Yachting Australia

What is Team Racing

The two teams of three race to try and achieve a winning combination of places - the lowest score wins. The scoring system is usually: 1st place - 1 point 2nd place - 2 points 3rd place - 3 points and so on.

A team that scores ten or less is therefore the winner, so that 2,3,4 beats 1,5,6 - being first past the post does not guarantee glory!

If a team is lying say 1,4,6 the leading boat will go back an d try to help his team-mates through to 2,3,5 or better. How does he do this?

The team racer has two main weapons. Firstly, he can position his boat between the wind and his opponent, thus blanketing his sails and slowing him down. Secondly, he can use the right-of-way rules to his advantage, approaching his opponents in such a way that his adversary has to change course or incur a penalty. Both these weapons are deployed even before the start when the manoeuvres begin, much as in Match racing, but with six boats rather than two performing an intricate and aggressive dance.

To maintain order, and keep everyone out of the protest room, the racing is followed by umpires in small inflatables. If protested against, a competitor can accept his punishment and complete a 360deg turn or he can wait for the umpires to give a decision which may result in a green flag for 'no penalty' or a 720deg turn if the protest is upheld. Everything happens very quickly and there is no better school for tactical decision making and understanding of the rules

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International & Recognised Classes News

International & Recognised Classes News

Australian sailors have dominated the 2001 Moth Worlds in Japan, taking the top 3 places in the 34-boat fleet.
Mark Thorpe took the championship in a decisive manner with 7 wins and a total of 9 points, his discard being a DNF in race 8 after he led the entire fleet to the wrong mark! Defending world champion Chris Dey was a clear second with 2 wins and 16 points, while Andrew McDougall finished third overall with 1 win and 19 points (aged over 40, he was also the first master).
The event was plagued by a nearby typhoon that produced seas of up to 4 metres and strong winds, with Thorpe's experience and boat-handling skills coming to the fore.
The Moths will now be shipped back to Australia by P&O.

All welcome for QLD 420 titles, Brisbane Monday, 15 October 2001

The 2001 Queensland 420 State titles will be held at the RQYS, Brisbane on the weekends of December 1/2 and 8/9, with Sail Brisbane slotted in between.
This is a unique opportunity for 420 sailors tuning up for the Australian Youth Championships and the 420 Nationals in Perth in January 02 to sail in two high quality lead-up regattas.
Sailors from other States are welcome to come to Brisbane and sail the regattas before travelling to Perth. Call the RQYS Regatta office on (07) 3396 8666 or contact either Mark Patterson (markpatterson53@hotmail.com) on (07) 3252 2563 or Wendy (callwood@netspace.net.au) Allwood on (07) 3206 1741.

Calvert-Jones second in Farr 40 Worlds, Cowes, Wednesday, 19 September 2001

Defending champion John Calvert-Jones, steering Southern Star, has finished runner-up in the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship at Cowes, with Ernesto Bertarelli scoring a decisive and well-deserved win.
The smiling Swiss sailor compared his victory with that which he and his Alinghi team scored in the 12-Metre World Championship last month, declaring "The 40s win is better than the 12s because I was helming". Bertarelli and his Alinghi team won the first race of the final day and then consolidated their position with a sixth and a second in tricky conditions.
The north-westerly airstream was unstable in strength and direction, swinging wildly both ways with a capriciousness to catch the unwary. Calvert-Jones's Southern Star was one of those badly caught in the first race, for while Alinghi led from the second mark of the two lap windward/leeward course, Southern Star was caught on the wrong side of a wind shift on the first leg and never recovered after rounding in 19th place.
But Calvert-Jones went into recovery mode as the day went on. He was just behind Alinghi, in ninth place at the first mark in the next race, and began to claw back places. Bertarelli had to be content with sixth, but Calvert-Jones went one better to finish fifth. That race was won by Brit Mark Heeley, coming from fourth place at the first mark to leading through the leeward gate.
The top two places then seemed certain to go to Bertarelli and Calvert-Jones and they made sure of that in the final race, with the Australian winning by 40 seconds from the Swiss skipper. Mistakes were painfully punishing from the wind shifts throughout the day, and from mistakes on the boat, like that on the 1998 champion, Jim Richardson's Barking Mad. Bowman James Ware was swept overboard by the spinnaker boom as Barking Mad was rounding the leeward mark in the first of the day's three races. Richardson took all way off the boat and Ware swam to the stern and was hauled back on board.
Then the Italian boat Zzenzero, skippered by Renato Mazzeschi, on port tack, sliced into the side of Forza, badly crushing crewman Stuart Miller's foot and tipping him into the sea. Miller was taken to Southampton Hospital where surgery was carried out on the foot. Timbrell was extremely fortunate in saving his yacht, which was holed from waterline to centreline on the port side.

