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Yachting Australia Corporate Partner
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Yachting Australia
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Admirals Cup Champion In Box Seat To Win ‘Boss Hog’ Trophy
The past twelve months have proved to be a roller coaster ride for the popular Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club offshore racing skipper Colin O’Neil.
During July 2003 a chartered sloop by the name of Aftershock skippered by Colin O’Neil and steered by the Australian Olympic team flag bearer Colin Beashel won the Admirals Cup teams racing championship on the cold waters of the English Channel.
Colin Beashel the six times Olympian and a great mate of the Aftershock crew will Go For Gold in the Star class in Athens while his Aftershock crew mates are in great shape to win ‘Gold’ in the 2004 Hog’s Breath Race Week at Airlie Beach.
Aftershock a state of the art 17.86m sloop recently ‘turbocharged’ with the latest sail-fast keel design and a revamped sail wardrobe has become a short priced favourite to win her second ‘Boss Hog’ trophy in three years.
The new look maxi chaser expertly co steered by World 11 metre champion Stephen McConaghy and Colin O’Neil has recorded the remarkably consistent score of 1-3-1-1 to lead Matt Allen’s Australian IRC class champion Ichi Ban 3-4-2-2 by 5 points while the smaller Victorian sloop Rouseabout 3 (John Rouse) holds third place.
Skipper O’Neil and principal helmsman McConaghy have been supplied with a successful race strategy provided by their internationally famed female navigator Adrienne Cahalan which has allowed them to be the star performers of Hog’s Breath Race Week 2004.
However these outstanding results have not been achieved without incident.
In fact Aftershock careered towards the finish line to win race three with her owner spread eagled on the cockpit floor grappling with a collapsed steering wheel pedestal.
Fortunately smart reaction from her crew allowed Aftershock to cross the finishing line correctly after an erratic gybe to retain her impressive score and a firm grip on the prestigious trophy.
Progressive Points (No Drop): Aftershock (Colin O’Neil, NSW) 1-3-1-1 6pts 1, Ichi Ban (Matt Allen, NSW) 3-4-2-2 11pts 2, Rouseabout (John Rouse, Vic) 2-1-3-11 17pts 3, Game Set (Tony Kirby, NSW) 4-2-4-11 21pts 4, Amity (Ian Griffiths, Qld) 5-5-6-11 27pts 5, Seriously Ten (John Woodruff, NSW) 8-9-8-3 28pts 6.
