Audi Victoria Week – what a week!
Four hundred and forty one yachts (over 4,400 competitors), sailing across 19 classes and divisions sailing at Audi Victoria Week at the Docklands and in Geelong – it could not get much better for Australia’s largest and Victoria’s oldest sporting event, now in its 166th year and featuring the largest number of boats at any regatta anywhere in Australia.
Only 16 boats short of last year’s record entry, the event welcomed Audi, the German luxury carmaker, aboard as the naming rights sponsor this year after previously sponsoring the Audi King of the Docklands.
Apart from the outstanding sailing program, hosted by Royal Geelong Yacht Club which does such an incredible job each year, the weeklong event features some great onshore entertainment such as Daryl Braithwaite, Wendy Matthews, Brian Mannix and lots lots more singing crowd favourites.
The annual Bay FM Fireworks Spectacular were even more impressive than ever, the RAAF Roulettes aerobatics crew, to the free William Angliss Institute ‘Go Sailing’ program, the Victorian Beach Volleyball tournament there truly is something for everyone at Audi Victoria Week. Noticeably missing was Pip Borrman and his aerobatic display. Borrman died shortly after this event last year doing what he loved best – flying.
John Bertrand AM, Patron of Audi Victoria Week took in the racing and joined other big names of sailing at the Melbourne Yacht Club Hotel hosted Breakfast with the Stars at the Docklands where the weeklong activities kicked off.
Bertrand, who skippered Australia II to victory in the 1983 America’s Cup, was joined at the breakfast by a cast of Olympic medallists, world champions, around the world sailors and speed record breakers including Darren Bundock, Elise Rechichi, Nathan Outteridge, Nick Moloney, Adrienne Cahalan.
Geelong is looking smarter too. New shops, eateries and lighting have updated the town which was once again inundated by sailors and holiday makers from around Australia and the world.
For the first time anyone can remember, a boat sank in the Melbourne to Geelong Passage Race. Greg Cooper and Peter Southwell’s Adams 10 ‘Ten Too’ from Victoria sank approximately 10 nautical miles after the start of the Passage Race at Audi Victoria Week today following a collision with Leo Cantwell’s Cavalier Magic Bullet’. Fortunately all jumped aboard Magic Bullet safely before Ten Too went to the bottom.
Racing at Audi Victoria Week
Scarlet Runner in runaway Audi Docklands Invitational win
The five-race Audi Docklands Invitational opened Audi Victoria Week. Sailed on Victoria Harbour, the Series was not an open and shut case, but was in the end won by Victorian Rob Date and his bright red Reichel/Pugh 52, Scarlet Runner.
Early on, Geoff Boettcher’s Reichel/Pugh 51, Secret Mens Business 3.5 (SA) looked the boat ‘most likely to’, Boettcher’s second and first scores showed early promise on the windward/leeward race course off Williamstown on Port Phillip.
Day 2 was, literally, ‘make it or break it’ time, when a strong and hot 43 knot wind burst through the course area and caused damage to the some of the fleet.
Boettcher came away with a broken backstay, Quest (NSW) a shredded headsail and Living Doll with minor damage. In all, five failed to finish the race, but Scarlet Runner, sporting a broken runner, held tough to win the race and the two day Series from Cougar II, Alan Whiteley’s TP52, also from Melbourne, which finished ‘that’ race in second place, with Bob Steel’s Quest (NSW) third overall.
The three went into the Audi IRC Series favourites, but the reality was quite different.
“We are happy chappies. You don’t get many wins so you have to enjoy them”, a smiling owner/skipper Rob Date said after his victory.
Scarlet Runner’s tactician Graeme ‘GT’ Taylor admitted that this was “the best big boat racing I’ve done in Australia.”
One little mistake and you lose three places. It’s like one design racing,” added Date in reference to the quality fleet of 50 footers.
The Production division winner, Nicholas Bartels’ Terra Firma (Vic), A Sydney 47, sailed very consistently to beat the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner Two True (Andrew Saies) from South Australia by three points.
“It’s always good to go into the last day not in front. You set your task and you know what you have to do,” said Bartels dockside this afternoon.
The two raced in separate divisions in the Audi IRC Series, Terra Firma in Division 1, Two True in Division 2. Both lived up to promise.
Nathan Outteridge wins Audi A4 Avant
Young Australian Sailing Team sailor Nathan Outteridge out-sailed a strong cast at the Audi King of the Docklands, the entrants being winners from every division sailed at the past two Geelong Weeks.
