Guy Stening, who will represent the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in the Moby Mumm 30 World Championship at Porto Cervo, Sardinia, in early October, has had two successive wins in Division 1 with the chartered London Calling.
Stening has been racing the 13-year-old London Calling whilst awaiting the arrival from Malaysia of a brand new Mumm 30 to be named Optimumm.
On Saturday, he notched up the second victory with London Calling, finishing 3rd across the line behind Sydney (Charles Curran) and Braveheart (Bill Meiklejohn) and winning on corrected time by more than seven minutes from Outlaw (Alan & Thomas Quick) and another Mumm 30, John Formosa’s Yandoo.
London Calling has been a casual entry, with Yandoo now leading the Division 1 pointscore with placings of 3-2-3.
“It was a very tricky day out there, a typical light and flukey easterly breeze that got up to 10 knots at the most,” Stening said after the race. “ But we had a top crew, including three of main guys who are coming with me to the Worlds – Steve McConaghy, Darren “Twirler” Jones and Steve Quigley.”
Stening said that from a “wonderful” start, London Calling had worked the shifty breeze and the outgoing tide to be well placed at the first windward mark and had maintained its place in the 15 boat fleet throughout the 15 nautical mile course.
Stening, a member of the Squadron Sailing Committee, will be the sole Australian entrant among a fleet of 40 for the Moby Mumm 30 Worlds to be sailed from 1-7 October from the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary and has just conducted the Rolex Cup Maxi Worlds.
The Squadron will host the Mumm 30 Australian Championship in 2008 and Stening expects that when he returns from Sardinia and races his new Optimumm, there will be up to six Mumm 30s in Division 1. “There is an upsurge of interest in the Mumm 30s worldwide, including Australia,” added Stening, an obvious enthusiast for this high-performance keelboat.
In other outstanding performances with the Squadron on Saturday, 15 September:
- Veterans Pat and Joyce Warne in Holly won the Yngling class Mini Regatta, with a 1-2-3 scorecard.
- The Hood 23 Esquisse, skippered by Richard Staines scored its third successive win in Division 4.
By Peter Campbell
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