Don Thorn
Don Thorn passed away on Sunday 23 May. He had been in hospital for over two weeks suffering from what was originally prostate cancer and then bone cancer and finally developed pneumonia from which he could not recover.
The Thorn family has a long association with Mosquitos. In his lifetime Don owned four Mosquitos and was made a Life Member of the V.M.C.A. in 1986. He was very proud of the fact that his Grandson Lindsay was finally sailing a Mosquito.
The VMCA extend sympathy and best wishes to the Thorn family, particularly Betty, Don's wife of many years.
Sauna Sail
Twelve Mosquitos sailed at the Sauna Sail this year, enough to qualify for our own division and our own start. The wind was light all weekend, and especially shifty and tricky on Sunday. Neil Joiner totally dominated the Mosquitoes by consistently reading the shifty winds.
Race 1 -Saturday pm
Neil Joiner sailed cat rigged for this regatta and in the first race, line honored by 2.5 minutes. Phillip Warren-Smith and Tim Shepperd, sailing with spinnakers,
followed only three seconds apart (Philip sneaking past Tim one boatlength from the finish line). On handicap Garry Johnstone, Matt Stone and Robert Lott all finished ahead of the spinnakers.
Race 2 - Saturday pm
In a race where the wind looked like it would stay, it faded badly to cause boats to be DNF because of the sun set rule. Tim & Philip finished first but not far enough ahead to beat Garry & Neil on Handicap - Neil just 12 secs ahead of Garry.
Race 3 - Sunday am
Tim, James Pearse and Matt took off and fought it out until Tim pulled the kite and sailed the obstacle course better to win easily. James and Matt were going well until James forgot the course and had to sail a knock and lost 2 places. Neil snuck past Matt on the last windward work to take 2nd on Handicap.
Race 4 - Sunday pm
A shifty and gusty wind, avg 8 knots with lots of bad air from the East. Way worse than Saturday. The fleet quickly spread out with the spinnaker boats well back to
start with. Neil appeared to be using some kind of Black Magic, constantly being in the right place. Every downwind leg Tim and Philip would peg back Neil (while swapping places themselves) only to lose it again on the upwinds. By the last lap Tim had just got in front of Neil only to be passed again on the final run to the finish line!
Race 5 - Sunday pm
Neil was once again doing a cool job of hunting down the wind and the spinnakers
were just hanging in behind him. The race was shortened at the windward mark so there was then a long run back to the finish. This final windward leg was too much of a challenge for some, but Gordon Hyde did something right and rounded the mark first along with Garry Johnstone and Bill Pepping. Gordon went on to cross the line first (and didn't we get to hear all about it after!), while Garry and Neil followed him over the line to pick up 1st and 2nd on handicap, with Bill right behind.
Race 6 - Monday am
Large oscillating shifts, light winds, 5 knots Max, that died at the end. This tested everyone's patience. Matt, Garry and Neil fought it out on the first windward leg with Clint Burgess close behind. Tim passed all on 2nd reach and went on to build a large lead. Tim finished first over the line, but spent too long parked in front of the clubhouse waiting to finish. Matt passed Neil on the 2nd reach, and these two went on to finish 1st and 2nd.
Garry Johnstone powers his way to windward in the final race of the National Tiles at Warrnambool
2008/2009 Mosquito Regatta Calendar
Greyed out dates have not been confirmed yet, and usually still show last year's date.
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