Etchells Australian Championship - Perfect weather on day 2

by Tracey Johnstone on 13 Nov 2013 In the Etchells Australian Championship, being hosted by Southport Yacht Club on Queensland’s Gold Coast, the second day of racing saw the top two teams trade places overall in another day of perfect Etchells weather.

Going into the start of the day John Bertrand’s Triad was on equal first with David Clark’s Fifteen. Peter McNeill’s Iris III and Cameron Miles’s The Hole Way were in equal points, fighting for third.

A day of relatively steady breezes, good tactical calls and a poor start by Miles, shook the top three branches of the pointscore tree with Miles falling down and Matthew Chew’s GenXY climbing up.

Race one of the day was set up in 10 to 12 knots with the top mark at 030 degrees. PRO Kevin Wilson reported that at the start, like yesterday’s first race, he had only two boats over. 'Miles was one and the other was Peter Hollis’s Heaven Can Wait. They both came back and then had to fight their way through the traffic. Cameron got some way into the fleet, but was still a fair way back and wasn’t a happy boy when he went through the finish line,' Wilson said. Miles finished that race in a costly 16th place.

A jovial Bertrand handed this afternoon’s race commentary over to his middle-man, Grant Simmer. 'It was a good day. In Race one we had a good race with Polly O’Neill. We led most of the race, then he just got inside of us at the last time at the top mark. We were having a bit of a battle with Noel Drennan and so he (McNeill) pipped us at the top mark and led to the finish.'

With the finish being downhill, Simmer said everyone was using the ocean swell, working the waves as best they could, in some cases picking up three or four places on their rivals.

The honours in Race one went to McNeill, with Bertrand in second, Clark quietly holding his own to slip into third and Chew in fourth, all within 23 seconds of each other.

Race two was away in more pressure, gusting to 16 knots with the swell and white caps challenging the 30-boat fleet. This time Bertrand wasn’t going to let anyone in on his lane as he led the fleet around the track to finish some 25 seconds ahead of young Chew with Clark again holding onto a third place.

'We just got ahead of Matthew Chew on the first beat and we were able to extend quietly as the race went on. Tactically it was a bit of an easier race for us. David Clark was also going well in both races.

'It’s good racing. There is a group of about eight or 10 boats that could easily win any of the races so is really close racing,' Simmer said.

Chew finished the day with second and a fourth moving him up to equal fourth with Noel Drennan. 'We had a great day, playing the game with the top boats. It was very close racing on a short course.

'We have got better every race so far. We have had better starts. The first race we were over and the second race we had a bad start and then we had two good starts today. Our boat speed has been good in all races, but it is really our starting that has improved the most.

'Tomorrow, if we keep our current trend, hopefully we will win a race,' Chew said.

Simmer expects the conditions tomorrow to be a bit lighter than today. 'Today was just perfect sailing, between 14 and 18 knots. There was only small wind shifts. Tomorrow we expect it to be between eight and 12 knots.'

OD results Start : 11:05

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	From	Elapsd	Skipper	Fin Tim	Score
1	1325	IRIS III	LMYC	01:08:00	Peter Mc Neill	12:13:00	1.0
2	1383	TRIAD	RBYC	01:08:11	John Bertrand	12:13:11	2.0
3	1380	FIFTEEN+	CYCA	01:08:16	David Clark	12:13:16	3.0
4	864	GEN XY	RQYS	01:08:23	Matthew Chew	12:13:23	4.0
5	1215	BOAT X	RBYC	01:08:32	Noel Drennan	12:13:32	5.0
6	1392	BOOTROSS	RQYS	01:08:39	Mark Bradford	12:13:39	6.0
7	1377	ROULETTE	RSYS	01:08:44	Mark Johnson	12:13:44	7.0
8	991	THE BOAT	RBYC	01:08:53	Jake Gunther	12:13:53	8.0
9	1338	CRITICAL BALANCE	LMYC	01:09:00	Paul Garaty	12:14:00	9.0
10	1186	TOUCH PAUSE ENGAGE	RSYS	01:09:06	Michael Stovin-Bradf	12:14:06	10.0
11	868	YANDOO XX	RSYS	01:09:34	Jeanne-Claude Strong	12:14:34	11.0
12	1088	SUN TZU	RSYS	01:09:41	Roger Hickman	12:14:41	12.0
13	874	TANGO	RBYC	01:09:59	Chris Hampton	12:14:59	13.0
14	994	CREWS CONTROL	CSC	01:10:08	Howard Blowes	12:15:08	14.0
15	885	THE BOAT THAT ROCKED	RQYS	01:10:17	James Chilman	12:15:17	15.0
16	1306	THE HOLE WAY	RPAYC	01:10:18	Cameron Miles	12:15:18	16.0
17	892	XXXX XXXXXXX	RQYS	01:10:30	John Warlow	12:15:30	17.0
18	1276	REBOUND	SYC	01:10:37	Scott McInally	12:15:37	18.0
19	1395	SHOULD'A GONE LEFT	RBYC	01:10:42	Peter Coleman	12:15:42	19.0
20	1144	RAPSCALLION	RQYS	01:10:50	David Healey	12:15:50	20.0
21	1318	ADOLESCENCE	RSYS	01:10:57	Steve Billingham	12:15:57	21.0
22	883	TUSK	RPYC	01:11:05	Cary Smith	12:16:05	22.0
23	1288	GOOD VIBES	WSC	01:11:22	Robert Holm	12:16:22	23.0
24	1278	1278 HEAVEN CAN WAIT	RQYS	01:11:29	Peter Hollis	12:16:29	24.0
25	1275	TREKKA	CYCA	01:11:31	Mike Thackray	12:16:31	25.0
26	1347	FUNKY COLD MEDINA	SYC	01:11:32	Kelvin Holdt	12:16:32	26.0
27	731	WHERES WALLY	SYC	01:11:45	Greg Forgan-Smith	12:16:45	27.0
28	418	TUCO	RQYS	01:12:01	Alistair Cowen	12:17:01	28.0
29	1025	WALK ON WATER	RBYC	01:12:35	Glenn Norton	12:17:35	29.0
30	1365	JUNGLE DRUM	RQYS	01:13:04	Stephen Toms	12:18:04	30.0