Sailed on Victoria Harbour off Waterfront City, the final was worthy of the crowd it drew. Outteridge, who won the Moth class in 2009, secured fellow Moth sailors John Harris and Scott Babbage as his crew. The skipper holds two world titles in the 49er class in which he finished with the silver medal this year and represented at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His crew are great sailors too, in skiff classes and the Moth.
Outteridge’s ear-splitting smile when Anna Burgdorf, presented him the keys to his prize – a brand new silver Audi A4 Avant valued at $54,800, said it all. “Congratulations to a great crew, you raced in difficult conditions. We are happy to be supporting such a great event and we thank Rod Jones and Oceanburo and Royal Geelong Yacht Club for their support,” Burgdorf, General Manager, Corporate Communications, Audi Australia said.
“I couldn’t have done it without John and Scott – I couldn’t have picked two better guys; guys who are friends. I’ll be shouting them to dinner, said the young sailor who turns 24 at the end of the month.
“It’s awesome the support that Audi gives to sailing. As an Australian Sailing Team member, I get to drive an Audi all the time, because they sponsor our team. I feel very fortunate for that,” said Outteridge from Wangi Wangi on the Central Coast of NSW.
As part of his prize, Rod Jones from Oceanburo donated the use of an SB3 to the winner’s home club to use for two years. “Wangi Wangi has a lot of young upcoming sailors, they’ll really appreciate this generous prize,” said Outteridge.
ABC’s Ian Cover and around the world sailor Nick Moloney gave blow by blow coverage from Waterfront City in breezes that were up and down, keeping all competitors on their toes until the final race in which the best six crews competed.
Home Team A, skippered by 34 year-old Brendan Garner from Royal Geelong Yacht Club, finished second. His crew made a brilliant recovery after an early start cost them time and a penalty turn, leaving them well behind the other five.
Legendary 18 and 16 foot skiff and sports boat sailor, Peter Sorensen who is also an accomplished yachtsman, finished third. Sorensen was the 2008 winner of the Audi IRC Australian Championship, driving home in an Audi in 2008. “Oh well,” said the skipper now in his 60s, “you can’t win them all.”
Crew from the 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner Quest, skippered by Julian Plante finished fourth, Melbourne Osaka double handed yacht race winning crew, Jock MacAdie (who is also in his 60’s) and his son Hamish were fifth and sports boat champion Heath Walters with brother Murray on crew was sixth.
Secret Mens Business 3.5 fights back to win Audi IRC Series
Geoff Boettcher and his Secret Mens Business 3.5 crew just missed winning the Audi Docklands Invitational, when on the final day, damage forced their retirement. They came out strongly to win the Audi IRC Series Division 1.
The Reichel/Pugh 51 is from South Australia and as such, does not get any grand prix competition in home waters, so Boettcher came to Audi Victoria Week unsure how they would go against what has been described as “the best 50ft to 55ft IRC fleet anywhere in the world”.
Sailing with a crew of mixed potential, including the experience of navigator Steve Kemp, tactician Michael Dunstan, along with long time crew and three new younger generation sailors, Boettcher laid down the gauntlet after winning the first race of the Series, the 34.3 nautical mile Passage Race. For his efforts, he won the Lou Abrahams Trophy and a brand new carbon fibre steering wheel worth $5,000 from McConaghy Boats.
The Series then moved to Corio Bay in Geelong, Boettcher only twice strayed outside a top three place and a race drop in the six race series was a saviour.
The South Australian led the series every day bar one, when paying too much attention to the other grand prix yachts, TP52s, Rob Hanna’s Shogun, Alan Whiteley’s Cougar II and John Williams and Jason Van Der Slot’s Calm, Michael Hiatt’s Farr 55 Living Doll and Chris Dare’s Corby 49 Audi Centre Melbourne, all from Victoria and Bob Steel’s TP52 Quest from Sydney, let Nicholas Bartels' Sydney 47 Terra Firma slip through to win and take the overall pointscore lead on the penultimate day.
In what had been a predominantly light and shifty regatta, the final day of the windward/leeward regatta started in 5 knots of breeze, but winds soon increased to 20 knots and moved to the south. The 27-strong fleet had only one race and Boettcher’s second was good enough to claim the trophy and take the early lead in the Audi IRC Australian Championship.
“We haven’t sailed any of the grand prix fleet in heavy conditions before, so of course we’re ecstatic with how she went. This is the best IRC fleet around. I now know my boat is classy and our crew work is slick.
