Charlie Stagnetto wins Regatta weekend 2022

Charlie Stagnetto retains the title he won last year.
Hamish Risso takes the Runners-up with Nick Cruz 3rd
All three boats finished on 10 points after the 4 races, but Charlie Stagnetto takes the series as a result of winning the last race.
 
After a lack of competitive sailing for over a month due to several different factors, the racing at the RGYC returned with a bang this weekend with 5 different Regatta Week races.
The 5 races held were the Single Handed race (which does not count for any series) and then the four main races of the weekend which all count towards the Colville Cup – the prize given to the overall winner of Regatta Weekend.
 
San Sebastian (Single Handed) Race
The Single Handed race is different to all the other races in the season because – as the name suggests – this is raced with just one person on board as opposed to the normal crew of 3.  As a result, this is the race that all the participants want to win to show that they are the best all round sailor at the club.
The race started in relatively light easterly winds with Hamish Risso in Fencer and Louis Triay Jnr in Viking taking a more northerly route whilst Charlie Lavarello in Nemesis and Nick Cruz in Eos tacked earlier towards the South.
The result was a mixed bag with Louis Jr managing to make the most of a northerly breeze to just stay ahead of Charlie Lavarello and round the mark at Western beach first followed closely by Hamish in 3rd and Nick 4th.
On the following run, all skippers put up their spinnakers but Louis managed to pull away from Charlie whilst Nick not only managed to overtake Hamish but also put Charlie under some serious pressure as they rounded the next mark.
After the first round, the positions did not change with Louis cruising to a comfortable win. Despite the constant pressure from Nick, Charlie managed to secure his second place just ahead of Nick in third with Hamish some way back in 4th.
San Sebastian (Single Handed) Result
1. Louis Triay Jnr in Viking
2. Charlie Lavarello in Nemesis
3. Nick Cruz in Eos
 
Cochrane Trophy (Colville Series race 1)
The first race of the Colville Series was held in light Southerly winds and started in sensational fashion with 4 boats adjudged as being over the line resulting in Charlie Stagnetto, Charlie Lavarello, Nick Cruz and Michael Double all having to return to restart the race.
The main beneficiary of this decision was Hamish Risso who had managed to get a clean start and was now over a hundred meters ahead of his rivals at the front of the fleet.
However, Hamish’s joy was short lived as some good work by Charlie Lavarello and Nick Cruz not only saw them reduce his lead, but in Charlie Lavarello’s case also pass Hamish before the boats had got into the harbour.
Inside the harbour, Hamish once again managed to get going and a puff of South East managed to pull him well ahead of his rivals to round the first mark with a very comfortable lead followed by Nick who had also benefited from the South East breeze to pass Charlie Lavarello at the windward mark.
As the run progressed inside the harbour the wind began to die and Hamish, hoping that the Westerly was about to come in, took a more Westerly route compared to Charlie and Nick who were once more quickly eating into his lead.
However, it was not to be for Hamish, and by the time the boats exited the harbour, Nick – who had taken the most Easterly course and kept in some wind all the way through – managed to take over the lead, with Charlie Lavarello second and Hamish stuck in third over in the West.
At this point, the predicted Westerly wind came in but Nick who had a comfortable lead at this stage thanks to some excellent spinnaker work from Joey Imossi, was the one to benefit and pull away from the other leading boats just as the Race Officer announced a shortening of course with the finish being at the next mark.
Despite the angle being very tight for Nick’s spinnaker, and the desperate efforts from the chasing boats to catch him, Nick managed to hold on to his lead and cross the line first to take his first win of the season at the perfect time. Behind him Charlie Lavarello, who had been putting some serious pressure on Nick in the closing meters managed to hold off Hamish to take second place with Hamish having to settler for third.
Cochrane Trophy Result
1. Nick Cruz in Eos (Crew Joey Imossi)
2. Charlie Lavarello in Nemesis
3. Hamish Risso in Fencer
 
Carrara Trophy (Colville Series race 2)
The Carrara Trophy is the one off race crews most want to win, as a result of it being an impressive beautiful silver sailing yacht and the best looking trophy that they race for.
By the time the race started, the winds had changed slightly to a strong South Westerly which made the buoy end of the line the right place to start. Surprisingly only Hamish Risso and Charlie Lavarello noticed this, and they were able to take advantage and start ahead of the fleet to take an early lead.
At the start Hamish had managed to squeeze Charlie Lavarello out at the buoy and so it was he who manged to take the lead all the way up to the RAF mark and round the mark in first place, with Nick Cruz and Charlie Stagnetto in 3rd and 4th place but some way back.
Hamish held on to the lead on the first run, but in the first long beat back to RAF Charlie Lavarello reacted to a Southerly header to tack out to the South whilst Hamish stayed on his course slightly further North.
For a while it looked like Hamish’s decision to stay was going to pay off, but soon it became clear that the wind was both slightly stronger and a slightly better angle in the South and not only did Charlie manage to pass Hamish but Hamish was also reeled in by Charlie Stagnetto and Nick who had also stayed out further South.
At this point Hamish decided to take a risk and tack South but unfortunately for him, this proved to be the wrong decision with the West coming back in and Charlie Lavarello taking advantage of this slight change of wind to open up a comfortable lead from Nick in second and Charlie Stagnetto in third.
Charlie Lavarello comfortably held on to this lead for the remaining run and beat to the finish and once again took the Carrara Trophy. Despite some nervy moments, Nick was able to hold off the challenge from Charlie Stagnetto to take second place, with Charlie Stagnetto third and a down beat Hamish having to settle for fourth.
 
