Australian Sailing April 2009
National Classes
Sydney 38s
The Line 7 Sydney 38 nationals were won by Tony Walls’ Acuity on the Manly Circle off Sydney Heads in predominately light conditions. Acuity won five of the eight races with her worst placing being a fourth in the 13 boat fleet.
The series was conducted by the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. The win was the culmination of a five-year campaign by the Acuity team, which at this regatta included Olympic gold medallist Mal Page calling tactics to beat off a late charge by Chris Way’s Easy Tiger.
Also in the winning team were Roger Perret, Paul Gudmunson, Andrew Toon, Sam Davidson, Jason Greenway, Justin Lambeth and Chris Dawson.
Alan and Thomas Quick’s Outlaw with Steve McConaghy calling tactics came back from a slow start to beat Geoff Bonus’ Calibre into third place overall.
Australian sailing legend Lou Abrahams and his Challenge crew and Ian Murray and his Cinquante team travelled up from Victoria for the series and provided great competition for the Sydney crews. The Corinthian division was won by The Goat.
New Sydney 38 Australian champion Acuity, pictured during a pre-national series, the Rolex One-Design Trophy last December.
13Ft Skiffs
Dan Watterson and Rick Plain from Middle Harbour 16Ft Skiff Sailing Club in www.sheads.com.au won the 13ft Skiff Australian championships at Lake Illawarra.
Their scorecard across seven races in a variety of conditions included five firsts, a second and a third, giving them a clear margin over Fluid Building Services, sailed by Skye McFadyen and Allanah Clancy from Manly.
Third overall was Sydney Swans sailed by Scott Cotton/Harry West and Ben Gunton from Middle Harbour, New South Wales.
A fleet of 14 boats raced in the very competitive and successful series, conducted alongside the 16Ft Skiff national championships. The 13Ft Skiffs have been developed as a training class for the 16s.
Endeavour keelboats
Lake Macquarie Yacht Club hosted the 2009 national championships for the Endeavour keelboat classes. The format included Olympic, sprint, passage and fixed-mark courses, with five races over three days. Winds were a consistent 15 to 20-plus knots with the afternoon nor’easter testing all divisions.
Interstate teams in the Endeavour 24 class travelled from Western Australia (Pat Jones and Bob Davis) and Victoria (James Walshe) to compete in locally charted boats.
Current champions John Crawford and Stuart Dart of NSW in Dumaresque did not have it all their own way and were hotly pursued by Chris Bowling in Onyx and the West Australians. Dumaresque won on scratch, while on TCF handicap the first three places were all equal, with Onyx winning on countback.
In the Endeavour 26 class, defending champion Col Cole sailing Haul N Coal snapped his rudder in race three. The new champion Gavin Crowley in Rebel had not sailed for two years, but was a class above with five wins.
— Jim Orrell
RESULTS: SYDNEY 38S
1. Acuity (T.Walls, NSW), 1-3-1-2-1-1-1-4,
14pts; 2. Easy Tiger (C.Way, NSW), 3-1-3-
3-5-3-3-1, 22; 3. Outlaw (A.&T.Quick,
NSW), 5-6-4-8-3-2-4-2, 34; 4. Calibre
(G.Bonus, NSW), 2-4-6-6-2-8-8-8, 44; 5.
The Tavern (I.&S.Guanaria, NSW), 4-2-11-
1-ocs-4-6-3, 45; 6. Challenge (L.Abrahams,
Vic), 9-8-10-5-7-6-5-6, 56; 7. Cinquante
(I.Murray, Vic), 8-5-2-9-10-5-9-10, 58.
RESULTS: JAVELINS
Beaumaris YC, Vic, 21 boats
1. Liquor Box (B.Frankcombe/B.Taylor, Vic),
1-2-(3)-1-2-1-1-1-(dnf), 9pts; 2. Himalayan
Women (A.Hirst/P.Newman, Vic), 2-1-2-3-1-
2-(4)-2-(ret), 13; 3. Windrush (G.Kerman/
C.Woodwood, WA), (8)-3-1-2-(ocs)-4-3-3-
8, 24; 4. Fat Boys (B.Hennessy/S.Watts,
WA), 6-(7)-4-5-(10)-3-5-6-4, 33; 5.
