for their generous prize, and Rogue Wines for wines for the function (which were handed out at lunch time) and also wines for spot prizes.
A reminder that Jeanneau owners are being offered a significant discount off their existing discounted pricing if you are interested in supporting our sponsor and purchasing some of their broad range of wines. Simply visit their website thecellarroom.com.au and use the discount code JEANNEAU17 (refer attached brochure for further details).
The ‘Salty Dog Prize” of a case of French Champagne donated by David Holt of Boat Stripes was awarded to Geoff and Stacey Muscat with their Sun Odyssey 349 “Sahara” for spirit of the event. Their daughters Hula danced on the foredeck in the start area and brought grins to the entire fleet.
In addition to these primary sponsors we would also like to acknowledge all of the other generous sponsors for the day including Club Marine, Cosine Shipwrights, BoatCrewGear.com, Gill Marine, Harken, Horseshoe Cove Marine, Lejen Marine, Elite Yachting Services, SB Marine Trimming, Ocean Phase Marine Electrical, North Sails, Cruising Helmsman magazine, Australian Sailing magazine, Vacuwash, Contender, Zhik, Michael’s Boat Detailing and Marine Tune.
The evening function at Royal Motor Yacht Club was attended by over 120 owners and their guests for an excellent meal. With a live band providing entertainment the results were announced and prizes handed out.
The full antifoul to a maximum value of $5,000 offered by White Bay 6 was won by David Clarke of the SO379 “Taffy” and the $2,000 antifoul voucher from The Quays Marina by Michael Smith of the 45DS “The Cure”. We would like especially to thank these two generous companies, both of which are used for the commissioning of new Jeanneau yachts, but also carry out all other yard work.
PBS director Lee Condell was also taken by surprise by his staff acknowledging his 15th year representing the Jeanneau brand in NSW. Each of his team took to the stage to offer their congratulations, a letter was read out from Jeanneau Asia/Pacific Managing Director Paul Blanc, and Peter Lewis, owner of LuLu Belle, offered words of thanks on behalf of the gathered owners.
To the PBS team of Jay McEvoy, Nicola Ray, Damian Goff and Sebastian Salz a big thank you for the work that went into making the day such a success.
For all of the photos of the day, please visit the Jeanneau Owners Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jeanneauownersaustralia/