Aussies take Gold, Silver & Bronze at A-Cat Worlds, Barcelona, Spain, Monday, 27 August 2001

Steve Brewin is Australia’s newest World Champion - in the A-Class Catamaran. Steve was also crowned Junior World Champion.

Past A-Class World Champion, Glen Ashby has taken out the Silver Medal with Scott Anderson finishing off Australia’s trifecta with the Bronze Medal. Scott took out the Masters World Championship as well.
The Championship was sailed from Port Ginesta in Spain with 91 boats racing from 12 nations.

Aussies take the Bronze at the Tasar Worlds, Whitstable, Great Britain, Monday, 27 August 2001
The 100 strong fleet, the largest fleet at a Tasar World Championship held outside Australia, disappeared into the morning mist for the last race, held in a very light 3-5 knot easterly breeze.

After the obligatory general recall and the use of the well worn black flag the fleet sailed off into the mist for what turned out to be longest race of the week with probably half a dozen boats taking a turn in the lead.
Craig McPhee AUS had to beat Carol Buchan by 3 places to secure the title but after a poor 1st leg spent the rest of the race playing catch up and only finished 14th. Thilo Giese CAN eventually won which gave him 2nd overall ahead of McPhee. Former UK & European champion Constantine Udo took his turn in the lead only to finish 2nd and Martin Linsley AUS, Chris Sallis UK, Shane Guanaria AUS and Stuart Friezer AUS all held the lead at one time but could not hold on until the finish. The last leg still managed to throw up a challenge with a 20 degree windshift that caught many people unaware and there were some major changes of places much to the frustration of many.

Final placings;
Carol & Carl Buchan USA 16 pts.
Thilo & Sandra Towers CAN 24
Craig McPhee & Kevin Kellow AUS ( SA ) 27
George & Natsuki Motoyoshi JPN 27
Martin Linsley & Nick Grey AUS ( ACT ) 28
Rick Longbotton & Paul Kinghorn AUS ( ACT ) 52
Shane Guanaria & Rabecca Amies AUS ( NSW ) 65
Stuart Friezer & Sian Jones AUS ( NSW ) 67
Peter & Heather Mills GBR 77
Richard Russel & Tig Williams GBR 77
Junior Champion - Shane Guanaria & Rabecca Amies AUS, 7th overall
Masters Champion - Carol & Carl Buchan USA, 1st overall
Grand Masters - Ian Guanaria & Trish Mcveagh AUS 14th overall

Brett the world's top Contender, Monday, 13 August 2001

Spending six to seven days a week in intensive training has paid off handsomely for Contender dinghy sailor Arthur Brett, helping him to win the 2001 World Championships.

A scholarship athlete with the Victorian Institute of Sport and a member of the Victorian High Performance Sailing Program, Brett sailed a consistent series against 31 starters. He won four races and counted a third as his worst result, having discarded a DNF in the last race.
The loan Aussie was pushed hard by Italian Andrea Bonezzi, who finished just four points behind. Brit Nigel Walbank was well back in third place on 31 points.
Brett will defend the title in his home town, with the next Contender worlds to be held in Black Rock in January as part of Sail Melbourne.
The Contender was designed by Bob Miller (who later changed his name to Ben Lexcen)and won a 1968 trial to select a new Olympic class. It was ultimately rejected but nevertheless gained International status.
Sydney's Barry White was a three-time world champion in the class during the early 1980s. Brett is a two-time Australian champion.

Aussies Take the Silver at the World Mirror Championship, Howth, IRL, Thursday, 9 August 2001

Peter Bayly and William Atkinson of Lough Derg Yacht Club are the new World Mirror Champions. At Howth today they clinched the title in style by winning the ninth race ­ their third gun in the 10-race series.

