Australian Sailing April 2009
International Classes
J/24s
Superb sailing conditions in South Australia ensured exciting one-design racing when the Brother J24 national titles were held at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia. The regatta was run with a mixed bag of winds, up to 28kts.
The long trip across the Nullarbor was well worth it for Sean Wallis who steered Wetty Gripper to an overall win. He and his team threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the 15-boat fleet right from the outset with a win in race one.
From the other side of the country, Doug McGain and his NSW crew sailed Code Violation well to take second place overall, with local entrant Trevor Conyers’ No Eye Deer earning a well deserved third.
There were two all-girl teams in the fleet, Litigant skippered by Helen Willmer and the Victorian entry Hyperactive skippered by Kirsty Harris. Hyperactive made J/24 history as the first all-girl team to win a race at a J24 nationals, following up with a second heat win later in the series.
Fireballs
The International Fireball nationals were raced from Hervey Bay Sailing Club in Queensland. South Australians Robin Inns and Joel Coultas retained the title, coming from behind with two days to go to take the series by five points from Nathan Stockley and Sam Muirhead, followed by Ben Schulz and Ben Neaylon in third place.
Fourth was Greg Allison and Richard Watson, followed by John Heywood/Brett Littledike, Peter Inns/Edward Alder, Dick McCulloch/Glenn Stewart, Matthew Carter/Daniel Rantannen, Steve Luders/Lisa Lavery and Ian Ravenscroft/Paul Grant.
Twenty-six boats travelled from interstate to enjoy the Queensland hospitality and the sailing was some of the closest for many years with the leading and mid fleet groups exchanging places regularly during the races.
The first five races were sailed in steady northerly winds, while the remaining races were held in some very testing conditions, with shifting gusts up to 35kts limiting the series to eight out of the ten races.
This was a new location for the Fireball fleet, with another new venue for next year’s series at Port Stephens in NSW. As the fleet looks forward to hosting the world titles in 2011 in Mandurah, WA and having just reached the 15,000 boat milestone worldwide, the International Fireball sailors are looking forward to exciting times.
RESULTS: J/24S
1. Wetty Gripper (S.Wallis, WA), 1-2-3-1-
2-2-(7)-1-3-1, 16pts; 2. Code Violation
(D.McGain, NSW), 2-(ocs)-1-2-1-1-6-3-
2-2, 20; 3. No Eye Deer (T.Conyers, SA),
5-1-4-6-3-4-4-2-(9)-3, 32; 4. Fun 2
Brother (A.Stevenson, SA), 3-(ocs)-2-4-4-
3-9-4-11-7, 47; 5. Bruschetta
(A.Morison, NSW), 7-4-7-(11)-5-6-2.5-
6-6-6, 49.5; 6. Vertigo (J.Goode, SA),
13-3-5-3-(14)-7-2.5-5-5-8, 51.5; 7.
Hyperactive (K.Harris, Vic), 6-7-6-(12)-6-
9-1-11-1-9, 56; 8. Hi Brother (P.Stevens,
SA), 10-6-(dsq)-7-7-10-5-8-12-4, 69; 9.
Make My Jay (S.Grain, Vic), 9-8-8-8-9-5-
(16)-7-8-13, 75; 10. Good Company
(R.Townsend, SA), 4-10-10-9-8-11-(12)-
9-4-12, 77.
RESULTS: FINNS
Cruising YC of SA, 16 entries: 1. YA
(A.Nossiter, NSW), 1-(3)-1-1-1-1-1-1-
(2)-1, 8pts; 2. Beefi (N.Burfoot, NSW), 2-
1-2-(3)-2-(3)-2-2-1-3, 15; 3. Spruce
Goose (J.Paterson, SA), (4)-2-(4)-2-3-2-
3-3-3-4, 22; 4. Victoria’s Sea Crate
(W.Hill, Vic), 3-4-3-4-4-(5)-(5)-5-4-2,
29; 5. Little Wing (J.Shallvey, Vic), (9)-5-
6-5-6-4-4-4-5-(7), 39; 6. Black Dog
(J.Gunther, Vic), 5-6-5-(7)-5-(7)-7-6-6-
5, 45; 7. Bundy (B.Buchanan, NSW),
(10)-7-7-8-7-8-(9)-8-8-6, 59; 8. Tuna
(M.Roberts, SA), 6-10-9-6-8-6-6-(dnf)-
10-(17), 61; 9. Anya (J.Condie, NSW),
7-9-8-9-9-9-(10)-9-(11)-10, 70; 10.