Unzipped (B.Williams/ C.Vaughan, Vic),
3-(11)-5-8.5-3-5-6-4-(11), 34.5; 6. LA
Women (J.Thomson/ G.Parsons, Vic), 36;
7. For Better Or Worse (P.Kemp/P.Beare, Vic),
38; 8. Rush (J.Spencer/ P.Galloway, WA),
41; 9. Razor (P.Sharp/ A.Holman, Vic), 52;
10. Warren (M.&W.Sharp, Vic), 52.
13FT SKIFFS
1. www.sheads.com.au, 1-3-1-2-1-1-1,
3pts; 2. Fluid Building Services, 4-1-2-7-3-
2-3, 25.4; 3. Sydney Swans, 3-4-3-3-2-5-
7, 38.1; 4. Fire Stopping, 2-2-6-13-4-6-2,
40.4; 5. Dimension Polyant, 6-5-5-1-5-4-4,
46; 6. Switched On Innovations, 7-dsq-4-4-
11-7-6, 70.7; 7. Livewire, 8-6-7-8-6-9-8,
78.4; 8. Northside Sailing School, 81.
RESULTS: ENDEAVOURS
Endeavour 26: 1. Rebel (G.Crowley), 1-1-1-1-
1, 2. Clewless? (G.Irwin), 2-3-2-5-2; 3. Devine
Intervention (G.Macpherson), 3-2-6-3-7.
Endeavour 27+ handicap: 1. Hagar IV
(E30, R.Childs/C.Cope).
Endeavour 24: 1. Dumaresq (J.Crawford/
S.Dart), 1-1-3-1-1; 2. Onyx (C.Bowling),
2-2-1-3-2; 3. Mia (P.Jones) 4-4-4-2-3.
RESULTS: 125S
Maryborough SC, 42 entries
1. MK 2 (J.Scott/W.Morris, Vic), (5)-5-3-1-
1-1-2, 13pts; 2. J (D.Brewer/J.Anderson,
Qld), 2-1-1-10-7-(12)-3, 24; 3. Waterloo
(J.Anderson/J.Luscombe, Qld), 3-8-4-6-3-
3-(10), 27; 4. Imagine (P.&G.Charlton,
NSW), 7-7-5-8-2-7-5, 33; 5. Blurred Image
(T.Richers/W.Price, Qld), 13-3-(19)-2-10-5-
8, 41; 6. Chilled Out (T.Larance/N.Price,
NSW), 45; 7. Aftershock L.Johnson/
S.Charlton, NSW), 46; 8. Animated Paradox
(B.&N.Seto, Qld), 51; 9. Apollo (J.Spillman/
.Williams, Qld), 52; 10. Black Pearl
(J.&C.Robinson, Vic), 54.
16ft Skiffs
The Australian 16ft Skiff championships, hosted by Illawarra Yacht Club on Lake Illawarra (NSW) and contested by 41 boats, was won by the defending champion Fire Stopping from the Manly (NSW) club in a
closely fought contest. The result was in doubt until the last heat.
Fire Stopping was helmed by James Dorron with James Bury on mainsheet and Rob Napper forward, the same team that won last year’s title in Brisbane. This time Fire Stopping’s final score was 30.4
points, finishing within the top seven boats in all of the seven races across a range of conditions.
Runner-up was former national champion Fluid Building Services (Clint Bowen, Anthony King and Brent Dennis) also from the Manly 16Ft SSC, on 36pts. Third was Mitre 10 Kurri Kurri (Kieran Humphries, David Johnson and Andrew Stone) from Belmont.
Manly Juniors
The normal placid waters of Pittwater, north of Sydney began to sparkle last December when 50-plus Manly Juniors arrived for their 41st Australian championships.
The series was hosted by the Bayview Yacht Racing Association.
John Hurley, the principal race officer had a no-nonsense attitude to competitors and spectators alike and this made for a good regatta.
