The boys line up in the F18s today. Image copyright Andrea Francolini/Audi.
by Vanessa Dudley
Steve Brewin and Jack Benson dominated the second day of racing in the Club Marine Formula 18 Australian Championships at Audi Victoria Week today.
Sailing their first regatta together in a brand new Capricorn C2 called BO, Brewin and Benson managed to finish consistently in the top three in each of today’s four races, where rival crews stumbled in the patchy, light to moderate conditions.
The two A-Class catamaran sailors have teamed up in the F18 with the intention of competing in the F18 World Championship in France later this year, although Brewin lives in Sydney and Benson in Darwin.
In today’s 6-12 knot gusty south-easterly breeze, which gradually went further left as the afternoon wore on, the 25-boat fleet quickly spread out around the course with some big gains and losses as boats sailed in and out of wind pressure.
Victorian father and son team Greg and Brett Goodall won the first race by almost half a leg, while the Western Australian Windrush F18 On Edge, skippered by Cara Lithgo, grabbed second from BO right at the finish line.
BO then won the second race of the day from the Nacra F18 skippered by Adam Beattie. The third race was won by the WA Windrush F18 team of Brett Burvill and Ryan Duffield, followed by BO, which took the gun in the final race of the day.
“It was bit tricky out there today and we played the percentage game all day,” Brewin said. “The left side paid 75 per cent of the time, but there were times when it was almost impossible to cover.
In the race where we finished second, the winner did a flyer out to the right on the last beat when we thought we had it in the bag. We figured if we let him go we might lose one place, but if we went with him we would risk being beaten by four or five.
“In the last race we must have been 400 metres ahead at one stage, but on the last lap, about six boats came back to us in breeze and we only just won the race.”
Sailing the new C2 for the first time in lighter conditions, Brewin said, “We were fast yesterday in the stronger breeze and today we fast enough, but it wasn’t really all about speed today.”
Robbie Lovig and Lachlan Gibson (Vic) in the Hobie Tiger named Scott Lovig Holden hung on to their first day’s second place overall with a 5-5-9-3 scorecard today, while the Goodalls moved up into third place with their 1-3-4-4 score, ahead of Scrunch or Fold, the Capricorn F18 sailed by Matt Homan and Lucas McDonald (Qld).
Having burnt midnight oil to get the two new C2s ready for this series at Royal Geelong Yacht Club, Greg and Brett Goodall of AHPC, the company producing the C2 and the established Capricorn F18s, were immensely pleased to win today’s first race.
“Yesterday our boat handling was terrible, too many late nights and we haven’t sailed together since last year’s F18 Worlds,” Greg said between races.
“A few words were exchanged!” added Brett.
In the race they won today, Greg said, “We got a bit lucky on the second downwind; we got good pressure and went from 200 metres to 500 metres in front.”
The series continues tomorrow with the final four races scheduled on Corio Bay from midday.
Audi Victoria Week
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