Task Force 72 Scale Model Ship Association Inc.

TF72 Annual Regatta 2007 Photo Gallery

Task Force 72 members from across Australia gathered at Wentworth Falls Lake in late November for the highlight of the club’s calendar, the 2007 Annual Regatta.

The weather unfortunately was more North Sea winter than Blue Mountains summer, as the photos will attest, with the grey ships easily disappearing into the swirling fog and intermittent rain, at times the ships were left to grope though the murk and drizzle as visibility dropped rapidly.

Despite the weather, the club enjoyed a good turnout with members from across the eastern seaboard and even a well-travelled visitor from New Zealand attending. When not sailing, members caught up with people they had not seen since the 06 Regatta, chatted, discussed new projects and stood out of the rain and drank coffee while waiting for a break in the weather.

A number of ships were making their debut at the regatta and attracted a lot of attention, particularly as they covered a widely diverse range of subjects, both civil and military.

The highlight of the Saturday was the selection of the best model at the regatta by our reviewing officer and the selection of the winner of the Wentworth Shield. With the diverse field of sensational models on show the decisions were not easy ones.

We were fortunate that Russ French, perhaps Australia’s pre-eminent professional model boat builder and past president of Task Force 72, had agreed to act as our 2007 Reviewing Officer. A builder of past winners, Russ was all too aware of the long hours, dedication and skill that goes into the building of a top-flight model and could evaluate the field with an expert’s eye.

Russ noted that every year the competition gets tougher, the quality of boats being built is getting even better year on year and that it was struggle to make a selection from amongst several models that all deserved to win. That said, Russ had no hesitation in selecting John Slater’s magnificent Royal Navy Type 21 frigate, HMS Ardent as the best ship of the 2007 Annual Regatta. Well-done John.

The other major prize of the TF-72 Annual Regatta is the Wentworth Shield. Voted on by the clubs members, the Shield recognises the hard work in researching, building and detailing that goes into each model and is recognition by the winner’s peers of the outstanding work that has been achieved. It is a sign of the ever-increasing quality of models being built, and the ever more diverse subjects being undertaken, that 2007 saw not one but two models selected in a tied vote, the first time this has ever happened.

Geoff Eastwood’s stunning model of the Australian lighthouse and navigation tender Cape Don tied with the outstanding World War 2 liberty ship Charles Robinson, built by her namesake Charles Robinson, as the members choice models for 2007. Both ships are quite different from the warships that have traditionally won the Wentworth Shield, and both are worthy winners. Congratulations to Charles and Geoff.

With the formal part of the Regatta complete, attention turned once again to the water, with the usual TF-72 mix of ships and submarines from various eras sailing together.

The rescue boat saw a bit of use during the weekend, retrieving boats that seemed to develop a bad case of ‘gremlins’, apparently they didn’t like the weather either! The club’s new inflatable rescue boat proved very handy, although some of the boat’s skippers proved less adept at driving a real boat than a model one.

Saturday saw the traditional Chinese take away ‘nosh up’. With the added benefit that John Konda had secured access to a venue across the road from the Lake, which provided a great venue for a very convivial dinner. Thanks John!

The photos tell the tale of the weekend, and hopefully, next year’s Regatta will take place under somewhat drier conditions (fingers crossed).

If you were there, thanks for coming, if you couldn’t make it, hope to see you at Regatta 08!

Click on a photo to enlarge. [Back to Post Mission Reviews] - photos by Margaret Robinson, Alan Pew, Mike Brown, John Konda, Craig Taylor