The series was divided into the main fleet and the novice division for sailors having their first years of skippering. The novices started five minutes behind the main fleet and sailed a shorter course.
Sailing conditions varied from light nor-easterlies to a serious thunderstorm which put the whole fleet ashore on Scotland Island, and a very unseasonal 25kt westerly which provided plenty of thrills and spills.
To the sailors’ credit and the delight of the large spectator fleet, most boats carried spinnakers, an amazing feat when you consider some crews were only seven years old!
From the outset it was clear that the Manly 16Ft Skiff Sailing Club boats were going to be hard to beat. They had just completed a serious training program under the club coach and this showed in their boat speed and good crew work.
Ryan Wilmot and Simon Murnaghan sailing Gizmo set the pace by winning the first two heats and looked a chance to win the event but clubmate Ashley Heyworth and his brother Daniel suddenly found form to win three heats and take the big prize.
The Novice division sailors showed lots of potential with Daniel Nugent and Chris Holmes in Rowdy winning five of the seven heats but the overall novice championship went to John Hargrate and Cooper Elliott sailing The Ferret. Manly 16Ft SSC won the Teams trophy and the prize for best all-girl crew also went to Manly.
— Bob Holmes
Ashley and Daniel Heyworth winning the Manly Juniors on Pittwater.
RESULTS: 16FT SKIFFS
1. Fire Stopping, 3-4-1-4-2-3-7, 30.4pts; 2. Fluid Building Services,
5-1-7-2-1-9-5, 36; 3. Mitre 10 Kurri Kurri, 6-2-8-7-3-7-1, 46.4;
4. OAS, 2-5-6-3-9-15-2, 48.4; 5. Bob Jane T-Mrts Edgecliff, 4-9-2-1-
14-13-3, 50.7; 6. Aristocrat, 10-17-4-6-8-1-6, 61.4;
7. TrueEnergy, 1-18-14-5-7-4-12, 69; 8. Newcastle Herald, 12-14-3-
14-6-8-15, 89.4; 9. AB Window Fashions, 7-16-15-9-12-2-14, 90;
10. Typhoon 8-3-12-15-10-12-13, 90.7.
RESULTS: MANLY JUNIORS
1. MWD (A.&D.Heyworth, NSW), (5)-5-1-3-1-1-4, 15pts; 2. Another
Dark & Stormy (B.Ditmarsh/T.Bongolan, NSW), 2-4-7-(8)-2-3-2, 20; 3.
Gizmo (R.Wilmot/S.Murnaghan, NSW), 1-1-4-2-(16)-6-9, 23; 4. Wet
& Wild (N.&C.Connor, NSW), 4-2-3-(10)-9-2-3, 23; 5. Too Hot to Hoot
(K.Wojcik/G.Triglone, NSW), 3-6-2-6-4-(13)-5, 26; 6. Cool Beans
(I.Dubery/G.Walmsley, NSW), 8-8-5-(9)-5-4-1, 31; 7. Quantum Leap
(J.Lawira-Fernandez/T.Walmsley, NSW), (11)-9-11-1-3-9-7), 40; 8.
Tinny (A.Tinworth/O.West, NSW), 16-3-6-5-7-12-(17), 49; 9. Off the
Rails (J.Iles/I.Lawira-Fernandez, NSW), 7-(16)-12-11-8-8-6, 52; 10.
Elecrisity (C.Stenta/J.Doyle, NSW), 9-10-8-4-(21)-14-13, 58.
Vee Ess 15s
The 64th Vee Ess 15ft Skiff Australian championships, hosted by Mannering Park Amateur Sailing Club, NSW, were sailed in conditions ranging from a 30kt nor’easter to a 2kt drifter but one thing never seemed to change – defending champions Firestorm taking victory in each race. By the end of the series the experienced crew of John Hodda, Dale Jacobson and Lindsay Auston had won nine of the ten
heats, letting their guard down only once the series was wrapped up.
