9:41 AM Sat 27 Feb 2010 GMT
2010 Etchells New South Wales Championship
Day one of racing for the 47 Etchells racing in the Etchells New South Wales Championship on Manly Circle today was a frustrating one to say the least. Roger Hickman's Sun Tzu sailed consistently in the top five to finish the first day of racing on top of the podium.
'Well it doesn't happen very often and if you could you would even them all out, you've got to take the luck when you can. We had a good tussle in race one with Roulette on the last leg to the finish and in the second race we had a good start at the boat end of the line', Hickman continued, 'I like the freedom of racing in the ocean, I'd rather be offshore than dodging ferries on the harbour, I can get into a rhythm offshore but I know tomorrow will tell more'.
PRO Rob Ridley from host club Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron had the fleet under an AP for an hour and half while the race committee waited for the fickle breeze to settle.
Start gun number one of the series was fired in a seven knot Nor West breeze and the first race of the day was underway. Graeme Taylor's Magpie led to the top mark and with the breeze becoming unstable and dropping in strength to four knots the race committee shortened the course at the gate reducing the race to a two leg race.
Victorian Taylor's Magpie took the first gun of the series after what can only be called a challenging race. Mark Johnson's Roulette finished race one in second and Hickman's Sun Tzu rounded out the podium places.
The breeze swung to the forecasted North East direction and race two was started with eight knots of wind. Four boats were called OCS and two of the four returned to restart the race. The swell provided a very different race course and racing conditions to the usual harbour racing for the Etchells and this is the reason many of the boats are here this weekend.
Current Etchells World Champion Jason Muir, who for the first time is racing with class rival Damien King on Barry commented after racing 'It was really hard out there today in light tricky conditions but it is a great opportunity for us and the main reason we are here. Most of my Sydney sailing has been in the harbour and we are here to get time on the 2012 worlds race course. Today was our first day sailing as a crew in new positions on the boat so it has been a good learning curve for us all'.
Damien King, skipper of Barry, who is currently in third overall remarked, 'We messed up the finish in race one and managed to recover and finish eighth and improved on that result in race two'.
After winning race two Iron Lotus skipper Tom King said, 'It was a very long day out there, in race two we got out to the right into clear air and held our position'.
Racing continues tomorrow on the Manly Circle with teams from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia all taking advantage of the offshore course in preparation for the 2012 Etchells World Championship which will be raced on the same race course.
Top Ten:
PlaceSail NoBoat NameSkipperFromSers Score
11088 SUN TZU Roger Hickman RSYS 7.0
2876 FIFTEEN David Clark CYCA 10.0
3924 BARRY Damien King SYC 11.0
4832 ABSOLUTE PEARLER Peter McNeill BCC1 5.0
51273 NORTH SYDNEY STATION Robert Weir CYC 16.0
61343 VINCERO Nick Kingsmill CYCA 18.0
71385 CONCUBINE Jason Ward RSAYS 21.0
81374 STEAMPACKET 7 Tom Slingsby RPAYC 22.0
91377 ROULETTE Mark Johnson RSYS 22.0
101254 ODYSSEY Peter Merrington RPAYC 24.0
Results go to
www.rsys.com.au/sailing/EtchellsNSW.php
Supporting the 2010 Etchells NSW Championship are Zhik, Tacktracker, Positive Image Innovation, John Boston Premium Beverages and North Sails.
by Sam Crichton
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Sailing