“Kempy and Michael (Dunstan) are fabulous – they do their job so well, which allows me to concentrate on steering the boat. We have three new young guys on the boat who haven’t raced at this level before, and they rose to the occasion,” he added.
“To finish among the boats we did is fantastic; to knock them off is even better,” Boettcher enthused.
Terra Firma scored her worst result, ninth, but used a drop, Bartels secured second place from Shogun. Originally Living Doll was in third place, but after Hiatt accepted the arbitration decision, was relegated to fourth place.
Quest, with Jamie MacPhail at the helm, scored three wins, more than any other yacht, but a DSQ after a protest with Living Doll, and a poor 16th in the Passage Race, dropped her to sixth place.
The Audi IRC Series at Audi Victoria Week is Round 1 of the Audi IRC Australian Championship. Secret Mens Business is the leader on 1 point from Terra Firma on 2, while Canute, the Division 2 winner, is third.
Three events in the Championship remain, with three of the four to count in each yacht’s point score. The next event is the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta on the first weekend in March.
Canute outstanding winner of Division 2
A relatively unknown yachtsman Peter Horn brought his brand new Mills designed King 40 ‘Canute’ to the regatta from Sydney for the very first time. From Day 1, Canute went head to head with two other pedigree yachts; Two True, Andrew Saies' 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner and Just a Minor Hickup, Peter Coleman’s Hick 39 from Melbourne.
Division 2’s six race windward/leeward series on Corio Bay was a cracker. Like Division 1, the racing was very close, Principal Race Officer, Denis Thompson describing it: “They were like dinghies, the way they were throwing the boats around. The racing in all the Audi IRC Divisions was very close.”
The three yachts and the remaining 16 in the division provided thrilling competition, but it was the top three that raced neck and neck the entire regatta, which is based around Australia Day.
Canute came up with three wins, Two True, with Brett Young at the helm won two, and Just a Minor Hickup scored one – and that’s how they finished.
The upwind speed of Canute was startling and it will come as no shock if a few more King 40s appeared at regattas in the future. Hoping, but never guessing, Canute would be such a thoroughbred, Horn said: “Being a new boat, you don’t know how you will go, but I never dreamed Canute would be this good.”
Leading into the 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 orthopedic surgeon Andrew Saies. Only one further point separated them from Just a Minor Hickup, Peter Coleman’s Hick 39 from Melbourne.
Canute had a four point lead going into the final day, so it came down to the final race, sailed in a 5 knot breeze that built. Two True won, Just a Minor Hickup was second and Canute’s third gave her the overall win.
“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.”
Horn thanked his capable crew which included his 25 year-old son Alex, and sailors of note, Richie Allanson, JP Macquet, Michael Fountain and Rob Brown on tactics.
Two True, which was launched only last year, finished second overall and Just a Minor Hickup was third. So close were the three that each used a fourth place as their drop and finished the series with two points separating each.
An ecstatically happy Peter Horn has signalled his intention to compete in the rest of the Audi IRC Championship events and is particularly looking forward to stretching his yacht’s legs in the third event, the Audi Sydney Gold Coast race in July. “She’s yet to be tested in a longer ocean race, so that will be interesting,” said Horn.
Surprise wins every race in Division 3
David Ellis and his crew came to Audi Victoria Week to defend their Division 3 win of last year. Ellis won every race of the Series with his 20 year-old BB 10 Surprise from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria.
‘Surprisingly’, the yacht won the five races sailed in moderately light shifty conditions that her owner says she revels in, and also in the stronger 15 knot winds with gusts on Corio Bay on the final day.
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. I could not have done this without my crew – they are brilliant.
“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.
It’s not often one gets to drop a first from their score, but that is what Ellis was left with. His nearest rival throughout the event was Harvey Milne’s Archambault 31, Aroona from NSW that finished second today and second overall. Aroona scored second in all but one race, in which she finished third.
Even Finer and her crew led by owner Jason Antill (NSW) mounted a comeback to finish third overall after dropping to fourth overall on the penultimate day. 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.
The Teams Trophy for teams of three sailing in the Audi IRC Divisions 1, 2 and 3, went to Living Doll, Shogun and Executive Decision (Grant Botica) representing Royal Yacht Club of Victoria.
Cinquante hangs on to win Morris Finance Sydney 38 title - again
The skipper and crew of defending champion Cinquante, sailed Race 6, the final race of the Sydney 38 One Design series for the Morris Finance trophy, determined to win the trophy that skipper Ian Murray has donated for the past few years.