Impressive throughout the whole of the Datalex-sponsored event, their outstanding race record included two seconds, a 3rd, a 7th and a 13th and they didn’t even have to compete in the final race.
After two discards were taken into account, they had a massive 17 points to spare over runners-up Torvar Mirsky and Justin Jacob from Australia. The Fremantle pair had just a four points advantage over Ireland¹s Nick Meadow and Sam Trott from Carrickfergus for whom a broken tiller in the ninth race proved decisive in the overall standings.
Another Irish crew, Royal Cork’s Chris and Catherine Forristal were highly consistent and were rewarded with 4th overall ahead of two British entries, David and Jake Gebhard and Robert Grieg-Gran with Jonathon Telford.
The last day of the Championship also witnessed fresher northerly winds which allowed Race Officer David Lovegrove set trapezoidal courses for the first time.
Needing only to sail conservatively on the last day to secure the title, Bayly and Atkinson led from start to finish and never looked in any danger of losing their lead, although Cork¹s Alex Kaiser and Jack Vaughan did reduce it at one stage to 30 seconds.
The newly crowned Champions retired from the last race which was won with considerable elan by the new International Mirror Class Association President Des Clayton and his crew Craig Martin. Second were the leading Australian crew while Patrick Cronin and Orlaigh Magee of Malahide YC had their best result of the series in 3rd place.
With six boats in the top ten overall, Ireland also won the Team Trophy, repeating the feat of two years ago in South Africa.
In the International Regatta, Ireland dominated even more, filling the first five places. The Vaughan brothers, Stuart and Ross from Royal North of Ireland YC, won the event with considerable ease, but two firsts on the final day saw Stephen Glennon and Graham Barker of the host club jump four places to take the runners-up spot.
Race 9
P.Bayly/W.Atkinson (Lough Derg YC ­ IRL)
A.Kaiser/J.Vaughan (Royal Cork YC ­ IRL)
R.Grieg-Gran/J.Telford (Lympstone SC ­ GBR)
I.McGonigle/S.Glynn (Skerries SC ­ IRL)
M.O’Toole/J.Collova (Royal Perth YC ­ AUS)
D & J Gebhard (Derwent Reservoir SC ­ GBR)
Race 10
1. D.Clayton/C.Martin (Royal North of Ireland YC ­ IRL)
2. T.Mirsky/J.Jacob (Fremantle SC ­ AUS)
3. P.Cronin/O.Magee (Malahide YC ­ IRL)
4. S.Jacobs/G.Eagleson (Zeekoevlei YC ­ RSA)
5. I.McGonigle/S.Glynn (Skerries SC ­ IRL)
6. M.Burge/K.MacGregor (Poole YC ­ GBR)
Overall Championship Results (after 10 races):
1. P.Bayly/W.Atkinson (Lough Derg YC ­ IRL) 30pts
2. T.Mirsky/J.Jacob (Fremantle SC ­ AUS) 47pts
3. N.Meadow/S.Trott (Carrickfergus SC ­ IRL) 51pts
4. C & C Forristal (Royal Cork YC ­ IRL) 59pts
5. D & J Gebhard (Derwent Reservoir SC ­ GBR) 68pts
6. R.Grieg-Gran/J.Telford (Lympstone SC ­ GBR) 81pts
Other leading Australian Placings: 7th Mark O'Toole/John Collova (Royal Perth YC - WA) 81pts 11th Mark Barrington/Jessie Atherton (Kingston Beach SC - TAS) 108pts

Entries close for Forrester Properties Sydney - Mooloolaba Race

"A fleet of 40 is more than a respectable size to send to our partners at Mooloolaba Yacht Club," said CYCA CEO Glenn Bourke.

"While we are a couple of entries down on last year, the quality of this year''s fleet is outstanding with the likes of Howard de Torres'' IMS champion Nips ''n'' tux, Syd Fischer''s Ragamuffin and the winner of the 2000 Telstra Sydney to Hobart Race, SAP Ausmaid, all lining up on April 7," he added.

New South Wales yachts make up the bulk of entries however Queensland and Victoria will be represented by Mojo Rising (Clayton Craigie) and Bimble Gumbee (Nick Cox), and Grant Wharington''s 83-footer Wild Thing and John Alexander''s Scoundrel, respectively. Racing for line honours will be Sean Langman''s radical Open 60 Xena, Wild Thing, George Snow''s Brindabella, the record holder in this event (44 hours 01 minutes 43 seconds), and Marchioness (Kennedy/Smart/Cranitch), in her last offshore passage.

Last year Brindabella and Wild Thing enjoyed a titanic struggle over the 469 nautical mile course to finish just under seven minutes apart, with the Melbourne maxi just holding out her Sydney rival. Race organisers are predicting a close finish amongst the handicap favourites for the Forrester Properties Sydney - Mooloolaba Race in association with Maroochy Shire Council and Events Sunshine Coast.

In the IMS Division, Ragamuffin, Nips ''n'' tux, the two Beneteau 40.7s Mojo Rising and Fireball and Kevan Pearce''s SAP Ausmaid, current pointscore leader of the IMS Bluewater Championship Series, could take out the overall trophy according to the CYCA''s Technical Operations Manager Mark Robinson.

Similarly in the competitive IRC Division, Warwick Sherman''s Cookson 12m Occasional Coarse Language, Stephen''s Ainsworth''s Swan 48 and Wild Thing are all considered potentials for top honours.

