Alegria comes up trumps in Audi Series

by Di Pearson / Skandia media on 26 Jan 2009

Alegria - Skandia Geelong Week 2009 Teri Dodds /Skandia http://www.geelongweek.com.au

The inaugural Audi IRC Australian Championship winner, Rod Jones, got what he prayed for today to take out Division 2 of the Audi IRC Series at Skandia Geelong Week this afternoon.

All week long Jones and his Archambault 40 Alegria crew went head to head with Ruth Magic (Peter Hill) and Reverie (Alan Woodward) and while Jones saw Ruth Magic (NSW) as the main threat, it was Reverie that came home to finish the six-race series in second place.

Queenslander, Jones, who won the Audi IRC Australian Championship and a drove away in a brand new Audi Q7 SUV from Hamilton Island in 2007, thought that Ruth Magic, with 2008 Audi Championship winner Peter Sorensen at the helm and Beijing gold medallist Nathan Wilmot calling tactics, would be his downfall.

Thankfully, though, Jones prayers came to fruition when a 10-12 sea breeze kicked in on outer Corio Bay. 'We knew if it was light we’d have our best chance of beating Ruth Magic,' Jones said this afternoon.

While the Alegria crew did not win the final race, they did come home second, while Hill and his crew from Sydney scored their worst race result, a 13th place, and used it as their drop.

'It was a great race, really,' a happy Jones said. 'We got off the line attached to them and got ahead of them half way up the beat – the conditions didn’t suit them, they go better in windy conditions,' Jones said, adding: 'we’ll be in Sydney for the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta – I want to be the first person to win a second Audi car – they’re great cars,' he said.

While Alegria and Ruth Magic duked it out, Alan Woodward and his Royal Brighton Yacht Club crew did their own thing and came home to win the final race and claim second place overall.

***Series Results [IRC] up to Race 6 (Drops = 1)***
Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Design	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		Q345	ALEGRIA	Rod Jones	RQYS	Archambault A40rc	11.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	[4.00]	2.00	3.00
2		B26	REVERIE	Alan Woodward	RBYC	Beneteau FIRST 45	14.00	1.00	3.00	[7.00]	2.00	4.00	4.00
3		6443	RUTH MAGIC	Peter Hill33a	MHYC	beneteau 45	16.00	[13.00]	1.00	5.00	1.00	1.00	8.00
4		YC5974	TRUE NORTH	Andrew Saies	CYCSA	Beneteau 40.7	22.00	4.00	5.00	6.00	6.00	[6.00]	1.00
5		B2	JUST A MINOR HICKUP	Peter Coleman	RBYC	Hick 39 R/C	30.00	8.00	6.00	9.00	5.00	[9.00]	2.00
6		R1121	EXECUTIVE DECISION	Grant Botica	RYCV	Adams 10	35.00	[16.00]	4.00	11.00	10.00	5.00	5.00
7		AUS150	SYNERGY	Alex Douglas	RQYS	MUMM30	38.00	6.00	11.00	1.00	[19.00]	11.00	9.00
8		B63	SCHUSS	Denis McConnell	RBYC	Beneteau First 45	40.00	[18.00]	12.00	15.00	3.00	3.00	7.00
9		H6336	THE BOOKMAKER	Andrew Slagmolen	HBYC	Nortshore NSX36	44.00	3.00	14.00	8.00	9.00	[15.00]	10.00
10		AUS3093	ASTERIX	Colin Loel	RQYS	Mumm30	45.00	5.00	7.00	3.00	18.00	12.00	[18.00]
11		SM35	ABSOLUT	Terry Hall	SYC	Archambault 35	47.00	[22.00C]	8.00	13.00	7.00	8.00	11.00
12		R336	SWORDFISH TROMBONE	Tim Olding	RYCV	MBD 36	58.00	10.00	10.00	14.00	11.00	13.00	[16.00]
13		SM424	BARNSTORMER	Brian Barnes	SYC	Bavaria Match 42	58.50	14.50	13.00	17.00	8.00	[19.00]	6.00
14		AUS6151	CLEOPATRA	Robert Davis	SYC	MUMM 30	60.00	7.00	15.00	4.00	17.00	[20.00]	17.00
15		SM3639	WIND SPEED	Les Browne	SYC	Sydney 36CR	61.50	14.50	[21.00F]	12.00	13.00	7.00	15.00
16		S14	GIENAH	Rod Miller	RMYS	Seaquest RP36	63.00	9.00	9.00	[18.00]	15.00	16.00	14.00
17		SM5985	INSX	Robert Sill	SYC	NSX 38	73.00	11.00	21.00F	19.00	12.00	10.00	[22.00C]
18		TYC7771	BLUE SKY	R And K Fisher	TYC	Beneteau 40.7	75.00	12.00	16.00	10.00	20.00	17.00	[22.00C]
19		M9000	GEOMATIC JOKER	Grant Chipperfield	MYC	Lyons/Jarkan 39	81.00	17.00	17.00	[20.00]	16.00	18.00	13.00
20	12.0S	SA308	SIX FISH	Caillin Howard	RSAYS	MUMM 30	92.00	22.00C	22.00C	22.00C	[22.00F]	14.00	12.00
21		H8118	MERLION	Eddie Mackevicius	HBYC	Beneteau 40.7	92.00	22.00C	18.00	16.00	14.00	22.00C	[22.00C]