OD results Start : 12:59

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	From	Elapsd	Skipper	Fin Tim	Score
1	1383	TRIAD	RBYC	01:02:24	John Bertrand	14:01:24	1.0
2	864	GEN XY	RQYS	01:02:52	Matthew Chew	14:01:52	2.0
3	1380	FIFTEEN+	CYCA	01:03:01	David Clark	14:02:01	3.0
4	1215	BOAT X	RBYC	01:03:03	Noel Drennan	14:02:03	4.0
5	1325	IRIS III	LMYC	01:03:23	Peter Mc Neill	14:02:23	5.0
6	1306	THE HOLE WAY	RPAYC	01:03:26	Cameron Miles	14:02:26	6.0
7	1338	CRITICAL BALANCE	LMYC	01:04:11	Paul Garaty	14:03:11	7.0
8	1392	BOOTROSS	RQYS	01:04:16	Mark Bradford	14:03:16	8.0
9	1088	SUN TZU	RSYS	01:04:22	Roger Hickman	14:03:22	9.0
10	885	THE BOAT THAT ROCKED	RQYS	01:04:47	James Chilman	14:03:47	10.0
11	1377	ROULETTE	RSYS	01:04:52	Mark Johnson	14:03:52	11.0
12	1144	RAPSCALLION	RQYS	01:05:01	David Healey	14:04:01	12.0
13	874	TANGO	RBYC	01:05:17	Chris Hampton	14:04:17	13.0
14	1278	1278 HEAVEN CAN WAIT	RQYS	01:05:24	Peter Hollis	14:04:24	14.0
15	892	XXXX XXXXXXX	RQYS	01:05:39	John Warlow	14:04:39	15.0
16	1276	REBOUND	SYC	01:05:40	Scott McInally	14:04:40	16.0
17	994	CREWS CONTROL	CSC	01:05:53	Howard Blowes	14:04:53	17.0
18	1318	ADOLESCENCE	RSYS	01:06:05	Steve Billingham	14:05:05	18.0
19	1186	TOUCH PAUSE ENGAGE	RSYS	01:06:14	Michael Stovin-Bradf	14:05:14	19.0
20	1347	FUNKY COLD MEDINA	SYC	01:06:19	Kelvin Holdt	14:05:19	20.0
21	991	THE BOAT	RBYC	01:06:22	Jake Gunther	14:05:22	21.0
22	1395	SHOULD'A GONE LEFT	RBYC	01:06:30	Peter Coleman	14:05:30	22.0
23	1288	GOOD VIBES	WSC	01:06:31	Robert Holm	14:05:31	23.0
24	868	YANDOO XX	RSYS	01:06:39	Jeanne-Claude Strong	14:05:39	24.0
25	731	WHERES WALLY	SYC	01:06:57	Greg Forgan-Smith	14:05:57	25.0
26	418	TUCO	RQYS	01:07:17	Alistair Cowen	14:06:17	26.0
27	1365	JUNGLE DRUM	RQYS	01:07:43	Stephen Toms	14:06:43	27.0
28	1275	TREKKA	CYCA	01:08:32	Mike Thackray	14:07:32	28.0
DNC	883	TUSK	RPYC		Cary Smith		31.0
DNC	1025	WALK ON WATER	RBYC		Glenn Norton		31.0

Day three of the National Championship starts tomorrow at about 1100 hours.

For more event information South Port Yacht Club Website