Roger That! Image copyright Teri Dodds/Audi Victoria Week.
by Vanessa Dudley
In challenging conditions on Corio Bay this morning, Bundaberg Rum National Sports Boat Series leader Roger That left nothing to chance by winning the final race at Audi Victoria Week.
It was the sixth win in the eight-race series for the Melges 24 owned and raced by Sydney yachtsmen James Mayjor and John Bacon with Cameron Miles on the helm and Craig Pocklington on mainsheet.
Roger That went into today’s racing with a handy nine-point lead over the second-placed Laminar Flow, Cameron Rae’s Thompson 8 from the regatta host Royal Geelong Yacht Club, followed by the Thompson 7, Foam Fast of Mornington (Vic) yachtsman Paul Heyes.
Conditions for this morning’s racing were extremely light and variable, with Race 8 getting underway in a patchy south-westerly breeze, which swung to the south soon after the start, turning the first beat into a port-tack fetch and the first run into a close reach on starboard gybe.
First mark leader was the Mungral 7.5 Resin Dog (Sam Edmunds, Port Dalrymple YC, Tas), followed by Roger That and Foam Fast. With the breeze dying to almost nothing, interspersed by occasional bands of pressure, Roger That took over the lead on the second beat to the relocated windward mark. However, the Royal Prince Alfred YC entrant was then overrun, to either side, by several rivals when it got caught in a no-wind zone in the middle of the course down the final run to the finish.
The Thompson 7.5 Mustard Cutter (Scott Creedon, Mornington YC, Vic), managed to drift through to take line honours by a 16-second margin from Foam Fast. Meanwhile, Cameron Miles and crew had spotted a new band of breeze filtering through from the east side of the course, and ghosted across to pick up the better pressure and recover to third across the line, nudging their bow ahead of Laminar Capital.
On corrected time, Roger That won by a 30-second margin from Foam Fast, followed by Bundy Bear, Peter Barter’s blue-hulled Elliott 7 from Canberra YC. Laminar Capital was a distant 12th, the local entrant’s discard for the series.
Although in an unbeatable position, the Roger That crew planned to sail in the final race scheduled immediately after Race 8. With the wind conditions still unsettled, the race committee decided to cancel further racing and Roger That returned to shore as series winner by 15 points from Laminar Flow, just one point ahead of Foam Fast.
Fourth was Bundy Bear, followed by the new Melges 20 Scooter Central (Heath Walters, RPAYC, NSW).
Cameron Miles, James Mayjor, John Bacon and Craig Pocklington will receive the coveted Bundaberg Rum National Sports Boat champions’ jackets at the presentation at Royal Geelong Yacht Club at 1.30pm today. This was their first Melges 24 regatta as a team in the 18-month old boat, which Mayjor and Bacon bought last May.
“We’re very happy with the boat and how we’ve come together as a crew,” said James Mayjor towards the conclusion of the series. “Cameron and I have done a lot of sailing together in Etchells and we also did a Soling campaign for the 1996 Olympics, so when we looked at this regatta I asked him if he’d like to sail with us and he said yes.”
Miles won the Etchells world title in 1999 on his home waters off Pittwater, north of Sydney, and has placed in the top three at five other world championships in the competitive one-design keelboat class. He has also been a top contender at previous regattas in Geelong, particularly in the Sydney 38 one-design keelboat class.
A 23-boat fleet for this year’s Bundaberg Rum National Sports Boat Series at Audi Victoria Week indicated the resurgence of interest currently being enjoyed by the class.
The sports boats were racing under a handicap system administered by the Australian Sports Boat Association, set up in 2007 to bring sports boats together to race under a single measurement based handicapping system recognising the unique characteristics of sports boat including large sail area and light displacement.
Audi Victoria Week
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