Sydney Dragons upgrade to Petticrows
Three (relatively) new Petticrow Dragons will arrive on the hardstand of RSYS in October, a significant concentration of activity in Sydney’s growing racing fleet. And more are expected as Australia’s Dragon sailors start to set their sights on the Dragon World Championship in Melbourne in 2011. While still to be ratified by the International Dragon Association in October, the Royal Brighton Yacht Club bid was presented at the recent Worlds held at the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dublin and was well received by many of the European participants farewelling us with a “See you in Melbourne in 2011!”. The objective of the Melbourne bid is to attract 40-50 boats from overseas and with the event having been declared “open” a further 20-25 Australian boats are expected. Sydney will also have a chance to show itself off with a Christmas/New Year hospitality program planned for the visiting competitors.
The three Petticrows, now in containers on their way to Sydney, have precipitated what some have jokingly described as the beginning of an “arms race” rejuvenating the ageing Sydney fleet. In April I flew to Ireland, England and Berlin to look at Dragons which had been advertised for sale. After having received great hospitality in Kinsale, Ireland, in Lymington near the Isle of White and the VSaW, the dominant home for dragons in Berlin, I came back with lots of electronic photos of Dragons and made my decision.
For me it was a toss up between a 2002 Petticrow in Kinsale and a 1999 Petticrow in Lymington. Both had a history of light use and seemed very good value. I decided on the 2002, in part influenced by the warm memories of the Irish hospitality and pints of Guinness at the Blue Haven Hotel in Kinsale, and also by the prospect of participating in the Worlds in Dublin before shipping her to Sydney.
Having made the decision to buy the 2002 Petticrow, now registered as AUS 203, to be named “Tatsu” (three headed dragon in Japanese) upon her arrival in Sydney, I felt the 1999 boat in Lymington called “Lightning” was too good to be left in the UK and I therefore posted her details on the NSW Dragon web page and handed photos on CDs to anyone who showed interest in knowing more about her. The interest generated was strong but Richard Franklin was first over the line and bought her together with his old friend Damien Hannes to add “Lightning” AUS 204 and a new crew to the Sydney fleet which is very exciting.
Development and growth is infectious, particularly for someone as competitive as the irrepressible Gordon Ingate. With talk at the Dublin Worlds of two Dragons being shipped back to Sydney, and a “small” problem of how to get to the 5.5m Worlds within three days after the Dublin Worlds while at the same time having to get the boat he was using back to England, Gordon decided to buy “Yankee Doodle Dandee” on the last day of the regatta and took up my offer to look after shipping her to Sydney for him. Not bad decision making for the 81 year old! I managed to get a second 40 foot container for Gordon almost immediately and next day both mine and Gordon’s boat were loaded into containers in Dublin for the journey to Sydney. Gordon had been using “Yankee Doodle Dandee” in Europe since his old friend and famous US yachtsman Glen Foster died some years ago, and said he now wanted her for his daughter Christine, to make up another new team AUS 205 for the Sydney fleet!
So three new Petticrow Dragons are on their way to Sydney! The spin offs from this are equally exciting. We now have a list of personal contacts of boat owners on the European Dragon racing circuit who may want to sell their recent model Petticrow Dragons direct to Australian buyers. We have the shipping expertise to help any prospective new owner get their Dragon to Australia without hassle. We also now have a Petticrow agent in Australia (guess who!) who will stock a range of parts, particularly the more freight cost intensive like mast sections and booms to make the Petticrow boats, with their strong UK service back-up, even more user friendly for Australian owners. For more information contact Wolf Breit on wb@alushapes.com.au
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