Carrara Trophy Result
1. Charlie Lavarello in Nemesis (Crew John Armstrong and Dhiraj Nagrani)
2. Nick Cruz in Eos
3. Charlie Stagnetto in Fairdawn
 
Thompson Cup (Colville Series race 3)
Sunday morning’s racing was very different to Saturday’s with a strong Westerly now blowing and all the crews being soaked before any of the racing had even started.
However, the one thing that had not changed was the bias at the buoy end of the mark, and although most boats congregated down that end, it was once again Hamish who got the best start on port with Charlie Stagnetto, who had started on starboard and tacked, following him very closely.
Hamish managed to maintain his lead to round the RAF in first place and he was then able to pull away slightly to round the buoy at Western beach with a comfortable lead.
However, having rounded this buoy, Hamish started getting some heading puffs and started to fall whist, to his horror, Charlie Stagnetto was still maintaining his good angle and rapidly closing the gap between them.
On seeing this Hamish tacked back to the South to protect his lead and by this stage the boats were so close that Charlie Stagnetto had to take avoiding action so as not to hit Hamish.
Thankfully for Hamish, this move paid off and he was once again able to open a comfortable lead over Charlie Stagnetto by the time they reached the RAF mark with Nick Cruz rounding in third just ahead of Monty.
On the run down, Hamish held on to his lead and on this occasion, he was also able to hold it on the final leg up to the finish to take the cup from Charlie Stagnetto with Nick Cruz taking third ahead of Monty Spindler in fourth.

 
Thompson Cup Result
1. Hamish Risso in Fencer (Crew Paul Borda and Miro Kunis)
2. Charlie Stagnetto in Fairdawn
3. Nick Cruz in Eos
 
Rover Trophy (Colville Series race 4)
With the only the final race of the series to go, it was very close at the top of the leader board with Nick Cruz on 6 points, Hamish on 8 points and Charlie Stagnetto on 9 points and all three boats having a realistic chance of winning the series.
The start of the race was similar to the previous two with all the boats commencing at the favoured buoy end of the line with Hamish starting on port and the others all on starboard.
This meant that Hamish had to take avoiding action so as to avoid three boats on starboard and this cost him dear because although he was able to start ahead of Nick Cruz and Monty Spindler he was further to leeward of Charlie Stagnetto, who had started well and was clearly in the lead.
Despite the best efforts of Hamish and the following fleet, Charlie Stagnetto managed to reach the RAF in first place with Hamish second and Nick and Monty battling it out for third.
On the run down, Hamish managed to slightly close the gap to Charlie Stagnetto but as they went around the buoy it appeared that the gap was still too much to mount a serious challenge to the leader.
However, by this stage the winds had changed slightly to a more westerly direction and this resulted in the boats having to crisscross their way up the course always ensuring that they didn’t stray too far from each other.
It was during these tacks that Hamish managed to gain an advantage and not only close the gap on Charlie Stagnetto but actually overtake him to take the lead.  However, this lead was short lived and a mistake from Hamish in going further South allowed Charlie to pull away in the North.
When the boats met up again on the lay line to the RAF mark, Charlie Stagnetto and Hamish were side by side with no distance between them and just to make matters even more exciting, Monty who had taken a course further to the South, also joined them leaving all three boats neck and neck.
As they neared the RAF mark, Charlie Stagnetto managed to make the most of his position to leebow Hamish and consolidate his lead at the front whilst Monty, who by this stage was in the dirty wind of both Charlie Stagnetto and Hamish, didn’t quite make the mark and had to tack in order to round it.
In the run down to Western Beach, Charlie Stagnetto took a more Southerly approach whilst Hamish tried in vain to ride the waves in a more Northerly direction.  For a while it seemed that Hamish’s plan was working but it was not enough, and Charlie Stagnetto held on to round the Western Beach mark still in the lead ahead of Hamish.
Not only did Charlie Stagnetto round the final mark in the lead but he also rounded the mark better than Hamish to put him in a commanding windward position with only a few hundred meters of the race left to go.
This led to some desperate tacking from Hamish who tried in vain to make some inroads on the leader but in the end, it was not enough to prevent Charlie Stagnetto from taking not only the race win but also the series for the entire Regatta Weekend.
Behind them, Monty had taken advantage of Hamish’s tacking to really close the gap on him, but it again it was not quite enough and he had to settle for third place ahead of the unfortunate Nick Cruz who finished in fourth to extinguish his hopes of a series win.
 
Rover Trophy Result
1. Charlie Stagnetto in Fairdawn (Crew Andrew Alcantara and Louise Gil)
2. Hamish Risso in Fencer
3. Monty Spindler in Temptress
 
 
Colville Series – Overall winner of Regatta Weekend
With the final race decided, all three boats – Charlie Stagnetto in Fairdawn, Hamish Risso in Fencer and Nick Cruz in Eos were tied on 10 points each and all three boats with identical records for the 4 races (1 x 1sr, 1 x 2nd, 1 x 3rd and 1 x 4th), highlighting the close and competitive nature of the sailing all weekend.
However, the tie breaker for the series was the result of the last race and so Charlie Stagnetto was declared as the overall winner of Regatta Weekend thereby retaining the trophy he won last year.
 
Colville Series – Overall Regatta Weekend result
1. Charlie Stagnetto in Fairdawn (Crews Andrew Alcantara and Louise Gil; Thomas Johnson and Chris)
2. Hamish Risso in Fencer
3. Nick Cruz in Eos
 
The sailing now continues next week with the restart of the King’s Cup with 2 races which gives John Bassadone and Charlie Lavarello a chance to break the current deadlock at the top of the leader board for this year’s championship and establish a lead with only a few more weeks of racing remaining.