IT WAS far from a relaxing day on the water for the Freycinet crew on Saturday, as Nick Watson was struck in the head by the boom before the first race at the Port MacDonnell Sailing Club.
On the way to the starting line when it occurred, Watson and the rest of the crew put aside the incident as they challenged the other competitors on the run to the first buoy.
However, after completing only two legs, Freycinet withdrew from the race, quickly putting the boat on the trailer and proceeded to transport Watson to the Mount Gambier hospital.
Upon a check up, nothing proved to be broken and he was lucky to be left with merely damaged pride and two black eyes going into this weekend’s races.
Including Freycinet, five boats took to the water for Saturday’s competition, with a moderate westerly breeze resulting in some good racing and unexpected results.
Sandrine (skipper Chris Lynch and David Bryson), Papillon (skipper Mack Ferguson and Dave Jones), Salt Peter (skipper Robin White, Sharon White and Bob Banford), Freycinet (skipper Morris
Dickins, Watson and Jen Jones) and Mirage (skipper Dennis Illman, Looey Widdison and Dave Evans) took to the water for the two races on the day.
With Freycinet out of the running, the remainder of the boats engaged in some tight contests in both races, with all boats finishing within 20 minutes of the winner.
Line honours went to Sandrine in both races, but the winner of the day on club handicap was Mirage.
Illman and his crew showed solid improvements after only starting out in the boat this year.
In race one, Sandrine took a win on corrected time, while it was Papillon which claimed the corrected time win for race two.
The officer of the day Greg Graham was helped by time keepers Jen Ferguson and Mary Evans on Saturday to ensure the day ran smoothly.
Tomorrow will see the last races for the 2017 season, which will be followed by a Christmas breakup dinner at the clubhouse.
The club has a break over the festive period and will restart racing on February 3.
A full program is available on the Port MacDonnell Sailing Club Facebook page.