“We were three points up on Another Challenge (Chris Lewin) this morning and we needed to go out and do the right thing, keep our nose clean and not make any stuff-ups,” said Cinquante’s skipper Ian Murray at Royal Geelong Yacht Club, of which he is a member.
“We had a long wait for breeze, but when it did come in, it built to 20 knots and was fairly constant; a lot better than the past two days,” Murray said of the final race and day.
“It’s been very close racing; all of the boats have been within a few hundred metres of each other on the runs,” Murray said of the fleet in an all-Victorian podium finish, with Another Challenge second overall and yachting legend Lou Abrahams third with Challenge.
In fact, racing in the ten-boat one-design keelboat fleet was so close that Another Challenge crossed the finish line in a dead heat for fourth with Audacious in Race 6.
It was enough to lift Another Challenge into second overall for Chris Lewin and his young team from Royal Brighton YC, finishing just half a point clear of Challenge, the Sandringham YC entry skippered by 82-year old Abrahams, helmed by Scott Walton.
Ian Murray praised his crew, including tactician Tim Davis and his stand-in for Race 6, Brent Frankcombe and commented: “It’s a good boat and a good crew. We always keep our equipment and sails up to scratch; that way you don’t have breakages. It can also give you a small edge with speed, which makes a big difference when the racing is so close.”
Flying Circus wins third successive S80 title
David Collins and his Flying Circus crew from Geelong clinched their third successive S80 win at Audi Victoria Week today by the skin of their teeth after finishing the series on equal 13 points with Keith Chatto’s Mood Indigo from Melbourne.
A change to the Sailing Instructions meant the S80 Series, hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, where Collins is a member and his dad and crew member Don, a Past Commodore, was shortened to five races.
“It was pretty tough and competitive all week and today especially, as it was very fluky in the first race, but we clawed our way back in and won,” said Collins of the windward/leeward Race 5 sailed on Corio Bay.
“In the second race we got a reasonable start and stayed with the leaders, but were unable to pass them, but it was just enough at the end of the day to give us the Series.”
This is the third successive S80 series win at Audi Victoria Week for Collins and his dad. “We won it easily last year, but this year was a lot more difficult. The racing was very close every day,” said Collins from the host, RGYC, who admitted that: “local knowledge helped a fraction.”
The S80’s contested the Passage Race and four windward/leeward races on Corio Bay’s inner harbour in mixed but mostly moderately light shifty sea breezes.
The S80 Series was an all-Victorian affair in which Mood Indigo finished second on a countback to Flying Circus in what was probably the most hotly contested Series, with the pointscore very close for this popular Production boat. Escape, owned by Anthony Beck, finished third overall after momentarily leading the pointscore.
Chilli in red hot form to take out Geelong Taxi Network Multihull Series
The Geelong Taxi Network Multihull Series was decided on the last day of the eight-race event, the final results kept secret until prize giving. Geoff Floyd thought he had finished second, so was over the moon when he was called to the podium as the winner with his Corsair Sprint 750 ‘Chilli’ from Victoria.
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In the end, Floyd finished two points ahead of his nearest adversary from South Australia, Goldfinger, owned by Peter Boyd, with a further point’s separation to Tim Pepperell’s E-Marineworld Skips (Vic). The latter two are Farrier designs.
“We got off to a bad start on the first day, breaking some rigging followed by a poor second race, but we finished the regatta strongly with a win and a second, which got us over the line,” Floyd said of their last two races.
“Last year the boat was new to us and we were still getting used to it. This year we bought some new sails and gathered up a good crew and it’s paid off for us,” commented Floyd, who has been racing at the event for the past 20 years – the last two on his own multihulls – this being his first win.
Of the Series, Floyd commented on the standard of competition and the camaraderie that exists amongst the multi-hull fleet of 11 representing Victoria and South Australia: “The quality of the fleet is great, the competition was really close, and everyone had a lot of fun. We all meet up after racing.”
The multihulls started their series on Port Phillip off Williamstown, contested the Passage Race and finished off with racing on Corio Bay in Geelong.
Club Marine Formula 18 Australian Championship goes to brand new design
Steve Brewin (NSW) and Jack Benson (NT) won the Club Marine Formula 18 Australian Championship sailing a brand new untested design (the ‘C2’) named BO.
