9th March 2009
Peter Campbell
Three time Olympic sailor and Squadron member Karyn Gojnich called in the heavy artillery for the final day of the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta after neither of her daughters Amy (16) and Zoe (14) was available for the for’ard hand position in her Yngling one-design class yacht Evie.
Zoe Gojnich joined her mother and father, John, in Saturday’s opening races but she was not available to race on Sunday, while Amy was rostered for surf patrol at Manly’s North Steyne beach.
Photos by Andrea Francolini
Karyn Gojnich, husband John and daughter Zoe
Hamish Jarrett and his crew of Pourquoi won the Yngling class
Alex Murray, wife of America’s Cup sailor and Beijing Olympian Iain Murray, and a champion sailor in her own right, sailed bow for Gojnich for the two final races. Iain was also racing, aboard Bob Oatley’s Wild Oats X, in IRC Division 1.
Despite winning the final race on Sunday, Karyn and her crew could not reign in the eventual divisional winner, Hamish Jarrett’s Pourquoi, which finished the six-race series with a three point cushion over Gojnich’s Evie.
John Gojnich, who sailed as mainsheet hand for his wife throughout the regatta, has supported Karyn through two of her three Olympic campaigns, in Athens and China, and she’s happy to share the credit for getting her to the start line.
'John’s a huge support, he’s my weather guru for this regatta and the Olympics,' acknowledged Gojnich today.
With the Ynglings now scrapped from the Olympic sailing classes, Mosman based Gojnich is yet to make the decision whether to switch to the new match racing discipline and go for a fourth.
'I’m still looking at it. It’s a time management challenge,' admitted the mother of two, who still has plenty of passion for the sport. 'It’s a sport for life, just because I’m in my late 40s doesn’t mean I can’t compete,' she added.
Many other Squadron members had success in the Sydney Harbour Regatta, which this year attracted a record 302 entries, including boats from Melbourne competing in the IRC racing offshore.
David Hardy, steering Foolhardy, scored a convincing win in the Etchells class, scoring two firsts and three seconds in the six race series while in the Dragons, first place overall went to Abracadabra, skippered by David Seaton.
Guy Stening, the current World Champion, notched up five firsts and a second in the Farr 30 one-design class (formerly the Mumm 30, then M30 class) skippering Optimumm.
Charles Curran’s Murray 60 Sydney won PHS Division 1 from a large fleet while Jonathan Threlfall’s Campeador placed third overall in PHS Division 2. John Nutt’s Come by Chance won race one in Division 3 while Manhatten Transfer won race one of Division 4 but did not complete the series. Brother Hood (Tony Craven) placed third overall in the regatta
In the Classic Division, David Nock’s Carmen 31 Catapult won the first race of the regatta but did not contest the subsequent races.
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