Start of race 6. Image copyright Brian Lowder, Kurnell Catamaran Club.
by Julian Jenkins and Robert Griffits
The second episode of the Eastern Australian A Class Catamaran Class Championship trilogy was completed over the weekend at the Kurnell Catamaran Club.
At the end of the six race series, the spoils of victory were shared across three states. Brad Collett, from Queensland, sailing a Scheurer design, prevailed to win the championship, maintaining the overnight lead that he had created after the first day. Second overall was the local Kurnell sailor, Steve Brewin, sailing a DNA. Third place went to Steve Brayshaw from Victoria.
Steve Brewin leaves the top mark as Andrew Williams approaches it. Image copyright Brian Lowder, Kurnell Catamaran Club.
Four different sailors featured as individual race winners.
Despite the smaller fleet of 23 boats, compared to to the 50 competitors attending the Victorian Titles last weekend, the quality remained high,with some of the top Victorian and Queensland boats adding to the NSW ranks.
The conditions were dramatically different from last weekend's Victorian Titles, with winds generally in the 15 to 25 knot range, and frequent rain squalls crossing the course. The first race on each day was characterised by a brief postponement due to a storm cell with winds gusting above 25 knots and heavy rain reducing visibility. Over Saturday night, strong winds toppled several boats (fortunately without damage), and heavy rains caused minor flooding on the roads around the regatta site.
The conditions on Saturday, proved tricky to sail,despite the average wind strength remaining between 15 and 20 knots through out the day,due to significant changes in direction , which resulted in many changes in the lead as different competitors capitalised on the fluctuations.
The day also saw many capsizes ,with support boats busy returning sailors to escaped boats and assisting with righting boats. Several spectators reported spectacular cartwheels as some of the DNA boats nosedived whilst their skippers attempted downwind trapezing .
Sunday's wind was slightly stronger, in the 18 to 23 knot range. The continued gusty conditions, combined with a large chop generated by the outgoing tide meant that several competitors choose not to sail in the final two races. These conditions resulted in more conservative sailing, and surprisingly, fewer capsizes, although David Brewer, who finished second last week in Victoria, dropped his mast in the last race.
Brads Collett's final comment was " I really enjoyed sailing in strong winds and choppy conditions and showing that my Scheurer is as fast as the DNAs".
Thank you to the Kurnell Catamaran Club, who , with the assistance of the Georges River Sailing Club, ran a successful regatta in windy and wet conditions.
For several of the competitors, this regatta was the final regatta in their preparation before travelling to Europe for the World A Class Championships, to be held in Aarthus, Denmark, in August.
Many others will go on to compete the final event in the trilogy; the Queensland State Titles to be held at Humpybong, just north of Brisbane, at Easter.
Note from SailRaceWin: We see that Jimmy Spithill's brother-in-law, Grantly Pellew, finished 10th overall, and Dave Brewin 12th.
Results are final as of 19:58 on March 20, 2011
“A” Class Aggregate Scores
Sailed: 6, Discards: 1, To count: 5, Ratings: VY, Entries: 23, Scoring system: Appendix A
Rank Boat Name Class Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 Total Nett
1st Friendly Grocer AClass AUS 10 Brad Collett HBYC (2.0) 2.0 1.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 10.0 8.0
2nd Bo Brewin Sails AClass AUS 4 Steven Brewin KCC 1.0 1.0 (3.0) 3.0 3.0 2.0 13.0 10.0
3rd White Pointer AClass AUS 25 Stephen Brayshaw McYC 3.0 3.0 2.0 (24.0 DNC) 1.0 5.0 38.0 14.0
4th Livewire 2 AClass AUS 961 Stuart Scott SBSC 4.0 (6.0) 5.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 26.0 20.0
5th Wet Willy AClass AUS 888 Andrew Williams KCC 6.0 5.0 (9.0) 7.0 5.0 4.0 36.0 27.0
6th Craig AClass AUS 936 Dave Parker McYC 9.0 (14.0) 8.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 49.0 35.0
7th Fibrefoam AClass AUS 41 Scott Anderson GSC 5.0 4.0 4.0 1.0 (24.0 DNF) 24.0 DNC 62.0 38.0
8th Dirty Little Secret AClass AUS 933 Chris Parker COLSC 12.0 9.0 11.0 10.0 10.0 (24.0 DNC) 76.0 52.0
9th Barge Boat AClass AUS 8 Graeme Harbour McYC 7.0 10.0 7.0 5.0 (24.0 DNF) 24.0 DNC 77.0 53.0
10th Harken AClass AUS 969 Grant Pellew RPAYC 15.0 12.0 10.0 9.0 8.0 (24.0 DNC) 78.0 54.0
11th Spunspar AClass AUS 22 Mark Johnson GSC 10.0 11.0 13.0 8.0 (24.0 DNC) 24.0 DNC 90.0 66.0
12th Brew Meister AClass AUS 949 David Brewer SBSC 8.0 8.0 (24.0 DNC) 24.0 DNC 7.0 24.0 DNF 95.0 71.0
13th Pistool AClass AUS 788 Brad Wicht KCC 18.0 17.0 15.0 11.0 11.0 (24.0 DNC) 96.0 72.0
14th Bazinga! AClass AUS 957 David Lovitt McYC 13.0 7.0 6.0 (24.0 DNC) 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 98.0 74.0
15th Ace 11 AClass AUS 9 John Dowling LCSC 14.0 13.0 12.0 (24.0 DNC) 12.0 24.0 DNC 99.0 75.0
16th B Bo AClass AUS 21 Ben Geisker KCC 11.0 (24.0 DNC) 14.0 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNF 24.0 DNC 121.0 97.0
17th 1984 AClass AUS 524 Roger Coleman KCC 19.0 16.0 17.0 (24.0 DNC) 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 124.0 100.0
18th Hot Chilli AClass AUS 880 Ian Michie RRRSC 16.0 15.0 (24.0 DNC) 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 127.0 103.0
19th Firefly Dance Club AClass AUS 941 Julian Jenkins KCC (24.0 DNF) 24.0 OCS 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 9.0 24.0 DNC 129.0 105.0
20th Barracuda AClass AUS 955 John Cootes SPASC (24.0 DNF) 24.0 DNF 16.0 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 136.0 112.0
21st Awesome AClass AUS 956 Vic Collett HBYC 17.0 (24.0 DNF) 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 137.0 113.0
22nd Go with the Flow AClass AUS 950 Robert Griffits LMYC 20.0 (24.0 DNF) 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 140.0 116.0
23rd Still Thinking A Bout It AClass AUS 748 Ian Johnson MSC (24.0 DNC) 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 24.0 DNC 144.0 120.0
Australian A-Cats