Rumble Fish (A.Heritage, SA), 8-8-11-11-
10-11-(dnf)-(dnc)-9-8, 76.
420s
A total of 57 420s, the biggest fleet for years, competed in this year’s 420 nationals at Royal Perth Yacht Club. With the class back as the ISAF world youth double-handed boat for at least the next two years, the standard of the fleet had improved markedly, and five boats from Singapore added some international flavour.
The first day’s racing was quite unusual, in that the first start was at 9:00am, and only one race was completed before the fleet was brought back to shore as the breeze died.
The next scheduled start time for the day was at 4:00pm, due to the confined Swan River waters being booked by other classes.
After starting at 4pm, three races were completed, with the fleet getting back to the club at around 8:30pm. A very long day for all the sailors!
The morning races were very variable, while most afternoon races were then held from around 1pm, before the Fremantle Doctor had really settled in, making for a mostly light to moderate series.
The top Singapore boats were very fast in these lighter conditions, and coupled with their crews’ exceptional boat handling and positioning, they quickly became the boats to beat. Justin Liu and Sherman Cheng emerged as the winners with a 35pt margin across the 15-race series.
The Australian battle was between locals David Gilmour/James Omay and Matthew Jerwood/Patrick Voss, with opposition from a number of boats from other states. Byron White and Jay Griffin (NSW) excelled in the few windy races to notch up a number of race wins, but being inconsistent cost them overall. Sean Ott and Adam Lahey (Qld) were very consistent, but two black-flag disqualifications hurt their final chances.
Gilmour and Omay with smooth sailing and crew work, finished the series strongly to hold off Jerwood and Voss and claim the Australian title, after finishing runner-up in the previous two nationals. They were also first in the male youth category.
In the women’s division, Amy Kivell and Jacqueline Gurr (Vic) sailed a smart series, starting well to allow them to be well placed at most first marks, giving them a number of top ten places, and a tenth overall finish to claim the women’s title and also the female youth trophy.
The leading men had either Quantum Tio or North sails, while the leading women used Quantum Tio or Clifton Sails. Superspar masts were used by all the top performing boats.
— Mark Soulsby
Ynglings
The Yngling nationals were held in conjunction with the Sydney International Regatta (SIRs), in December, when the harbour was alive with Olympic and other select classes.
On the first day the breeze varied greatly from light to fairly strong with some big directional shifts. Hamish Jarrett sailed the pressure and shifts to great advantage to win heat one, followed by the Reece family. A great lefthand flyer gave Ellis Todres third place.
Heat two had a repeat in positions for the top two with Karyn Gojnich, her husband John and daughter Zoe in third position. The racing was extremely tight with very little difference in performance, especially between the top five boats. In heat three, AUS45 sailed to victory.
Day two’s morning start was in lighter breeze, and the advantage swung to the Gojnich family on AUS57, winning two heats.
On the final day the breeze was back, with a good Sydney Harbour nor’easter with lots of grey clouds. The racing remained extremely close, which was a testament to the fleet’s great boat handling skills in the tricky gusty winds and harbour waves.
Jordan, Alan and Michael Reece scored two wins and a second to take second overall behind Hamish Jarrett, Lorna Jackson and Alana Bracken. Third place overall went to Gary Wogas, Sandy Fesq and Cameron Sloey.
— Hamish Jarrett
RESULTS: 420S
1. J.Liu/S.Cheng (SIN), 1-(7)-3-(5)-1-4-1-
1-(5)-2-1-3-1-1-2, 21pts; 2.
D.Gilmour/J.Omay (WA), 13-1-6-(15)-2-1-
5-2-6-6-3-12-8-(bfd)-4, 56; 3.
M.Jerwood/P.Voss (WA), 8-5-5-6-(bfd)-7-
(17)-7-3-(16)-2-6-6-6-3, 64; 4.
S.Ott/A.Lahey (Qld), (22)-3-11-4-(bfd)-2-
15-14-2-3-7-5-3-(bfd)-5, 74; 5.
B.White/J.Griffin (NSW), 12-2-1-9-(bfd)-12-
7-(26)-19-4-23-7-5-(32)-1, 102; 6.
K.Bromfield/M.Conway (NSW), (20)-6-2-8-
13-8-16-(16)-(24)-9-4-14-7-7-10, 104;
7. A.Galloway/A.Gough (Qld), 9-4-8-18-10-
5-6-4-(28)-(24)-9-(29)-12-14-6, 105;
8. G.Khng/C.Low (SIN) 7-(36)-9-(29)-3-
26-3-3-14-1-18-8-2-(bfd)-23, 117; 9.