The design can’t be given full credit. Brewin/Benson sailed an almost flawless series, their scorecard the envy of many, showing five wins and not a single score outside a podium place, such was their skill – and in a 25-boat fleet of choice multihull sailors, that’s saying something.
So consistent were the winners that their nearest peers, Greg and Brett Goodall, a father and son team from Victoria and also sailing the new C2, finished an enormous 17 points behind Brewin. A further three points in arrears were third placegetters, Robbie Lovig and Lachlan Gibson (Vic).
Racing in the south-western corner of Corio Bay, between Limeburners and Point Henry, the F18s had suitable flat water, but patchy 5-12 knot south-east breeze for most of the series.
Winners of two races, the Goodalls are from Australian High Performance Catamarans (AHPC), the company responsible for the new C2 and the established Capricorn F18 designs, as well as a number of other racing catamarans.
Greg Goodall, a two-time world champion in the A-Class catamaran, commented on the final day: “The breeze picked up for the second race,” which was won convincingly by BO, from Edge By Windrush, another brand new F18 design sailed by West Australian skipper Brett Burvill and crewed by Ryan Duffield.
Brewin, of Sydney, and Benson of Darwin, normally race single-handed A-Class cats. Brewin won the 2001 A-Class Worlds and will defend his title in Italy later in the year.
Benson, from Darwin, who is currently based in Townsville, Queensland for tertiary studies, is also planning to race in the A-Class worlds. He and Brewin are also planning to race together at the F18 worlds in Uraquay, France.
The Club Marine Formula 18 Australian Championship doubles as the selection series for the eight places available for Australian crews at the 2010 worlds.
Roger That takes home Bundaberg Rum National Sports Boats trophy – and the jackets
The crew of Roger That (NSW) left no doubt in anyone’s minds they were serious about winning the Bundaberg Rum Sports Boat division on Corio Bay in Geelong. Steered by world champion sailor Cameron Miles, but owned by another world champion James Mayjor and John Bacon, they dauntingly won six of the eight race series with second and third places in the remaining two.
The Melges 24, which had Craig Pocklington on mainsheet, won the series by a whopping 16 points from Cameron Rae’s Thompson 8, Laminar Flow from the host RGYC, with Paul Heyes’ Foamfast (Vic) third on countback, sharing equal points with Rae.
Roger That came up with three straight wins on the final day in light and variable, the last race 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.
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 cancelled further racing.
For their win, the Roger That crew also received the coveted Bundaberg Rum National Sports Boat champions’ jackets. 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 Mayjor. “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.
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.
SB3 Australian Championship goes to Credo-Group
Jono Shelley and his crew of Clare and Chris Molloy have won the SB3 William Angliss Victorian Championship at Audi Victoria Week after another strong performance with their Credo-Group.com against a tough field.
The British crew raced this event in the one-design SB3 keelboat class at RGYC two years ago and placed third, but this time decided it was all or nothing and started out as they meant to go on. And go on they did, with an eight point lead into the final day of the eight race series against 14 rivals.
In the final race, sailed in very light and variable conditions, Credo-Group.com finished what was ultimately to be the final race, in third place. The final race was cancelled as conditions were unsuitable.
“We worked out we only needed to finish in the top five to win the series,” Jono Shelley said after crossing the line. Referring to the very light and shifty conditions, Shelley continued, “It was hard work though; was that a race?”
The Tasmanian entry Wedgewood, skippered by Andrew Crisp from Tasmania finished six points behind in second place once the race drop came in. Crisp did well, considering he is new to this frisky and colourful class.
Club Marine Blue, skippered by Rod Jones of Mooloolaba YC, the Dart SB3 Oceanburo distributor, finished third overall.
Racing was extremely tight throughout the series. Fifth overall was Club Marine White skippered by Kai Timms (Qld), who runs the SB3 distributorship in partnership with Rod Jones.
“The class is growing well now,” said Timms who explained it was great for the class to come to Geelong as the 2012 Worlds would be held out of RGYC.
Old fox outsmarts young rooster to win KA Sails Victorian Moth title
Gun Mach 2 Moth designer Andrew McDougall added the McConaghy – KA Sails International Moth Victorian Championship to his Australian Moth title at Audi Victoria Week - his next aim is the World title when the Championship is held in Dubai in March.
McDougall won the last two races in the single-handed foiling class in shifty south-easterly wind on Corio Bay to overcome a challenge from fellow Victorian Lochlin Byrne sailing Mach2 Boats. He finished three points ahead and a whopping 14 points ahead of third placed Michael Boode from RGYC. Not a bad week’s work for 54 year old McDougall!
