28th April 2008
by Peter Campbell
Squadron member Guy Stening and his crew of Optimum have finished second overall in the M30 class of the 2008 Annapolis National Offshore One-Design Regatta (NOOD) on the US East Coast.
Sailing his US-based M30 for the first time, Stening notched up a consistent scorecard of 2-2-3-5-4-2-3-2 in the 15 boat fleet over the three day regatta on Chesapeake Bay.
Winner was Barking Mad, skippered by New York Yacht Club member Jim Richardson, a former Farr 40 World Champion and runner-up in the 2007 M30 World Championship. Barking Mad won all but one of the eight races, finishing second in the fourth race to finish with 9 points, with Optimum on 23 points.
The Annapolis event was the first of three regattas Stening plans to contest in his lead-up to the 2008 World Championship for the M30 (previously Mumm 30) class, to be sailed at Newport, Rhode Island, in October.
He placed a close fourth overall in the 2007 Worlds in Sardinia late last year and has since won the 2008 Australian Championship, conducted by the RSYS, with his Sydney-based boat Optimumm.
He bought the US based M30, Optimum, from prominent American yachtsman Phillipe Karne. The boat has been raced only once, in the 2006 World Championship, and the Annapolis NOOD Regatta was Stening’s first sail with this boat.
“It’s a good, fast boat and I am very pleased with the result,” Stening said in a phonecall from Annapolis after the final day of racing.
“It was very close one-design racing but the Barking Mad crew just had that vital edge, coming from six weeks of intensive racing as a team, including the Farr 40 Worlds.
“We had not sailed together since the Australian Championships in January, but our crew work was still top class and we finished well clear of the next boats in the fleet,” Stening added.
Sailing with Stening were Australians Steve McConaghy (tactician), Darren Jones (boat captain and mainsail), Tristian (Stan) Eldershaw (trim No 1), Tim Davis (trim No 1), Tim Davis (spinnaker trim), Zac Seymour (pit) and American Curtis Florence (bow). All sailed with him the 2007 World Championship.
The first two days of the regatta were sailed in winds of less than 7 knots, the final day starting in 16-17 knots but easing away.
“The first two days proved very tricky in the light breeze, from nothing to 7 knots, and there was also a fast running tide,” Stening added.
“Our fourth yesterday (day two) was a great recovery after being over the line at the start. We were over by less than two seconds, but fortunately we were at the pin of the line and were able to return quickly.”
A fleet of 264 boats is contesting the three-day regatta in a wide range of US and International one-design classes. The Annapolis NOOD is one of a series of regattas created by Sailing World in 1988 and now attracting 2000 boats and 30,000 competitors each year.
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