S.&W.Ryan (Qld), 14-11-16-2-18-(24)-19-
10-1-(27)-10-(25)-4-10-12, 127; 10.
A.Kivell/J.Gurr (Vic), 2-20-24-7-(28)-17-4-
18-10-5-11-2-20-(25)-(37), 140.
RESULTS: YNGLINGS
1. H.Jarrett/L.Jackson/A.Bracken, 1-1-2-2-2-
(5)-4-2, 14pts; 2. J.,A.&R.Reece, 2-2-3-4-
(7)-1-2-1, 15; 3. G.Wogas/a.Fesq/C.Sloey,
4-4-1-(7)-4-2-1-3, 19; 4. K.,Z.&J.Gojnich,
(8)-3-4-1-1-6-6-4, 25; 5. C.&H.Harper/
W.Back, 5-6-5-3-6-3-3-(13)-dnc, 31.
International 14s
Brad Devine and forward hand Ian ‘Footy’ Furlong defended their International 14 footer Australian title with a commanding display of boat handling, speed and tactics on Melville Water, the Swan River, Perth.
Devine and Furlong sailed Royston Vasey to a two-point victory from current world champion Archie Massey of the UK and Dan Wilsden in George 1st, with Anthony Anderson and Phil Chadwick in Ray & the Crazy 88s third overall. Victoria’s former champion Mark Kristic with Andrew Wilson in TBA were fourth with just seven points separating all boats.
Devine went into the final heat in a good position but had to withstand the threat from Anderson and Massey. “I had Anthony Anderson just in front of me all day, while the light-wind fliers like Kristic and Massey cleared out,” said Devine.
“There were just two points in it at the end but that is obviously enough. We had a bit of a home-town advantage and we sailed well in the stronger breezes earlier in the regatta. It is a great feeling to get the title.”
Devine said he had thought of making this regatta his last event but said, “I’ll be back. I have a new boat on the way from Canada and we have a bit of unfinished business [a world title to win].”
Anthony Anderson said the Swan River had proven an excellent race track with challenging and shifty conditions. He certainly showed good speed in a wide range of conditions. His boat, like most of the front runners, was designed and built around the horizontal rudder foils which have made such a massive change to the class in recent years.
The foils in general are set around 250- 300mm below water level, have wing spans similar to the chine width at the transom and are adjustable to trim the bow up or down. Upwind the foil provides lift and that translates to improved speed and height.
Most crews sail upwind with their trapezing weight well aft, near to the foil, and trim the bow to maximise waterline length. This has allowed masts to move aft, which in turn allows jibs to be non-overlapping and therefore self-tacking. All up, this translates to significant upwind speed improvement for the modern 14-footers.
Downwind the foils are trimmed to raise the bow which makes for safer sailing under the big kites, even in the heavy air of heat five when the Fremantle Doctor pumped at over 25kts and gusts exceeded 30kts. This race claimed 11 boats as DNF and five DNS.
Multiple national title holder Ray Hancock (aged 65) broke a mast under kite but still managed to finish when he was sailing back to the club and noticed the Shortened Course flags and was able to stagger through the finish line for a tenth on the day.
Among the retirements that day was former world champion Bill Devine, aged 70, who with crew Ben Powell finished 25th overall, a remarkable effort for a true blue stalwart of the high-performance class.
The first three boats were Bieker 5 designs (some modified) built with carbon. Irwin Sails and Alexander Sails on CST carbon masts and booms were extensively used throughout the fleet.
Ian Furlong and Phil Chadwick, crewing on the top boats, have similar physiques of around 190-195cm in height, agile and weighing in around 100-106kg, a benefit when the Fremantle Doctor blew in.
Perth Dinghy Sailing Club proved an excellent venue for the regatta with its combination of facilities, beach-side location on the Swan and dedicated volunteers. The International 14 footer is one of the
world’s oldest centreboard classes but due to its development rule, the boats have remained sophisticated and fast. The next world championship is in Sydney next summer and a fleet of 100 boats, with good representation from the northern hemisphere, is expected.
