Des and Gail Riley’s Farr 9.2 ‘Farrouk’ was declared the overall champion of last week’s Cockburn Sound Regatta (CSR) 2023.

Organised by The Cruising Yacht Club of WA (TCYC) and run over four days from Boxing Day, the weather and conditions were perfect with a variety of winds providing interesting and close racing on the beautiful and protected waters of Mangles Bay off Rockingham.

HYC was well represented, with seven boats competing in both spinnaker divisions and the three Jib and Main (JAM) classes amongst the fleet of 53 boats of various sizes and designs. Always strong competitors, the boats representing HYC performed well again this year, with ‘Farrouk’ winning JAM 2 and one of the smallest boats in the fleet, Ray Murphy’s Beneteau First 285 ‘Pinta’ claiming JAM 3. The Overall Regatta Champion is determined by a formula considering a boat’s gross points score and the sum of the total number of boats starting in each race in each Division.

Consistency was the key as ‘Farrouk’ finished with a 4th, a 1st and five 2nd places in the seven races to be declared the Overall Regatta Champion to a wonderful reception from the crowd from HYC. Although a relatively late entry with worries of sourcing crew for the week, the HYC Keelboat Racing Section pulled together and a total of 10 crew raced on ‘Farrouk’ during the week. Des and Gail are long-time CSR competitors, and while having previously won their division, this was their first win as overall regatta champions. Skipper Des Riley commented that after initial concerns, each day’s crew sailed well, and the boat responded positively to the favourable conditions. However, the regatta wasn’t all about the on-water racing, with the visiting HYC members enjoying the post-race socialising at TCYC and in Rockingham with crew mates and fellow competitors.

Ray Murphy









Photos are by 'Shooting the Breeze Photography'