Charlie Childow and Ashlea Tan travelled to the Sail Country regatta over the long weekend, and thanks to Danielle Chidlow for this report – they clearly all had a wonderful time!
The Chidlow family bundled into the car, Opti on the roof and tent in the boot, and headed off to Albury Wodonga for Charlie to participate in the Sail Country 2024 regatta. For the Opti class this consisted of two days racing and two days training/coaching, including Teams Racing, organised by VIODA.
The conditions were perfect, with wall-to-wall sunshine and 15-20 knot winds. The Intermediate Optis sailed three races on the Saturday, with Charlie sitting at second place by the end of the day. Sunday brought much stronger and very shifty winds, meaning that only one race took place (and our tent nearly blew away!). Charlie was thrilled with his third-place position at the end of the regatta.
The training on Monday and Tuesday was lots of fun too, with a focus on rolling starts. Charlie and Ashlea Tan finished first in the Teams Racing – a perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Sail Country was a very special regatta involving BBQs, kids running about being kids, laser tag in the dark, and parents hanging out on bean bags socialising and taking in the on-water action. A great way to spend the Melbourne Cup weekend.