— Neil Patchett
RESULTS: INTERNATIONAL 14S
1. Royston Vasey (B.Devine/I.Furlong,
WA), 2-1-4-1-1-3-(6), 12pts; 2. George
1st (A.Massey/D.Wilsden GBR), 1-(dns)-
2-4-3-2-2, 14; 3. Ray & the Crazy 88s
(A.Anderson/P.Chadwick, Vic), (12)-2-1-
5-2-1-4, 15; 4. TBA (M.Kristic/A.Wilson,
Vic), 3-3-5-3-(13)-4-1, 19; 5. Sage
Automation (D.Hayter/M.Low, SA), 9-9-3-
2-(dnf)-5-3, 31; 5. Lost in Space
(W.Sare/R.Murdoch, WA), 6-(dns)-7-8-4-
6-8-7, 40; 7; Irwin Sails (L.Irwin/A.Perry,
Vic), 4-(ocs)-6-11-6-8-7, 42, 8; Flaunt It
(R.Scherwinski/J.Latani, Vic), 5-6-11-6-
(15)-10-10, 48; 9; One More Grunt
(G.Coutts/T.Caldwell, Vic), 8-10.1-8-10-9-
(21)-5, 50.1; 10. Snatch
(S.Sloss/G.Tincombe WA), 10-8-9-15-5-
9-(15), 56.
International Cadets
The 47th International Cadet Australian championships kicked off to a dramatic start at Port Lincoln Yacht Club, South Australia in January, with the first day of racing being abandoned because of 44 degree heat and 40kt winds, which sparked a bushfire on the outskirts of town. A lot of the Port Lincoln race officials and volunteers needed to go and protect their properties, which was part of the reason the race was abandoned.The fire was brought under control within 24 hours, but not before the fierce flames burnt down two tuna processing plants, a few houses and bushland.
When racing got started it was great competition, with 73 boats entering from SA, Victoria, NSW and Tasmania. The weather was fairly kind after that first searing day, with the wind only reaching 15kts in the early days of racing.
Port Lincoln is known for its sharks, but luckily there was only one sighting near the race course on Boston Bay, when a two-metre shark was spotted swimming under a little 3.2m Cadet!
Drop Bears, sailed by Lewis Noye and Oliver Burnell became the new Australian champions, followed by Red Baron, sailed by siblings Alec and Samantha Bailey, and third overall was Pour Quoi, sailed by Georgina Kennedy and Silas Hamilton. All three boats are from Hobart.
On the layday a group of sailors chose to go out on a charter boat to hand-feed and swim with 30kg tuna in a netted enclosure. It was an awesome experience, even though some people did get their fingers a bit nibbled by the fish as they were feeding them! It was a brilliant, well organised regatta, and a lot of experience was gained by competitors and parents.
The top seven crews were invited to make up the Australian team to travel to the next world titles in Argentina, January 2010.
— Nikola Dixon
OK Dinghies
The 47th OK Dinghy Australian championship was conducted by South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club, NSW. The series, which attracted 37 entries including five juniors, got off to a disrupted start when the first day’s racing was eventually cancelled due to a severe electrical storm.
After five days of very close racing in generally moderate and occasionally gusty conditions, Andre Blasse and Peter Horne finished the series on equal points, with Victorian Blasse taking the title on a countback.
Third place went to early series leader Mike Williams, who suffered an uncharacteristic and very costly capsize approaching the finish of heat six when assured of second place and the title within his grasp.
While racing throughout the fleet was tight, the top three continually demonstrated the ability to move forward within the fleet and improve their final position as each race progressed.
Junior champion was David O’Donnell, a creditable 12th overall, while the perennial Bruce Ashton secured another win as masters champion, with Frank Prater winning the coveted Patrick Whittington memorial trophy for the handicap event.
Six of the top ten boats were built by Jason King Marine over the past two years. The majority of boats in the fleet now use carbon masts, the NZ C-Tech being the most prominent, with a number of boats using the latest Mark III version.
While Gale & Rimmington was the sail of choice for the majority of the top ten boats, many also favour sails from Quantum, Linton and Wangi local Rob Brown. Bruce Ashton, who weighs in at the light
end of the fleet, used a smaller short-footed sail to good effect, while the two super light youngsters (who were sailing Sabots last year) competed with their 80 per cent rig, a recent class development.
The 2009 world championship will be held in Kalmar, Sweden in July, while the next Australian championship will be held as part of the Sail Melbourne regatta on Port Phillip in December, following
which boats will be shipped to New Zealand for the 2010 world championship in Wellington in early February.