Late entries may be accepted with a late entry fee until April 3, subject to approval by the Race Committee.

For further information, please contact Lisa Ratcliff on 0418 428 511.

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Sail the Solomons 2001

After 10 cold, wet and bumpy lumpy races to Hobart , the last in 1994 past Commodore of the Queensland Cruising Yacht Club Dayle Smith decided that there are other places to sail, which don''''t involve the mandatory two to three cold fronts, 40-50 knot head winds and lumpy seas.

Even coastal races north, he found, as many have since, can still be hard especially for navigators and owners with a lot of rock hopping. Just ask the 2000 Pittwater to Coffs fleet.

An examination of the Pacific charts, showed a range of interesting destinations for a race starting in Brisbane. New Guinea was certainly down-wind but there was the matter of the Great Barrier reef to negotiate and Vanuatu, New Calidonia , Lord Howe Island and Fiji all required more of those upwind beats. During the mid-winter trade winds the Solomon Islands some 1200 miles from Brisbane would be a nice run.

Australian sailors returning from the Melbourne to Osaka race in 1994 had cruised back via the Solomon Islands and reported that the island group (992 to be precise) provided idyllic cruising conditions, with diving, snorkelling and fishing conditions quite unsurpassed..

The unspoilt and beautiful Western Solomons were rarely visited by westerners, except for sports divers who came from Europe and the United Stated attracted by some of the best diving conditions in the world.

Gizo Harbour, the Japanese fleet maintenance base during the Coral Sea battle provided an excellent combination of a large sheltered harbour and a friendly town, with a friendly air-conditioned hotel and with adequate facilities for sailing vessels.

So in 1996, a race of a different kind was started, Sail the Solomons , an 1178 mile reach, up into the warm Coral Sea, an area of benign seas and few ocean currents.

A race in which sailors take bean bags, books, T shirts, shorts and suntan lotion, rather than wet weather gear, thermals and sea boots.

It's a pretty cruisy race, the racing division sails all the way, but the cruising division can use their iron spinnaker if breezes lighten.

In 1997 Andrew Strachan's Farr 47 Ninety Seven was line honours winner.

In 1998 Honiara, the Solomons capital was the chosen destination but the charm of the Western Solomons took the fleet back to Gizo in 2000 and that again will be the destination when the fleet leaves Brisbane on June 2nd 2001.

For the people of the Western Solomons Vaka Tepe week (which roughly translates as Sail-Week ) has become an important Regional events, with canoes coming to the regional capital Gizo from many outlying islands. Gizo school has an official holiday for the opening of the Festival, which is a sail past of the fleet, laden with hundreds of school children, laughing, yelling and waving.

After the fun of that unique local festival, many of the fleet will cruise up to the Choiseuls, making their way back to the Whitsundays in time for Hogs Breath and Hamilton Island Race week .

The 2001 Race is sponsored by Solomon Island Airlines, the Gizo Hotel and Solomon Telekom.

Sail-world.com is the official race website for the Solomons 2001 Brisbane to Gizo race. At http://www.sail-world.com you can see the sailing instructions, entry forms, the race organisers newsletter, a collection of photographs, extracts from the Solomons Island cruising guide,

There are already some 10 boats entered…but so is the time for cruising and racing boats to break out of the coastal racing habit and Sail the Solomons 2001

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2004 Etchells Worlds for Mooloolaba

A fleet of up to 75 boats, including entries from the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Great Britain and Europe, is expected to contest the regatta in November, 2004.

Mooloolaba Yacht Club has successfully conducted the Australian Mid-Winter Etchells Championships over the past few years, drawing competitors from most other Australian fleets as well as from New Zealand and the United States.

This active yacht racing Club next month will join with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in conducting the annual Forrester Properties Sydney-Mooloolaba ocean race, starting on Saturday, April 7.

Many of the world’s best one-design helmsmen, including America’s Cup and Olympic skippers, traditionally sail Etchells in club and championship competition.

The Etchells is a three-crew keelboat and the most popular one-design class in Australia. Australian Cameron Miles won the 1999 World Championship conducted by Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club sailed on the Palm Beach Circle while American Vince Brun won the 2000 Worlds in San Diego, California.

The 2001 World Championship will be held at Lymington, England, in August, with several Australian crews expected to compete.

Further information: Peter Campbell – 0419 385 028 or Email – peter_campbell@bigpond.com

Gilmour Takes a Record Fifth Win

He has produced the most dominant performance by any skipper in the eighteen year history of the event, winning 25 races from 26 starts, over the five days.

