1st August 2008
By Peter Campbell
The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron has again added its name to the International Dragon Interport Trophy, dead-heating with the Royal Hong Yacht Club in the 2008 series sailed in Vancouver.
Squadron Dragon sailors were defending the trophy, a long-running annual or semi-annual contest members of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (the hosts this year), Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Kansai Yacht Club at Osaka, Japan, and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.
While the racing is highly competitive, the event is very much a social-orientated long weekend and Royal Vancouver Yacht Club maintained this concept with what the RSYS team and their supporters described as “wonderful hospitality”.
The RSYS team comprises three crews: Ian ‘Fred’ McCrossin, Markin Burke and Rick Hall (Riga); Robert Alpe, Rex Harrison and Richard Sackelariou (Toogara); and Martin Cooper, Lawrence Hinchcliffe and John Roberts (Imagination).
The Vancouver fleet provided the boats and working sails, with each team able to bring their own spinnakers. Teams changed boats each day.
Over a weekend of sailing on English Bay, 24 races were completed over short courses in steady breezes of 10-12 knots in team racing between RSYS, RHYC and RVYC, the end result being a tie between Sydney and Hong Kong.
Several final day protests were settled amicably ‘out of court’ in time for the prizegiving dinner, with competitors agreeing that the names of both the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club should be engraved on the Interport Trophy. This is first time two clubs have shared the honours in some 26 years of competition.
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