9:23 AM Thu 26 Feb 2009 GMT
One week out from the Audi Etchells World Championship and the top contenders are planning their final serious hit-out during this weekend's Entire Port Phillip Championship.
They are not going to get a better warm-up than the Entire championship with up to 50 boats expected on the start line for the two-day event.
Queensland's Mark Bradford, with his team of Mick O'Brien and Peter Merrington, will be utilising the regatta to finalise their race sails for the Worlds and decide on rig set-up after having just put in a new Whale Spar rig. 'It seems to be performing quite well out of the box so we are now into the finite details of tuning up the rig and sails.
'The regatta for us is about another hit-out against the good guys like John Bertrand,' Bradford said.
His team is not aiming to win the Entire championship. They plan to just go out, be competitive and work on improving their sailing. 'I would never tell anyone I would want to win anything. That would be the 'kiss of death' for us.'
One team to watch this weekend and during the World's will be the Sydney fleet team of previous World Champion Jud Smith, middle-man Mark Johnson and bowman Nik Burfoot on Roulette. The team raced for the first time in September 2008 successfully taking out the Etchells North Americans. Since then they have met up only once more for the qualifying races on Sydney Harbour.
'This weekend will be a bit of throw together for us as Jud will only be able to get here by early Saturday from Marblehead in the US. Our first plan for this weekend will be to keep Jud awake,' Johnson joked.
'We are going into the weekend with no expectations. We just really want to get around the course and keep the boat in shape.'
Hailing from the Pittwater fleet, America's Cup, Olympic and Etchells champion Rob Brown will be racing with his Steampacket 7 crew, Bruce Wookey and Garry Gudmunson. The team have been together for five years. This successful team has developed over the years a sailing style that allows them to set up their Etchells to suit each of their skill sets. | Rob Brown, Bruce Wookey and Garry Gudmunson at Audi Etchells Worlds 2006 - Andrea Francolini© |
'The way we are sailing at the moment is probably the best we have been and I would say we are the best prepared we ever have been for a World Championship. This weekend we are going out to try and win the regatta. We are very happy with our boat speed so we are going to be out there working on our starts and first beat strategy. In this fleet there is a lot of importance in the tactics on the first beat. If you are in the top group around the first mark, then you are in the game,' Brown said.
Brown does not expect a win in the weekend Entire regatta would be a disadvantage for his team going in the World Championship the next week. 'I think you have to take any victory you can get. The Etchells are the most competitive one-design yacht racing in the world. There are some pretty good guys sailing them. Among the top then boats in the world there is not a lot of difference in boat speed so it really comes down to decision making and who can handle the blow torch when it comes on you in the big ones.
'We believe the best training is racing and the more racing we can do the better.'
Both Etchells Pre-Worlds Series and previous Port Phillip Championship winners, Mark Bulka and Gunther, are approaching the Entire Port Phillip Championship this weekend with caution.
Gunther says he is hesitant about trying to win the weekend event. 'We won the Pre-Worlds in Chicago last year and it didn't put us in good stead for the World Championship. We will use this weekend as a training weekend and not go out there full-blown trying to win the event. In Chicago we were trying to win everything we did and as a consequence we probably spooked ourselves for the Worlds.'
Bulka will be using the Entire two-day regatta to try to learn more. 'I think the fleet standard will be a bit better. There is definitely faster people out there now and faster boats. Some of these new boats are going pretty quick. John Bertrand is flying and Rob Brown is going incredibly fast. Graham Taylor has got good speed. Mark Bradford is also starting to get some good speed at times.
'The event will see a good representation of the Worlds fleet. It will be a good chance for the crews to test their boat speed and to get comfortable with the fleet numbers. It is quite a different game from competing in a fleet of 25 boats. The game changes considerably and then of course 85 boats in the Worlds is another game again. It is a matter of acclimatising yourself with fleet sizes,' Gunther said.
A top race management team has been put in place for the Entire championship. Led by International Race Officers Kevin and Ross Wilson in the role of Principle Race Officer, Royal Brighton Yacht Club has attracted an experienced group. 'We have engaged the best possible team for the event. The majority of support boats will have one or two PROs on them. We are trying to do the very best we can,' Gunther said.
click here to go to Entire Port Phillip Championship
by Tracey Johnstone
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