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By Peter Campbell
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Veteran Sydney Etchells skipper John Dunn today won his first NSW State Championship in Australia’s most popular one-design keelboat class, the International Etchells – at the age of 65.
Sailing Bald Eagle, RSYS member Dunn upset the two boats that had been at the head of the leaderboard going into today’s final race on Botany Bay, North Sydney Station (Michael Coxon) from the Sydney fleet and Barry (Damien King) from the Melbourne fleet.
The pair ‘lost the plot’ as they match-raced each other to the middle of the fleet, allowing the consistent Bald Eagle, sailed by Dunn and his crew of Glen Nattrass and Colin Binet, to take the championship with a 2nd in the final race.
Bald Eagle had notched up an 11-5-5 score until the boat was holed in a collision in yesterday’s race four, also preventing Dunn from competing in race five.
The race committee last night awarded Bald Eagle redress and average points of 5.5 points for each of the two races lost and, following overnight repairs, Dunn came home in second place in today’s race six to clinch the championship with a final score of 22 points.
Bald Eagle won the title from the Melbourne Fleet’s Barry, sailed by Damien King, Wade Morgan and Peter Merrington, which finished on 26 points.
Third overall, after a countback, went to former World Champion Cameron Miles, sailing Black Snake with David Sampson and Chris Links (co-helm) from the Pittwater fleet. Black Snake also finished on 26 points.
In fourth place was another Sydney fleet boat, North Sydney Station, sailed by Michael Coxon, Will McCarthy and Steve Jarvin, on 29 points, followed by Long Bay (Rupert Henry, Sydney) 29 points.
Then placed Roulette (Mark Johnson, Sydney) 31 points, Miramar (Mark Doyle, Pittwater) and Dr Evil (Jake Gunther, Melbourne) both on 33 points, with Fifteen (David Clarke, Sydney) ninth on 35.2 points and Echo Beach (Tom Woods, Lake Macquarie) on 40 points.
Miramar raced with a crew of four – Mark Doyle, Travis Tubman, David Hayes and 10-year-old Toby Cusack, a junior dinghy sailor from Pittwater.
John Dunn also won the Masters Championship.
A fleet of 33 boats from Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales contested the championship, conducted by Botany Bay Yacht Club.
Further information:
Peter Campbell – 0419 385 028 or email – peter_campbell@bigpond.com
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