After some rain on and off during the week leading up to the 74th Regatta, the weekend (March 20-22) started when a small team of six arrived at the oval in full sun with warm conditions to start setup. As it was the Regatta weekend it wouldn’t be the same without rain, and we had a longish shower mid-afternoon to help while setting up.
The Scouts and tents started arriving on Friday afternoon, and by Saturday evening we had over 750 campers around Balmoral Oval, with 800 participants from over 40 Groups taking part over the weekend.
On Saturday morning there were canoe races for the Scouts and Venturers, and sailors rigged their boats for the afternoon race. The wind was very gentle as a fleet of 72 boats headed out for the start of the Saturday sailing race, which needed to be called one lap short as the breeze had dropped.
During the afternoon the sailors and campers alike were entertained by the Kakadu fleet review, with helicopters coming and going at HMAS Penguin, as well as the precision flight team overhead. Several Groups walked up to Georges Heights for a better view of the fleet.
An outdoor movie screening was held on the oval with the grass packed with movie goers. Conveniently the rain held off until the movie finished, after which … it started.
The rain had cleared by the early start (07:00) on Sunday for the Sirius Iron Group event only to return just as the Cub race started, some of the Scout canoe finals (held over from Saturday) and rowing before the beach was invaded for the Cub Scout canoeing races, with the Sunday sailing starting late in the morning.
Some of the key trophies and their winners were:
- Commodore’s Cup (Champion Group Overall) – Lake Ginninderra (ACT)
- Sirius Shield (Overall Group Sailing) – Lake Ginninderra
- Sirius Cup (Handicap Winner, Division 1) – Alchemy, Lake Ginninderra
- Little Sirius Cup (Handicap Winner, Division 2) – Attitude, 2nd Abbotsford Port Neptune Sea Scouts
- Voice Pipe (Total Points, Rowing & Canoeing Combined) – Lake Ginninderra
- Wal Piltz Skin (Champion Group Camping) – Epping
- Iron Group – Lake Ginninderra, with the other two ACT Groups (Lake Burley Griffin and Lake Tuggeranong) taking second and third.
- James Dean Memorial Trophy (Enthusiasm/Sportsmanship) – 1st Collaroy Plateau Venturers
- A full list of the results will be available on our website in a few weeks.
A big thank you goes out to all the Leaders, Rovers, Venturers, and Scouts who helped in running the Regatta, and to SWASH and the ACT Scout Groups who helped the safety boat team with boats (three each from SWASH and the ACT Groups). Also, thank you to the Venturers from 1st Collaroy Plateau who volunteered to staff the office and assist on the safety boat team for the duration of the Regatta.
More thank you’s to the many volunteers who come down and help with the setup and packing up of the Regatta HQ, running safety boats, marshalling the events, staffing the office and numerous other tasks.
Also thank you to Mowbray Radio/Bob Richards for loaning us the radios and PA systems and to Mosman Council for their yearly approval, allowing the Scouting fraternity to use the oval.
The 75th Sirius Cup Regatta will be on in 2027 with the event being held over the weekend 19-21 March.
Paul Soltau – Regatta Co-ordinator
