Glenn Ashby: A-Cat Australian Champion 2011. Image copyright Mia Hacker.
by SailRaceWin
On the final day of the Australian A-Cat National Championships at Lake Cootharaba, Queensland, three races were due to be held, but it was not to be. The forecast was for breezy conditions, but the day, in flooded Queensland, started wet, wet, wet, but without any wind. However, by race start time it was a case of "challenging conditions... Lots of Queensland rain and at times lots of wind," as Corlijn Brouwer reported.
Darren Bundock, out on the water competing, commented that although Race 7 got away on time (10am), there were big shifts in the rain squalls and it rained so hard that he couldn't see where he was going! By the end of the race, it was the familiar fivesome at the front; Ashby won, followed by Brewin, Bundock, Barker (NZL) and Landenberger.
Will Howden (GBR) sailing a dna hull. Image copyright Mia Hacker.
Conditions seemed to clear for the start of the next race, but it wasn't long before Race 8 was abandoned at the top mark due to a massive wind shift. Thw race committee tried hard to get another race in, but the wind was constantly shifting with the rain squalls, and got up very strongly, leading to the cancellation of all remaining races. However, this did not stop Darren Bundock doing a full flip cartwheel on the way in to entertain spectators on the beach!
The top five overall were Glenn Ashby, Steve Brewin, Darren Bundock, Andrew Landenberger and Emirates Team New Zealand's Dean Barker. Of other notable Kiwi/America's Cup/Extreme 40/Tornado sailors, Will Howden (GBR) was 7th, Noel Drennan 29th, Philippe Presti (FRA) 33rd, Stu Bettany (NZL) 37th, and Mitch Booth, who only sailed on day one, 64th overall.
Steve Brewin - second overall. Image copyright Mia Hacker.
Very many thanks to Carolijn Brouwer and Darren Bundock for the information. See http://www.2Bsailing.eu for the great Formula16 Viper and Formula18 C2 cats!
Race 7 (top 10)
1 G Ashby 1.0
2 S Brewin 2.0
3 D Bundock 3.0
4 D Barker 4.0
5 A Landenberger 5.0
6 G Parker 6.0
7 W Howden 7.0
8 B Collett 8.0
9 W Mercer 9.0
10 S Anderson 10.0
Overall (top 10 places)
Rank - Name - Overall Points - Points for each race [with discard]
1 G Ashby 6.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 [8.0] 1.0
2 S Brewin 16.0 2.0 6.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 [74.0B] 2.0
3 D Bundock 20.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 [5.0] 4.0 2.0 3.0
4 A Landenberger 21.0 5.0 2.0 [16.0] 4.0 5.0 1.0 4.0
5 D Barker 22.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 [6.0]
6 S Anderson 39.0 10.0 3.0 6.0 7.0 [10.0] 5.0 8.0
7 W Howden 39.0 7.0 8.0 5.0 [9.0] 6.0 6.0 7.0
8 B Collett 41.0 8.0 10.0 [20.0] 6.0 9.0 3.0 5.0
9 G Parker 52.0 6.0 [25.0] 9.0 12.0 7.0 7.0 11.0
10 W Mercer 64.0 9.0 [23.0] 12.0 11.0 12.0 11.0 9.0
Other significant results
29 N Drennan 175.0 28.0 32.0 23.0 [41.0] 35.0 34.0 23.0
33 P Presti (FRA) 202.0 21.0 39.0 42.0 31.0 33.0 36.0 [52.0]
37 S Bettany (NZL) 212.0 37.0 35.0 25.0 [74.0F] 42.0 38.0 35.0
64 M Booth 340.0 74.0C 74.0C 74.0C 74.0C [74.0C] 25.0 19.0
Australian A-Cat Nationals 2011