Firestorm suffered no breakages, had good boat speed, made few mistakes and made good tactical decisions. On several occasions Firestorm emerged in front after being mid-fleet, making gains own wind by sailing to a different side of the course to the fleet.
Once in the lead the crew, representing the neighbouring South Lakes club, covered well to ensure they held onto the lead.
In a great battle for second, Under Pressure Too (Ian Henderson, Kane and Troy Botting) won a heat on the final day to secure the place. Breakages hindered their regatta but for a crew that was having their first regatta together it was a great result.
Purple Headed Warrior (Mick and Janine Turton, Rod Devon) also suffered several breakages but were consistently near the front of the fleet and claimed third.
The handicap title was won by just two points by Scenic Route; a sweet victory for Jonathan Vandervoort and Steve Ianna, with Jonathan’s talented son Jamie joining the crew for this regatta. Always in the top eight on scratch, Scenic Route was one of only three boats to finish all heats.
Second on handicap was Runaway (Steve Sims, Brad Dodds, Mark Nugent). A structural failure saw their boat nearly sink on the second day. To their credit, the midnight candle was burnt to repair the boat.
Third place on handicap was decided on a countback, with Raptor sailed by Taree’s Bob and Hayden Baker and Adam Birkfield winning the final heat to get the result from Teralba’s Dynamic Lifter.
The Teralba club reclaimed the Teams trophy and Firestorm won the Sid Peare Invitation Series.
— John Hodda
The unstoppable Firestorm crew, dominant at the Vee Ess nationals.
Flying Ants
Illawarra Yacht Club hosted the 42nd Flying Ant national championships for junior sailors ranging in age from nine to 16. The Flying Ant is a fast, exciting, planing skiff with a single trapeze and self-draining cockpit, which has long provided a training ground for sailors continuing on to skiff classes such as 29ers, 49ers, 16s and 18s.
A fleet of 34 boats from Victoria, NSW and WA sailed the ninerace series, after a storm in the invitation race with 30kts of wind, lightning strikes, crashing waves and rolling thunder provided a very intense start to the championship.
Local boat Rough Diamond experienced major sail damage while assisting other stranded sailors caught in the storm.
The weather conditions turned favourable for the remainder of the series, with varying conditions enabling the competitors to use their trapeze and spinnaker skills.
The competition was so tight that the final top three positions were separated by only 3pts at the end of the championship. Will Boulden and Brodie Paino sailing Lightning Jack from East Fremantle Yacht Club in WA gave a solid performance across the series to become the youngest-ever Flying Ant national champions.
NSW took the Teams trophy with a solid win over WA.
— Tracy McPhee
Trapezing techniques on show during a windy start at the Flying Ant nationals on Lake Illawarra.
RESULTS: VEE ESS 15S
1 Firestorm (J.Hodda), 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-(9)-(1), 8pts; 2 Under Pressure
Too (I.Henderson), (19)-2-2-5-3-(7)-3-2-1-3, 21; 3 Purple Headed
Warrior (M,Turton), (19)-3-3-3-(8)-2-2-4-5-2, 24; 4 Action Images
Australia (S.Day), 2-(7)-5-4-(14)-5-4-3-2-6, 31; 5 Scenic Route
(J.Vandervoort), 3-6-(8)-(7)-6-3-6-6-6-4, 40.
RESULTS: FLYING ANTS
1. Lightning Jack (W.Boulden/B.Paino, WA), 3-1-3-1-2-4-1-(8)-6,
20.25pts; 2. A Blonde Moment (A.Naylor/J.Liddle, NSW), (5)-5-5-2-1-2-
2-4-2, 22.75; 3. Manta (C.Smith/E.Clark, WA) 1-(7)-1-7-3-6-3-2-1,
23.25; 4. On Fire (A.Jones/H.Cowan, NSW), (12)-3-2-4-4-1-6-3-5,
27.75; 5. Jack Flash (K.Middleton/P.Corbett, NSW), 2-2-(9)-5-5-7-4-1-
3, 28.75; 6. Ride The Lightning (B.Underwood/D.Brett, WA), 7-4-7-(8)-6-
8-7-6-8, 53; 7. Addiction (S.Phillips/B.Havelberg, WA), 8-10-4-3-7-13-
8-(18)-4. 57; 8. Too Smart Alex (R.Dryden/V.Liddle, NSW), 4-8-17-16-8-
3-5-11-(22), 72; 9. The Latest (S.Oma/G.Boulden, WA), 10-11-(16)-6-
11-9-9-9-9 74; 10. Misguided Missile (J.Richardson/D.Olivieri NSW),
(16)-6-10-11-10-5-11-10-14, 77.
