Well the 2016 Stanley race is done and dusted with competitors heading home with stories to tell.

The race went well from the ORCV’s perspective with 19 entrants and 18 starters.  All boats finished with all but one (Extasea) staying in Stanley due to the adverse weather forecast.  The race start was delayed for 45mins under instruction of PMOC.  Conditions were excellent, with light winds at the start the winds filled into a moderate reaching breeze through to the finish.  The first to finish was Simply Fun (in daylight no less) finishing at 18.52, the final competitor (Alien) finished at 23.38.

The Stanley festival, organised by Smithton Lions Club was in full swing with band, food and drinks laid on until very late in the night.  The yachties worked hard to ensure every last bit of food or drink was used and an exhausted Smithton Lions club headed home at last.

Presentation was brought forward to 10.30am and was well attended.  We gave a special thanks to Irmantas in the office, Sheryl from Smithton Lions, Mary from Smithton radio and all the race volunteers.  We posted some great photos on Facebook.

The return home was a concern for most boats, including the entrant who did not start.  Extasea headed back immediately so we watched and waited to ensure they got back ok.  Most others decided to wait another 24hrs, so with nothing better to do we retired to a local Stanley establishment for a pleasant Sunday afternoon extended lunch.

Despite the Race Director team being “off watch”, we progressively received more and more “advice” and “suggestions” as the night wore on by people making progressively less and less sense.  It was all good natured and well intended, we had a lot of laughs and shared a lot of stories. 

In all the race met our objectives, it was inclusive, it was fast and it was fun.

For full results click here