Sailors were competing for the Keepit Kup for best individual sailor and the two clubs were competing for the Thunderbolt Trophy.

The Thunderbolt Trophy, a long established tradition, is a two-heat contest with heat one sailed on Malpas Dam in December 2017.  

New England Sailing Club proved much too strong, building on the slight lead from heat one to convincingly take the points and the trophy back to Malpas after Lake Keepit holding it for only one year.

The Regatta program of five races, commenced on Saturday afternoon with two races on a trapezoidal course sailed back-to-back.  

The moderate northerly breeze provided very close racing with sailors from both clubs showing their potential.

At this stage Lake Keepit sailors thought they might just have a chance at retaining the Thunderbolt Trophy.

Sunday dawned clear and calm resulting in Race 3 being abandoned due to absolutely no wind.

Fortunately the breeze kicked in as forecast about 11am, so race four was completed in fast time with New England Sailing Club’s Chris Thompson clearly the sailor to beat.  

Lake Keepit’s Keith Garrett, John Sumner, Tim Corben and Kevin Overton tried every move in the book to out manoeuvre the highly credentialed Armidale sailor but to no avail, with Chris Thompson holding the Keepit Kup high, winning three out of the four races.

The Thunderbolt Trophy decider on Sunday afternoon was sailed on a triangular Olympic style course with a moderate to strong northerly providing excellent sailing conditions.  

The catamarans in the fleet revelled in these conditions and provided some spectacular viewing for spectators on the club balcony.

The manner in which the two groups of sailors competed was outstanding!

There was a bit of argy-bargy around some of the buoys but these issues were sorted out in a practical and friendly manner.

The friendly but intense rivalry on the water was a highlight and on Saturday night races were relived over a magnificent meal and each others’ good fortunes and mistakes were discussed in detail.

New England Sailing Club proved far too strong with a score of 14 alongside Lake Keepit’s score of 28 under the Low Point scoring system.

Lake Keepit Sailing Club’s next major event is the 50th Keepit Kool Regatta being held on the June long weekend