Taipans
The 2009 Taipan National Titles at Belmont 16 Footers Sailing Club met the expectations of participants as being a great event. The regatta was well coordinated by Les Porter who managed to organise a full range of wind conditions, good numbers, a competitive but friendly fleet, a solid race committee and a range of social events throughout the week. The event attracted a range of new faces in the class, along with some returning members.
Day one was windy with average wind speed of 22kts, more than enough for powered up, high performance catamarans. Two races in a strong breeze was a great start to the regatta as it gave the heavy weather experts a chance to shine. It also gave the rest of the fleet a fantastic ride of thrills and spills and naturally there were breakages.
When the following day was sailed in five knots of wind the results became mixed and interesting. The door was open for several boats to win and lose even during the final races. George Hooper was looking good in the cat-rigged division, followed by several experienced sailors including Greg Goodall all fighting hard for the right to call themselves the 2009 Australian champion.
Daniel and Amy Van Kerckhof were leading the sloop division, but with two retirements from gear failure, one average race could have seen them defeated by the consistent team of Steve and Lesley Kiely.
Behind them the final race decided the order from third to eight overall for the following five teams, highlighting the close fleet racing.
Meanwhile, Mark Adams and Ian Walls proved too strong in the Taipan 5.7 division ahead of Kym Luitjes and Tim Johnstone.
The class is now looking forward to the 2010 nationals, which will be held at Frankston Yacht Club on Port Phillip Bay, Vic.
— Kingsley Pursch
Daniel and Amy Van Kerckhof, Taipan 4.9 sloop winners.
MG14s
In an exciting series with the best participation in several seasons, the local crew of class veteran Greg Roche and Daniel Yaxley in Final Phase prevailed against strong competition to win the MG14 national titles at Toronto, Lake Macquarie.
The series also incorporated a yardstick title to include the new MGB, as well as Sportskiffs. The MGB is an exciting development for the class, with a larger sail plan on the existing rig, enabling heavier crews to compete effectively. Two MGBs finished in the top five on yardstick to underscore their competitive appeal.
Twenty-seven boats from four states attended the titles, raced over seven heats. Although Final Phase won five races in the MG14 division, Len Mancell and Les Barlin from Taree in Predator provided a close contest, never worse than second. Air Force One sailed by South Australian Jonathan Bailey and his sister Sonya Estens proved the dark horse of the regatta, taking third place with a scorecard including one heat win, after not sailing together for several years.
In the yardstick category Final Phase also prevailed. The MGB Xanadu of previous national champs Gary Reeves and Paul Tyson had two heat wins, but a broken kite pole while leading in the last heat stalled their challenge for overall victory and they slipped to third place behind Final Phase and Predator. The handicap trophy went to Icarus (J.Marks/I.Wood, Taree).
The wind varied considerably during the series, from fresh nor’easters and the odd sou’easterly to light to screaming nor’westers.
There was great diversity of entrants: younger teams, ‘veteran’ crews, parent/child, siblings and spouses, including a number of new participants in the class. A special thanks to event sponsor Zhik, and local community businesses for their support.
— John Hickey
RESULTS: TAIPANS
Taipan 4.9 Cat: 1. G.Hooper, 1-1-2-(4)-2-2-(7)-1-3-3, 15pts; 2.
G.Goodall, (5)-2-(6)-5-1-1-4-5-2, 21; 3. B.Hein, (6)-(10)-1-2-3-6-4-
2-1-4, 23; 4. L.Hinchcliffe, 3-4-4-3-4-3-(10)-(10)-4-5, 30; 5.
