Sailors compete in Tarwin River Marathon

SOUTH Gippsland Yacht Club held its Tarwin River Marathon on Sunday afternoon.

Three classes were involved in the marathon – A Class featured five Catamarans, B Class with eight racing dinghies and C Class with four slower dinghies.

A staggered start saw C Class begin the marathon at 12pm, followed by B Class at 12.30pm and A Class at 1pm, with most returning around the 3pm mark.

The course took the sailors 400 metres from the mouth of the Tarwin River and back.

“We had good winds – around 18 knots, which is quite enough for boats of this size,” Commodore Simon Wilson said. 

“It was a fairly straightforward sail. We were able to sail on one predominate tack pretty much two thirds of the way. Around Mahers Landing there’s a bit of a dogleg and you have to go around and back up again, so there was a bit of tacking involved there, but otherwise a lovely reach all the way down to Mahers Landing and a much gentler return coming back. It was good fun.”

This year’s event was sponsored by the Broadbeach Inverloch Health Club. 

The Tarwin River Marathon has been a fixture on the Yacht Club’s calendar almost every year since 1984.

Sailing in Inverloch comes with its challenges due to the current, but sailors have faced other challenges during the marathon in the past.

“On this occasion we started an hour before high tide,” Simon said.

“It used to just have a start time and, regardless of the tide, you had to battle your way through. That’s actually quite hard because it was a lower tide and the tide was coming against you, you’d have those factors to contend with.”

The Yacht Club began its jam-packed 2023/24 season at the end of October, with events planned for every Sunday, and most Saturdays and public holidays, until the end of April.

Races were held on Saturday for the Derek Despy Medal.

Derek Despy – now in his mid-90s and still a member of the club – used to be one of the boat drivers. 

The winners of Saturday’s small series were presented with a medal in his honour.

The club is also looking forward to its major event, the 10th Inverloch Classic Wooden Dinghy Regatta, set to be held on February 17 and 18.

With a mix of races and boats to be viewed on display, the Regatta is expected to draw in a crowd.

The Wonthaggi Citizens’ Band will also be entertaining club attendees on the Saturday afternoon, ahead of the regatta dinner.

More information can be found on the club’s website.

The club’s membership numbers are continuing to swell, particularly off the back of a series of successful sailing lessons.

“We ran sailing lessons last week over a couple of days. Twelve or so participants were already club members but were new to sailing. They were able to take the club boats out to practice,” Simon said.

“The other five or six participants became club members, so it was a 100 per cent success rate.

“It’s always a bit of a challenge to get younger people along to these things, but there seems to be a lot of interest in the sailing lessons.”

The South Gippsland Yacht Club prides itself on its welcoming, family friendly atmosphere – regardless of skill level and class of boat – and encourage newcomers to stop in on a Sunday to see what the club is all about.