12th September 2009
By Peter Campbell
Photo by John Jeremy
Sydney Harbour turned on its best early spring weather for the Squadron’s first mini regatta of the season last Saturday and the International Etchells fleet responded with an afternoon of classic class racing.
The 12-15 knot ENE to NNE seabreeze on a warm (28°) day attracted a fleet of 69 boats in the divisions and one-design classes. The one disappointment was that just one boat turned up for Sydney 38 division of the mini regatta.
The three races for the Etchells produced three winners, with consistency the key to overall success in what was also the first regatta in the World Qualifying Series. Only seconds separated the first two boats in each race - 9 seconds in race one, just one second in race two and 22 seconds in race three,
The three race winners were Michael Bellingham in Avalon, Nick Kingsmill helming Vincero and Iron Lotus, owned by David Edwards, Ivan Wheen and Olympian Tom King.
However, none could match the consistency of Jervis Tilly at the helm of Bushfire with a 2-3-2 scorecard, the next best being Iron Lotus with a 9-2-1 result.
In the International Dragons, former Olympian Carl Ryves notched up his second win in two starts with Sidewinder while the International Ynglings saw Chris Harper lead the fleet home in Shining Star.
The division fleets were down a few boats after the opening race turn-out, with Jackie Clare (Geoff and Debbie Davidson) winning Division 1 and Arcturus II (Peter Davenport) taking out Division 2 on handicap.
Division 3 saw an excellent fleet and tight racing, both for scratch and handicap honours. Robert Albert sailed Norn to first place on corrected time after an impressive fleet third. On three seconds seperated Mingara III (Philip Crane) and TIngari (John Jeremy) for second and third on handicap.
In Division 4, Brother Hood (Tony Craven & Jack Rigg) came in third across the line for a comfortable handicap win from fellow Hood 23 Esquisse 2 (Richard Staines). Close Window »
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