Canute - King of Division 2 in the Audi IRC Series. Image copyright Teri Dodds/Audi Victoria Week.
by Di Pearson
Canute and Surprise have finished off the job they came to do at Audi Victoria Week today, Australia Day, respectively winning Division 2 and 3 of the Audi IRC Series after sailing the final windward/leeward race on Corio Bay this afternoon.
Peter Horn brought his brand new King 40 to Victoria for its first major regatta hoping, but never guessing, that Canute would be an out-and-out thoroughbred. “Being a new boat, you don’t know how you will go, but I never dreamed Canute would be this good,” Horn said.
Leading into today’s final race from the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, Canute had a four point lead over nearest rival, Two True, the Beneteau First 40 Rolex Sydney Hobart overall winner owned by South Australian orthopaedic surgeon Andrew Saies. Only one further point separated them from Just a Minor Hickup, Peter Coleman’s Hick 39 from Melbourne.
The trio broke away from the rest of the 19-boat fleet and sailed a series of their own and although Canute appeared to be the boat to beat, the outcome was not certain until today’s race.
Starting in a light 5 knot breeze that increased to 15-16 knots and moved to the south, Canute proved capable. Her third place finish was enough to win the series, once the race drop came into play.
Horn described the race: “We didn’t have a good start and then we went the wrong way up the first beat and had to claw our way back in 20 knots of breeze. We had the boat going well, but it’s hard to catch up places in 20 knots, unlike the lighter shiftier days we’ve had.”
Coincidentally, all three dropped a fourth place, so close in performance were they, but Canute’s three wins gave her the upper hand.
“I’m not nervous anymore – I’m pretty ecstatic. When it happens like this, it makes you feel good. I feel a bit overwhelmed, to tell you the truth,” an excited Horn stated.
The Sydney yachtsman praised his crew that included his 25 year-old son Alex, and “rock stars” Richie Allanson, JP Macquet, Michael Fountain and Rob Brown on tactics.
Two True, which was launched only last year, won the final race with Brett Young skippering, from Just a Minor Hickup – the three boats proving yet again to be inseparable – and proof was in the final scores – the three boats finishing on eight, 10 and 12 points respectively in an exceptionally top-class fleet of 19 yachts.
No ‘surprise’ element to David Ellis’ Division 3 win
Nothing really surprising about Surprise's Division 3 win. Image copyright Andrea Francolini/Audi.
There really was no ‘surprise’ to David Ellis winning the Division 3 trophy. Today the Melbourne yachtsman completed the series with a perfect score by winning Race 6. It’s not often you see a perfect scorecard, so Ellis, who won Division 3 last year, is ecstatic he was able to successfully defend his title in such convincing fashion.
With the race drop thrown in, Ellis’ six straight wins with his beautiful 20 year-old BB10 from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria resulted in a five-point total for the series. His nearest rival throughout the event was Harvey Milne’s Archambault 31, Aroona from Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, which finished second today for second overall.
Even Finer and her crew led by owner Jason Antill (NSW) mounted a comeback campaign to finish third overall after dropping to fourth place yesterday. The Dufour 34 enjoyed the freshening breezes which peaked at around 15 -16 knots on the Corio Bay inner harbour two lap windward/leeward course.
An ecstatic David Ellis said, “We were lucky to hang on. The breeze was nice and light – around 5 knots when we started the race, but it increased and moved to the south at 15 knots. We’re better in light air.
“Aroona sailed a great Series and a great race today. They got in the new breeze first and established a good lead on us. Harvey took Aroona out to the left of the course, but it was a bit high-risk for us, because it was so shifty.
Ellis said the event is the major annual regatta for him and his crew: “We’ll be back next year – Audi Victoria Week is a great regatta and the race management is fantastic.
“I want to thank my crew Alex Gilbert, Paul Larcher, Jane Richards and Troy Croft – our foredeck demi-god,” he said.
This is the first leg of the Audi IRC Australian Championship and Canute’s divisional win placed her third on the pointscore behind two Division 1 yachts, giving owner Peter Horn a good start to his campaign. He plans to be at every Audi event on the 2010 calendar.
Audi Victoria Week
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