D.Baker, 2-6-8-(14)-(dnc)-8-5-3-9-1, 42; 6. J.Ryan, 9-8-(12)-7-5-7-
2-6-6-(11), 50; 7. K.Marsh, 4-3-7-9-9-(dnf)-13-(18)-12-7, 64; 8.
P.Freeman, 65; 9. B.Chapman, 70; 10. L.Porter, 71.
Taipan 4.9 Sloop: 1 D.&A.Van Kerchof, (dnf)-(dnc)-1-1-1-2-3-1-1-1,
11pts; 2. S.&L.Kiely, 3-(6)-3-2-4-(6)-2-2-3-2, 21; 3. C.&T.Munro,
(dnc)-1-6-(11)-7-1-4-10-5-6, 40; 4. N.Van Kerchof/A.Smith, 1-7-(11)-
(8)-5-7-1-8-7-4, 40; 5. L.Donovan/M.Doherty, 4-(8)-(9)-3-6-3-6-5-6-
8, 41; 6. K.&L.Pursch (dnf)-(dnc)-2-10-2-4-5-6-4-9, 42.
Taipan 5.7 with spinnaker: 1. B.Goodall/C.Van Helden, (dnf)-(dnc)-1-
1-1-1-1-1-2-1, 9pts; 2. M.Adams/I.Walls, 1-2-2-2-(3)-(3)-2-2-1-2,
14; 3. K.Liutjes/T.Johnstone, 2-1-(4)-(4)-4-4-3-4-3-3, 24.
RESULTS: MG14S
1. Final Phase (G.Roche/D.Yaxley. NSW), 2-1-(4)-1-1-1-1, 8pts; 2.
Predator (L.Mancell/L.Barlin, NSW), 1-2-2-2-2-2-(2), 11; 3. Air Force
One (J.Bailey/S.Estens, SA), 4-4-1-3-3-4-(5), 19; 4. Filthy Fase
(R.Taig/H.Domanti, NSW), 3-3-5-4-4-(5)-3, 22; 5. Wilful Intent
(W.Mueller/W.Blakemore, NSW), 6-6-8-9-5-(12)-6, 40.
National Es
When the fleet gathered at South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club at Sunshine (NSW) for the 44th National E Australian championships, it became clear that with seven past champions it would be a tightly
fought series.
The contest for first place centred on four boats: defending champion Rick De Jong (Miss Bling) training a novice crew (Neil Hammond); Geoff Gill and Sarah McKay (Escapee), a husband and wife combination with proven light-weather skills; David Wise and Tony Ritter (Ruthless) with the most wins in previous championships; and another previous champion Tim Dorning with son Matt (emales).
Setting the scene for the regatta, Escapee won the first heat with Ruthless second after a prolonged tacking duel with emales. Heat two was abandoned due to an electrical storm.
In the remaining six heats, emales and Miss Bling each won two, while Ruthless was runner-up in no less than five races, showing commendable consistency.
However, by heat seven Escapee had the title sewn up with three wins.
Allowing for the generous two-race discard, emales finished in second overall with an unlucky Ruthless third on a countback, followed by Miss Bling in fourth place.
The Es maintained their tradition of being a family class at this championship with two married couples and four fatherson/ daughter crews across the fleet. A special mention is due to the crew of three sailing
Comet, comprising eight and ten year-old brothers Darcy and Angus together with their father Philip Malcolm. The boys kept their enthusiasm through some long days on the water to finish 14th.
— Peter Nixey
12ft Cadets
The 80th Stonehaven Cup for 12Ft Cadets was conducted by the Largs Bay Sailing Club in Adelaide. Teams competed from South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, with 17 dinghies plus two classic timber 12Ft Cadets (Omen and Avenger) from Victoria competing in the Classic Wooden Boat race.
Leading into the series, the Richard Remphrey Memorial trophy was won by Alex Parker, Angus Cooper and Maddy Hannington in Jack Gutierrez, while the Andrew Linacre Memorial race was won by Riordan Bell, Catherine Roberts and Richard Ekins sailing Dorothy Linacre.