— Bob Chapman
RESULTS: INTERNATIONAL CADETS
1. Drop Bears (L.Noye/O.Burnell, Tas)
23pts; 2. Red Baron (A.&S.Bailey, Tas) 31;
3. Pour Quoi (G.Kennedy/S.Hamilton, Tas),
44; 4. Shimmer (S.&E.Chesterman, Tas),
48; 5. Pelorus (E.Ransley/K.Hudson, Tas),
49; 6. Insayne (I.Say/B.Brill, Vic), 54;
7. Snakebite (I.Lee/D.Baranowski, Vic), 60;
8. Pepsea (L.Stephens/L.Henderson, SA),
61; 9. Hyper Hyper (C.Swan/T.Witty, Vic),
70; 10. Cheeky Monkeys (H.Groome/P.Alm,
SA), 76.
RESULTS: OK DINGHIES
1. Knot 4 Sail (A.Blasse, Vic), (7)-4-1-4-1-2-
1, 13pts; 2. Another Crack (P.Horne, NSW),
2-2-2-(10)-2-1-4, 13; 3. Time Machine
(M.Williams, Vic), 1-1-5-1-9-(11)-3, 20; 4.
Virgin on Ridiculous (R.Davis, Vic), 3-5-3-
(16)-6-3-11, 31; 5. Shakey (P.Robinson,
NSW), 4-10-4-5-(14)-9-2, 34; 6. Dune
Buggy (T.Davies, NSW), 6-3-(12)-6-4-6-9,
34; 7. Bowfinger (B.Ashton, VIC), 8-(38)-9-
2-8-4-7, 38; 8. AUS646 (J.Skelton), (16)-7-
14-12-3-5-5, 46; 9. Cracked Pecker
(E.O’Donnell, NSW), 51; 10. Jesus Built My
Hotrod (P.Foster, NSW), 51.
Tasars
McCrae Yacht Club on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula successfully hosted the Unibuilt 36th Australian Tasar championships. The event attracted 69 entries from six States and Territories across Australia.
McCrae was an excellent location with sandy shores, grassed rigging areas and a great clubhouse perfectly suited to hosting highclass dinghy championships.
The biggest fleet contesting a Tasar national title for some time consisted of a mixture of stalwarts and newcomers as well as people making a return to the class. Among the pre-regatta favorites were
former world champions Rob and Nicole Douglass from NSW, newcomers Craig and Mel Davidson from the ACT, top 505 sailor Michael Quirk with crew Marise Hannaford and returning sailors with new boats David and Doris Bretherton from Victoria and Shane Guanaria and Melinda Rippe from Sydney. Unfortunately for Rob and Nicole Douglass, Nicole broke her foot two weeks before Christmas and could not sail.
The racing conditions varied from light to medium on the first day to very windy on the second. Medium to fresh conditions continued throughout the regatta until the last day when it lightened off.
Shane Guanaria and Mel Rippe won the series with a race to spare after a tough battle with Rob Douglass and Peter Issaacs from NSW. Both boats had trained together leading up to the event and showed consistent speed across the range of conditions, with Sway holding a slight edge over the fleet in the windier races.
Third place went to Dave and Doris Bretherton from Victoria who also won the masters division for crews with a combined age of 80 or more.
The grand masters division for crews with a combined age of 100 or more was taken out by Michael and Kim Paynter, with fellow Victorians Derick and Gwen Warne winning the super grandmasters.
Other division winners were Megan Ridgway sailing with her mother Bronwyn for first lady helm and Max Taylor and Sam Kivell, who took out the junior division.
— Shane Guanaria
RESULTS: TASARS
1. Sway (S.Guanaria/M.Rippe, NSW), 17-4-1-1-2-2-6-2-1-ocs, 19pts;
2. Coollit (R.Douglass/P.Issaacs, NSW), 4-8-4-1-1-1-4-5-4, 21; 3.
Edge Off (D.&D.Bretherton, Vic) 10-10-2-2-3-11-19.5-1-3-6, 37; 4.
Placebo Effect (C.&M.Davidson, ACT), 8-2-6-6-9-8-3-6-12.5-13, 48;
5. Rastafarian Rocket (L.Owen/S.Clarke, NT), 13-7-3-7-ocs-3-8-4-11-
17, 56; 6. Chaos Theory (C.Payne/H.Macfarlane, Vic), 7-9-15-23-4-4-
12-11-20-4, 66; 7. Orange Lodge (P.Oliver/D.Nelson, Vic), 3-3-23-26-
ocs-7-2-10-9-11, 68; 8. Corsair VIII (J.Gibson/M.Tonner, Vic), 12-31-
7-15-16-20-10-7-7-3, 77; 9. Mango Chilli (J.Faddy/L.Houtzager,
NSW), 82; 10. Trouble (M.Quirk/M.Hannaford, NSW), 83.