sport
The dinghies finally back on the water
DINGHY races returned to Riverland last weekend for the first time in over nine months with the hotly contested Woolshed Brewery Amazon Sprint.
The non-championship event was the first race hosted by the Riverland Dinghy Club since the Dinghy Derby in February, after the Stacer Championship Series 2020 was canceled in July due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Scott and Zac Pogorecki took victory in the 30 horsepower sport class ahead of Shaun Jenke and Ben Kaye, while Brent Martin and Adam Price finished third.
Riverland Dinghy Club president Scott Jenke said the contestants were excited to get back on the water.
“The boats were collecting dust a little too long for our liking,” he said.
“It was a non-championship race just to get the boats back on the water and we recycled some historical trophies from different events.
“It was mostly about getting everyone together and getting back on the water, and we hope to get back to racing early next year.
“We only had about 45 boats coming to race, but we could only have competitors from all over South Australia so it was a pretty good turn under the circumstances.
“Some competitions had only a few boats and there were a few classes with a team, but the 30hp standards had a field of 19 boats and the supers had nine.
“In the sport class, the first three boats were separated by less than a minute.
Mr Jenke said race organizers made several changes to ensure the event met COVID requirements.
“Our race management was definitely less crowded and one of our timekeepers who normally travels from Melbourne helped us from a distance,” he said.
Mr Jenke said the Stacer Championship Series will return next year if COVID-19 restrictions allow it.
“It’s a changing world, but I think we’re in a good position if we can get people to come to the event,” he said. “We would really like to be able to host an event early next year and will be working with the then health boards to get our COVID management plan approved.
“Thank you to all the competitors who took part on Saturday and to the small pockets of spectators watching from different areas.
“It was good to finally see the dinghies there. “
RESULTS
30hp sport
S. Pogorecki / Z. Pogorecki (33: 49.9), S. Jenk
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