"It feels as good as the first win," he admitted after stepping ashore, "we were sailing, obviously, particularly well this week, and it''s nice to be able to keep that going all the way through to the finals.

"As the finals come, a little bit more heat gets into the oven, and you wonder how things are going to go, but we seemed to be going just as strong in the semi-finals and finals, so I was really delighted with the way the team was going."

Gilmour, whose One World Challenge is based out of Seattle, took the first encounter by 24 seconds.

In the second race he forced Brady into two infringements, and by the time the young Kiwi-turned-Italian had completed his penalty turns, Gilmour''s winning margin had stretched to 42 seconds.

This is the second time in two weeks that Brady has lost a final, going down to Frenchman Bertrand Pace in Auckland''s Steinlager Line 7 regatta just a week ago.

He had fought his way through to the final after a tough semi-final with Sweden''s Magnus Holmberg, and was philosophical about his loss.

He said, "we came here to sail against the best in the world, and this week Peter Gilmour is the best in the world, it''s all part of our training for the America''s Cup."

Ken Read, from Team Dennis Conner''s Stars & Stripes challenge, sailing his first grade one event, took third place after a shoot out with Magnus Holmberg, who finishes fourth for the second week in a row.

However, Magnus Holmberg can take consolation from the fact that he still heads the leaderboard in the Swedish Match Grand Prix leaderboard, with three events left to sail.

RESULTS:

1. Peter Gilmour (USA)

2. Gavin Brady (ITA)

3. Ken Read (USA)

4. Magnus Holmberg (SWE)

5. Luc Pillot (FRA)

6. Chris Dickson (USA)

7. Jes-Gram Hansen (DEN)

8. Neville Wittey (AUS)

9. Jesper Radich (DEN)

10. James Spithill (USA)

11. Andy Beadsworth (GBR)

12. Nicola Celon (ITA)

Semi-finals:

Peter Gilmour (USA) bt Ken Read (USA) 2 - 0

Gavin Brady (ITA) bt Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 2 - 1

Finals:

Peter Gilmour (USA) bt Gavin Brady (ITA) 2 - 0

Petit finals:

Ken Read (USA) bt Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 2 - 1

SWEDISH MATCH GRAND PRIX SAILING TOUR.

Scores after five events:

1. Magnus Holmberg (SWE) 80

2. Bertrand Pace (NZL) 49

3. Peter Gilmour (USA) 45

4. Gavin Brady (ITA) 40

5. Ed Baird (USA) 36

6. Chris Dickson (USA) 34

7. Sten Mohr (DEN) 32

8. Peter Holmberg (USA) 27

For further information, contact: John Roberson:- Mobile - 61 (0)407 476 462 Media Centre - 61 (0)8 6389 0071 Home - 61 (0) 8 9430 4944 e-mail - robo_bandana@compuserve.com

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Step up in Class

Barry Moore’s first season with his new Sydney 38 Blowfly was capped off with wins in both IMS & IRC divisions in the 2000-2001 Sydney Combined Club Pointscore.

The Combined event involves crews from the Sydney Clubs, CYCA, Middle Harbour, the Squadron & the Alfreds. This year it was a six race series which includes the Ord Minnett Regatta

In a surprise result in the IMS Division, Blowfly a standard Sydney 38 One Design boat, beat the Ron Jones IMS Sydney 40 Sledgehammer, with Howard and Susan Piggotts True North coming third. The scoring under IMS rules is no longer penalising stiff boats to the extent it was and as Lou Abrahams showed in the 2000 Sydney to Hobart, the Sydney 38 can be a very competitive IMS boat.

The result in IRC was more expected, with Blowfly being consistent since her launching. Blowfly held off Warren Johns 50 purpose built IRC boat Heaven Can Wait, with Anne & David Taylors Pippin third.

Barry Moore, who won his division of the Combined Club event back in 1998 with his J-35 Locomotion says, “I’m just a club racer”. Blowfly’s skipper sometimes know as ‘Maggott’ in tight racing situations, always sails his boat to its maximum potential. He believes that consistently good crew work, particularly at the corners is a key factor. He attributes much of his success to his long term crew including John Sheehan and Scott Berry.

This consistency was reflected when Blowfly was narrowly beaten into second place in the Sydney 38 One Design Championships in August 2000 by ThE Business steered by NZ Admirals Cup helmsman Brett Neill.

Blowfly then won the Strathfield Pittwater to Coffs regatta in the Sydney 38/IRC division and now has the double in the Combined Clubs Championship.

Blowfly will be again match racing with another 11 Sydney 38 One Design boats in the NSW titles on April 21-22 on Pittwater.