Race 3 start line - Musto Etchells Australian Winter Championship 2009. Image copyright Sail-World.com /AUS.
by Rob Kothe
Friday when Mark Johnson (Roulette) came off the water having sailed into second place in the Musto Etchells Australian Winter Championship 2009, he said ‘the way we got around the course today, if we’d had more breeze, we might have killed someone, so we will be happy to see light conditions again tomorrow’.
Saturday in light conditions with seven knots of breeze, Johnson was second boat at the top mark. Damien King (Barry) was 17th and series leader New Zealand's Alastair Gair (Velsheda) was heading back to the dock.
Gair and another 12 boats were black flagged at the start of Race 3 of the series.
Attempt one to get Race 3 underway was aborted when the breeze shifted twenty degrees from 040 to 060, just fifteen seconds before the start. Attempt two resulted in a General Recall of the fleet.
Attempt three started under Black Flag and thirteen ‘toey’ crews paid the penalty, their afternoon’s sailing ending prematurely.
At the top mark, Mooloolaba sailor Peter Hollis (Heaven Can Wait) rounded in first place. Johnson with Bucky Smith, a member of the 2009 Etchells World Championship crew calling tactics, followed.
Another Mooloolaba local, Charles Piggott (Magic) was third, then came Rapscallion, B Squared, Funky Cold Medina and Fifteen.
As the fleet rounded the bottom mark, the wind speed was holding at seven knots from 060.
Heaven Can Wait extended its lead over Roulette. Johnson’s crew was a picture of concentration as they managed a conservative, but clean mark rounding. Blairgowrie sailor David Lawrence (Temptress) had a sensational run picking up a nice shift, and moved up from 16th place to third.
Fourth was Funky Cold Medina; then B Squared, Rapscallion, Tango and Fifteen. Mark Bulka (Critical Balance) was tenth, Steve O’Rourke (Panther) was 12th and Damien King 15th.
At the top mark for the last time, the course boat signalled a ten-degree wind shift to the left and the repositioning of the finishing boat.
Peter Hollis extended his lead from Mark Johnson. Chris Hampton (Tango) had moved from seventh to third on the second beat, David Clark (Fifteen) had moved from eighth to fourth. Vaughan Prentice was now fifth, with Mark Bulka eighth and Damien King 13th.
But it was all Hollis. In six knots of breeze he looked unlikely to lose the rig in his boat, or the race for that matter.
Hollis (Heaven Can Wait) extended and held his lead to the finish line, crossing ahead of Mark Johnson (Roulette).
Sydney sailor Jervis Tilley (Bushfire) stormed down the run moving up from sixth to cross the line in third, followed by Vaughan Prentice (Funky Cold Medina) and David Clark (Fifteen). Damien King (Barry) moved up several places to finish the race in 11th.
Provisionally, Mark Johnson (Roulette) is now the clear leader of the series with finishes of 5,3,2.
Second is David Clarke (3,6,5) with Damien King (7,2,11) in third. On equal points with King is Vaughan Prentice.
Dockside Mark Johnson was smiling. 'We came into the regatta with no expectations. We'd all moved back on the boat. Nik Burfoot had moved back from bow and Christian was coming in new, having never worked a US boat set up. I had not helmed for 15 months, having campaigned midboat with Jud Smith to win the North Americans. We finished fifth at the 2009 Worlds.
'We started conservatively, which was good today ... started about two thirds of the way down the line ... worked the middle of the course up the first leg. We had speed and we did not have anyone dump on us at all. Then we did a much better job today of getting down the runs.
'Peter Hollis and Bucky Smith did a great job and deserved to win, but we were very happy to take second. It was a great day, but there is a lot more racing to go in this regatta and we could be the ones getting a black flag tomorrow.
Damien King, looked relieved when he came ashore. 'We were lucky to escape with an 12th today. A boat that was later black flagged came in very fast on us at the start ... well over the line, buried us and then camped on us for ages, before withdrawing from the race.
'So we were not much better than midfleet at the first mark and had to work our way forward.
'Now we are half way through the regatta, so we will see how it goes tomorrow. We are just happy to be in the running.'
Equal on points with King and his crew is Vaughan Prentice. 'Light airs sailing. Definitely hard work, but better than tricky winter westerlies. Our best-ever result here was second in 2006, so we are pleased to be in the top group with probably two more races to sail.
'Nick Behrens is doing a great job on tactics for us. We have good speed with some really good light weather sails.
'Tomorrow will be a big day.'
And he is right. The first race is scheduled for 10am. There are a variety of forecasts from 20 knot north westerlies to 10 knot south easterlies, but with some light drizzle already, the second of those predictions seems more likely.