The top two raced Mach 2 Moths designed by McDougall and produced by McConaghy Boats in China.
Cruising boat numbers hit record high
The three cruising divisions accounted for a record 200 plus yachts that made for a truly spectacular sight on Corio Bay in Geelong and appropriately finished their various series’ on Australia Day in a feast of colour close to shore for the thousands of spectators to appreciate.
The four cruising divisions and classic yachts were sent on a nine nautical mile course in a light westerly breeze on their final race.
In the Sunsail Cruising with Spinnaker division 1, Daryl Lea’s Beneteau First 367 Crackerjack from the Royal Brighton Yacht Club took first place in the four-race series, despite recording their worst result, a 19th, on Australia Day.
Crackerjack beat Jonathan Apted’s Adams 10.6 Fabulous Action, representing RGYC by three and a half points and John Duffin’s Peterson 43 Eneseay by a further two points. .
Division 2 honours went to Fergus McPherson’s Beneteau First 38 Mirage from RGYC with a largely novice crew who were thrilled by their win.
“The crew is elated. They have only been sailing for the past 12 months,” said an incredulous McPherson this afternoon. The competition was brilliant, very demanding, and the conditions were tough,” he said.
Mirage, overcame a challenge from Stuart Lyon’s Spindrift, defeating her by a lone point, with Melbourne Osaka double-handed racer Rosie Colahan from Victoria, steering Ingenue to a third place.
Ryan Blackstock and his Triton 28 Big Blue (Vic) had a solid Division 3 win after finishing the week with a nine point advantage over Craig Black’s Drambue (Vic), with Simon Grain’s J24 Make My Jay (Vic) third, the latter two separated by a minuscule half point!
The Coca Cola Cruising Non Spinnaker Series was taken out by yet another Beneteau, Ignazio Parolini’s 390 model, Stardust from Royal Brighton Yacht Club. “We feel fantastic,” said Parolini following his victory. “We have been chasing this all week, the conditions really suited us.”
Among Parolini’s crew were three fathers and four sons amongst the eight on board for Audi Victoria Week.
Stardust produced a huge 12 point win over nearest adversary Ray Goodwin’s Colombia 27 Lucky Lady with Paul Commins’ Dionysos third on a countback.
'Martini's' for Classic Yacht Series winner
Michael Williams and Ross Clark’s 30 foot Martini just grabbed top honours in the Parks Victoria Classic Yachts series, the S & S design beating William Newman’s Henry Morgan 31 Maatsuyker by a solitary point after four races.
“We really enjoyed the series,” said Williams, who beat a famous golden oldie, Mercedes III, Martin Ryan’s third placed Kaufmann yacht by five points.
Lowana Five “high fives” BIA Trailerable Yacht win
Simon Vaughan’s RL24 Lowana Five, scraped home by two points to win the BIA Trailerable Yacht Series despite scoring their worst result for the six race series on the final day.
It was a tense morning for second placed Herman Van Ree’s Noelex 25 Executive Suite from Sydney as they were still in the running for the trophy and although they beat Lowana Five in the final race, the latter did well enough to still win the series after leading it from Day 1. David Allan’s Masram 720 What a Life rounded off the top three.
“We can finally relax,” said Vaughan this afternoon as he was preparing for the long tow back to Sydney. “This is our best result so far; we also finished third at the nationals in December at Lake Macquarie.”
“The series was good fun,” added Vaughan. As good as the win was, the fact Vaughan has now qualified for a place at next year’s Audi King of the Docklands event and a chance at the major prize, a luxury Audi car, was even better.
Andrew Neilson, the Chairman of Audi Victoria Week and Vice Commodore of Royal Geelong Yacht Club is thrilled with yet another successful week. “We’re delighted from a competitor’s point of view. The week went exceptionally well,” said Neilson adding: “Every year we try to improve procedures and keep everyone happy.
“We’ll always take on competitors’ feedback to make Audi Victoria Week even better. This event takes 12 months of planning, so to get it over safely and successfully is always good.”
Denis Thompson said: “It was great regatta. We had really good wind, the race officers all set good courses and we had some very close racing. There were a few protests and incidents, but considering the size of the fleet, they were very few.”
The Super 30s, Bluebirds and International Cadets also had their Series’ at Audi Victoria Week. To read all about them, see full results, photos and video of the Week, go to: www.victoriaweek.com.au
Di Pearson, Audi Victoria Week media
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