Yandoo XX leads Victorian Etchells Championships

by Royal Brighton Yacht Club on 12 Mar 2017 It was a slow start to the second day of the 2017 Victorian Etchells Championships at Royal Brighton Yacht Club with almost no wind at the scheduled start time. The southerly gradually filled in across Northern Port Phillip late morning, enabling racing to get underway at 2pm.

The breeze was mainly 10-15 knots throughout the first race, with a right hand shift requiring a 10 degree change of course for the second upwind. Graeme Taylor, James Mayo and Steve Jarvin on Magpie found some clear air to build a buffer of more than one minute on John Bertrand’s Triad II. Land Rat,sailed by Queenslanders John Warlow, Curtis Skinner and Mick Patrick, was only a couple of seconds astern of the reigning champion at the finish. Not far behind them was Jeanne-Claude Strong’s Yandoo XX.After race three, Triad II moved to the top of the results table, ahead of Magpie and Yandoo XX.

Even with the wind looking settled at 190 degrees and a fairly consistent 10-12 knots, getting the second race underway proved a challenge. Race Officer Kevin Wilson signalled General Recalls after attempts with both the P and U Flags before the Black moderated competitors’ enthusiasm for a red hot start.

What seemed to be a settled breeze wasn’t and a change was signalled for the second upwind leg, moving back to the east at 160 degrees with less velocity and the added land effect from that angle.

First home in the second race this afternoon was Bruce McBriar, Jeff Casley and Tony Bond on Fast Forward. Next were Jake Gunther, Jon Holroyd and Stuart Skeggs on The Boat ahead of Yandoo XX – Jeanne-Claude Strong, Marcus Burke, Seve Jarvin and Tiana Wittey.

With four races completed, the discard comes in to play and the top of the leaderboard has taken on a whole new look. Jeanne-Claude Strong’s Yandoo XX now has a five point buffer on the overall standings and the three boats trailing are on equal points – Bruce McBriar’s Fast Forward (second), Graeme Taylor’s Magpie (third) and John Bertrand’s Triad II (fourth) all carry a score of 13.
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There were some surprised reactions at Fast Forward’s appearance at the top of the list – including Bruce McBriar and his crew.

“It’s a great feeling to have a win amongst this company”, said McBriar. “We’ve been sailing here at Brighton for years but have not competed in the last 14 months and then for some time before that”.
“There were no special tricks – we just kept our noses clean and sailed fast, and it paid off going into the beach”, he said.

Bill Browne and Jake Newman were philosophical about a 9 - 2 scorecard today and upbeat about Triad II’s chances tomorrow.

“It was very unpredictable and a ‘not like Melbourne’ afternoon”, said Newman. “There is another day to sail and getting back on top is entirely do-able”, added Browne.

The championships are anything but decided with two more races scheduled tomorrow to complete the program.