Musto Etchells Australian Winter Championship 2009
4th - 7th June
Series Summary (provisional)
Pl B# Crew From Boat Name 1 2 3 Tot
1 49 M. Johnson, N. Burfoot & C. Allen Sydney Roulette 5 3 2 10
2 15 D. Clark, S. Leonard & A. Smith Sydney Fifteen 3 6 5 14
3 11 D. King, J. Ware, S. Cunnington & A. Butler Melbourne Barry 7 2 12 21
4 32 V. Prentice, D. Hutchison, N. Brehrens & P. Manning Brisbane Funky Cold Medina 13 4 4 21
5 44 M. Bulka, S. Young & P. Bulka Melbourne Critical Balance 9 13 10 32
6 43 J. Sheehan, R. West & R. Vidgen Pittwater Resurgent 15 7 14 36
7 47 J. Tilly, P. Davidson & J. Arnold Sydney Bushfire 27 9 3 39
8 37 P. Gardner, S. Barlow & R. Allanson Sydney Humpback 19 8 16 43
9 41 N. Nattrass, C. Brook & A. Elliott Sydney Two Speed 10 22 11 43
10 39 D. Rose, S. Backhouse & T. Rose Brisbane Fair Bump Play On 23 11 15 49
11 19 C. Hampton, B. Morrison-Jack & M. Toner-Joyce Melbourne Tango 4 40 7 51
12 46 P. Hollis, B. Smith & J. Warlow Mooloolaba Heaven Can Wait 8 44 1 53
13 34 T. Woods, P. McNeill & D. Gleadhill Lake Macquarie Echo Beach 17 14 25 56
14 28 S. Gunther, J. Collingwood & B. Jones Melbourne Magic Buzz 20 16 20 56
15 22 R. Lloyd, M. Turner & P. Dowdney Melbourne The Nurse 18 21 17 56
16 30 A. Gair, D. Ridley, D. Scott & A. De Fluiter Gulf Harbour Velsheda 2 1 55\BFD 58
17 16 D. Lawrance, R. Browne & B. Hawkes Blairgowrie Temptress 16 33 9 58
18 09 S. Ellis, J. Dudok Van Heel & J. Brinkley Hong Kong Tian Hua 26 5 29 60
19 02 G. Boyd, J. Boyd & A. May Lake Macquarie B Squared 30 27 6 63
20 20 J. Muysken, P. Grundy & A. O'Connell Sydney Etch 25 12 28 65
21 33 N. Paterson, S. Board & J. Chilman Brisbane Waterloo Bay 39 10 23 72
22 05 D. Healey, A. Deeks & G. Van Luteren Brisbane Rapscallion 44 18 13 75
23 54 M. Bradford, P. Merrington & G. Torpy Brisbane Roni 12 15 55\BFD 82
24 52 C. Williams, P. Heyes & N. DeBerque Gosford Trekka 14 47 21 82
25 53 S. O'Rourke, S. Backhouse & J. Torpy Cronulla Panther 37 39 8 84
26 17 I. Audsley, G. Flatman & J. VanDer Schalk Pittwater Kalika 28 25 33 86
27 40 L. Kennedy, R. Bassett & T. Swinburne Gulf Harbour Addiction 31 38 19 88
28 14 M. Sanders, J. Sill & S. McInally Southport Just Relax 34 20 34 88
29 38 M. McCann, N. Wittey, S. Quigley & JC Strong Sydney Carabella lV 11 24 55\BFD 90
30 04 D. Williams, D. Cooney & A. Kiely Lake Macquarie Vertigo 38 28 24 90
31 50 D. Wilson, R. Leslie & J. Browne Gosford The Don 33 30 27 90
32 23 M. Dagge, M. Hansen & J. Willis Brisbane Una Mas 1 37 55\BFD 93
33 35 G. Taylor, G. Wharington & S. Jarvin Mornington Magpie 6 32 55\BFD 93
34 26 M. Thornburrow, G. Farrell, M. Chew & A. Service Hong Kong Dreamon 24 19 55\BFD 98
35 13 G. Smith, B. Shoebridge & R. Smith Swan River Tusk 46 26 26 98
36 03 P. Coleman, W. Dixon & I. Gartley Melbourne Mid Gybe Crisis 35 29 35 99
37 48 D. Biggar & M. Obrian Mooloolaba Fruit Cake 42 42 18 102
38 10 R. Coxon, D. Ritchard & I. Winter Sydney 3 Gone Missing 32 41 32 105
39 55 G. Forgan-Smith, G. Wakefield & B. Foot Gold Coast Betelgeuse 53 17 36 106
40 21 N. Knezic, D. Bretherton & M. Robertson Melbourne Count Boris' Secret 29 23 55\BFD 107
41 12 B. Sheridan & B. Moore Swan River Butterfly 21 34 55\BFD 110
42 24 P. Minter, J. Minter & R. Bull Sydney Crews Control 50 35 30 115
43 29 L. O'Connor, B. Averay & L. Steers Melbourne J for Jig 41 43 31 115
44 42 J. Denton, L. Birch & P. Bailey Gosford Ivy 43 36 37 116
45 31 C. Piggott, W. Myles & G. Black Mooloolaba Magic 47 49 22 118
46 27 D. Hardy, B. Northcote & J. Northcote Sydney Foolhardy 36 31 55\BFD 122
47 18 J. Plante, M. Dunstan, N. Garland & x. y Pittwater North Star 22 48 55\BFD 125
48 45 P. Meehan, J. Hallam & B. Sneddon Brisbane Forceful 49 46 40 135
49 25 A. Telford, S. Schafer & G. Smith Melbourne Never Enough 51 52 39 142
50 36 J. McLean, S. McClure, R. Caldwell & J. McLean Brisbane Touch N Go 52 55\DNF 38 145
51 51 N. Hudson, J. Curry & M. Jamison Gold Coast Trilogy 54 50 41 145
52 07 J. Ward, D. McCaughey & M. Roberts Adelaide Concubine 45 45 55\BFD 145
53 08 T. Martin, G. Thomson & P. Braithwaite Mooloolaba Three Ring Circus 40 51 55\BFD 146
54 01 J. Middleton, N. Willis & T. Robba Brisbane. OZI 48 55\DNF 55\BFD 158
Musto Etchells Winter Championships
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