Bryce Hanaveer and his crew, brothers Llewyn and Ryan Philby in Tasmania One excelled in the fresh wind of the first day.
Heats four, five and six were sailed in lighter south-west breezes gradually increasing from 10-18kts, gusting to 22kts, and Victorian skippers Alex Parker and Matt Fordham on John Akhurst placed consistently well against the leading Tasmanian crew, with the Jack Gutierrez winning all three races.
The final day of racing for the Stonehaven Cup was frustratingly light and shifty with east-sou’east winds of 5-10kts and shifts of 20-30 degrees. Trhe crew of Tasmania One sailed through the finish line, fists in the air knowing they would be taking the Stonehaven Cup trophy home to their island for the first time.
The Cock of the Class and Classic Wooden Boat race were sailed in the lightest of a north-east land breeze with many shifts and soft patches.
The traditional ‘Grudge Match of Grumpy Old Men’ was won by former Olympic sailor Chris Tillett and his crew of Kane Johnson and Harry Perkins sailing Magpie for SA.
— Paul Woodman
The crew of 12Ft Cadet Tasmania One, skipper Bryce Hanaveer and brothers Llewyn and Ryan Philby.
RESULTS: NATIONAL ES
1.Escapee (G.Gill/S.Mackay, NSW), 1-(3)-3-
1-1-(4)-2, 8pts; 2. Emales (T.&M.Dorning,
Vic), 3-2-1-(10)-(7)-3-1, 10; 3 Ruthless
(D.Wise/T.Ritter, SA), 2-(4)-2-2-2-2-(3),
10; 4. Miss Bling (R.De Jong/N.Hammond,
Vic), (9)-1-4-5-3-1-(5), 14; 5 The Fury
(P.Nixey/M.Town, NSW), 6-5-(10)-(6)-5-5-
4, 25; 6 Miss Chief (B.Clarke/K.Sherry, Vic),
7-8-(9)-3-4-7-(9), 29; 7 Miss Muffet
(L.Alderton/C.Nuttall, NSW), 5-7-7-4-(9)-
(9)-6, 29; 8. Firewind (D.Paton/S.Halloran,
NSW), 4-6-5-(14)-6-10-(11), 31; 9.
Mugs’N’Thugs (N.Waugh/D.Katz, SA), 8-10-
11-7-(13)-(17)-7, 43; 10. Grumpee 2
(A.How/N Westover, SA) (13)-9-6-(11)-11-
8-10, 44.
Sabres
The Sabre nationals at Safety Beach (Vic) attracted the second-biggest fleet since 1992 with 80 boats, and was a successful regatta both on and off the water. While most of the racing was in stronger breezes,
all nine races were completed without need for any resail sessions.
Competitors were treated to the brand new Safety Beach clubhouse and rigging area and racing at all levels within the fleet was superb. The top five place-getters put on a fantastic display of sailing and the overall result was not decided until the last beat of the last race, with only a point separating the first two boats, and the next three just a handful of points in arrears.
Alex Newman took out the major trophy and the 14-boat Seniors (18-39 years) division in his first year in the class, with Callum Burns in second and Wayne Bates third. All three are Victorians.
Newman won four races and discarded two eighth placings; this level of consistency contributed greatly to his win.
Fiona McCulloch (Vic) took out the ladies’ trophy from 13 others, her third win in a row. The Masters (40-49 years) trophy was taken by Callum Burns from a fleet of 15boats, while Tasmanian Matt Westland topped the Grand Masters (50-59 years) fleet of 22 boats and last year’s overall winner, John Gratton (SA) beat 17 others for the Veterans (60+ years) trophy.
Robbie Graham (Vic) fought off nine other entrants to make it three in a row in the Juniors division.
— Mike Simpson
Alex Newman, new national champion in his first season in the Sabre class.
Maricats
The Maricat nationals were held at Mannering Park on Lake Macquarie in NSW as part of the Mannering Park Open Cat regatta. Thirty-one Maricats attended with the full range of Cats, Sloops and Super Sloops and from juniors to senior sailors to world champions.
The star-studded field included multiple world champion and Olympic silver medallist Darren Bundock, former A Class world champion Steve Brewin and Dutch/Belgian Olympic sailor and former Tornado world champion, Carolijn Brouwer.
All the Maricats started in one division with the mix of three boat types and the new foam sandwich and older fibreglass boats making for some interesting comparisons.
While the ‘foamies’ tend to be faster, the results showed that a well-sailed glass boat can still complete.
In the Cat division Darren Bundock had a clear points win but was kept honest on the water by class stalwart Peter Breadon on an older glass boat. Mick Colecliffe was third.
This was Bundock’s second national Maricat title, having won in 1988.
Tony and Amie Zahra were extremely fast on their sloop, winning a couple of races on scratch and easily winning the sloop division.
The Super Sloop division was a very close struggle with the result in doubt up to the last race. Donna Grant travelled from WA to contest the event and had a very narrow win in her old glass boat over Scott Spencer and Phil Johnson on their foamies.
— Rodney Anderson
RESULTS: SABRES
1. Enough Rope (A.Newman, Vic), 4-1-1-
(8)-5-1-3-(8)-1, 16pts; 2. Purple Patch
(C.Burns, Vic), 1-2-6-1-1-(12)-2-4-(15),
17; 3. Outabaloo (W.Bates, Vic), 2-(19)-2-
3-2-9-4-1-(11), 23; 4. Zap (A.Riley, Vic),
(6)-4-4-(6)-4-2-1-6-3, 24; 5. Espresso
(C.Dance, Vic), 3-(5)-3-4-(6)-3-5-2-5, 25;
6. In a Mild Curry Sauce, (R.Rooney, Vic),
8-(11)-(11)-7-3-4-6-7-6, 41; 7. Alchemy
(M.Westland, Tas), 5-(22)-7-10-8-8-8-3-
(13), 49; 8. Get Real (J.Gratton, SA), 7-3-
(13)-9-10-6-7-9-(14), 51; 9. Queens
Boulevard (A.McIntyre, Vic), 9-8-9-11-(15)-
10-11-(15)-2, 60; 10. Eye of the Tiger
(D.Francis, SA), 10-6-10-(14)-11-5-13-
(28)-7, 62.
RESULTS: MARICATS
Cat: 1. D.Bundock; 2. P.Breadon;
3. M.Colecliffe.
Sloop: 1. T.&A.Zahra; 2. D.Zahra/Melissa;
3. R.&Z.Anderson.
Super Sloop: 1. D.Grant; 2. S.Spencer;
3. P.Johnson.
Classic Cat: 1. P.Breadon; 2. C.Brouwer;
3. S.Brewin.
Classic Super Sloop: 1. D.Grant; 2.
N.Ward; 3. G.Main.
Overall Scratch: D.Bundock (foam cat);
2. T.&A.Zahra (foam sloop); 3. P.Breadon
(classic cat); 4. Mick Colecliffe (foam cat);
5. Mark Colecliffe (foam cat).
Adams 10s
A fleet of 16 Adams 10s contested the 2009 national titles, a seven-race series hosted by Lake Macquarie Yacht Club.
The series was dominated by local yacht Eat My Shorts helmed by Chris Villa and Peter Johnson, winning five races and finishing on seven points after discarding their worst placing, a third.
Adrian Roche in Backchat, another Lake boat, placed second overall on 16pts, while Another Dilemma on 18pts was the first of the Middle Harbour boats, winning two races and finishing in third place.
Defending champion Ben Nossiter in Sirius with Jim Vaughan as tactician fought hard to place fourth in the series on 30pts.
The Pat Carroll Memorial trophy for the first timber seater (Mk I boat) was won by Melissa Yeomans onboard the 30-year-old Animus (MHYC) for the second year running.
A fantastic atmosphere prevailed and the racing was highly competitive. In keeping with class tradition, the next championships are planned for Middle Harbour Yacht Club.
— Paul Saunders