Etchells Australian Championship Day One – Right was so Right

by Etchells Australian Championship 2011 Media on 11 Jan 2011 Rex Gorell Prestige Etchells Australian Championship 2011 Day one, Corio Bay, Geelong Victoria.

Sailing teaches you patience – as everyone knows. And so it was on day one of the Rex Gorell Prestige Etchells Australian Championship 2011. After two hours delay on the millpond called Corio Bay the breeze came in from the east north east at around five - six knots enabling Principal Race Officer Greg Sinclair to gun the fleet away in the steady rain.

Damien King and his Barry crew from the pin sailed up the edge of the left hand breeze line.

Inside him was local sailor Brendan Garner, The Moe Szyslak Experience and Gary Smith’s Are We There Yet? Further up the line another five boats, was Michael Hiatt’s Extra Bad Doll and then almost midline was 2010 Etchells World Champion John Bertrand’s Triad.

At the Committee boat end, John Savage on Black Knight, caught well up the course in the very lightest of breezes, sailed back behind the line under spinnaker just 30 seconds before the start, flopped over and headed right.

Savage explained later 'Our decision was reinforced when we were bounced away by Jake Gunther’s The Boat.'

Also at the Committee boat and heading right was Mark Bulka, with midboat Stuart Nichols and on bow Glenn Ashby, the six times A Cat World Champion, back in an Etchells for the first time since the Perfect Balance trio won the 2004 Etchells Australian Championship in Adelaide, South Australia.

Initially the breeze went a little left. King looked good in the best pressure on the course initially, then the lead shifted towards the mid-liners. Extra Bad Doll looked OK, then it seemed Bertrand (Triad) was in the lead, but two thirds of the way up the beat, the wind sailed to the right.

The Right was now Right. Around the top mark went Savage just ahead of Bulka. Some good work from Bulka's team and they hit the front and soldiered down the run toward the bottom mark.

With the breeze fading the course was shortened and the two boats finished in that order at the bottom mark.

Behind them there was daylight. Ten minutes later Brad Sheridan (US Forces) crossed in third place. The left hand leader King (Barry) was third last. Bertrand was in the 20’s.

Dockside Mark Bulka commented 'yesterday in the Practice race we had a glamour start on the pin, speed and a clear lane. We figured we were famous until we looked up and saw the breeze going hard right. That was the end of us.

‘With today’s forecast and that experience, we decided we had to go right. We were third down from the boat. We were not hard right; there were at least seven or eight boats outside us. But by the time we reached the top mark, the wind had swung to 110.'

PRO Greg Sinclair and his team notified a new course of 110 and the leaders headed for the new mark.

Then in Sinclair’s words ‘It all went pear shaped. With the lead boats heading down the course it was too late to pull the pin.’

While the two leaders Bulka (Perfect Balance) and Savage (Black Knight) finished in very light two-three knots at that heading, behind them the breeze lifted to five knots but the wind shifted back to 050.

It was a tough day at the office and the bad news is the conditions look like they will be even lighter tomorrow.

2011 Rex Gorell Prestige Etchells Class National Championship

Hosted By Royal Geelong Yacht Club

Race 1   (11/01/2011)  Updated:  11/01/2011  16:03:17

OD results Start : 14:25:00

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Elapsd	Skipper	Score	Fin Tim	Bow No	DidNot
1	AUS1387	PERFECT BALANCE	01:01:59	Mark Bulka	1.0	15:26:59	32
2	AUS1237	BLACK KNIGHT	01:02:22	John Savage	2.0	15:27:22	37
3	AUS866	US FORCES 1223	01:12:42	Brad Sheridan	3.0	15:37:42	66
4	AUS1082	ALCHEMIST	01:12:55	Richard Hammond	4.0	15:37:55	72
5	AUS1318	BANANAS IN PYJAMAS	01:13:18	Tim Ede	5.0	15:38:18	31
6	AUS1049	VERTIGO	01:13:21	Doug Williams	6.0	15:38:21	49
7	AUS991	THE BOAT	01:13:23	Jake Gunther	7.0	15:38:23	20
8	AUS1274	THE NURSE	01:13:28	Ross Loyd	8.0	15:38:28	74
9	AUS1366	PEDRO	01:13:29	Kirwan Robb	9.0	15:38:29	14
10	AUS1026	JACK S HUT	01:13:40	Noel Drennan	10.0	15:38:40	52
11	AUS1367	CHILLI PLUM	01:13:52	Doug Kerr	11.0	15:38:52	67
12	HKG1269	RACER X 923	01:14:17	Mark Thornburrow	12.0	15:39:17	17
13	AUS1338	CRITICAL BALANCE	01:14:36	Mark Langford	13.0	15:39:36	19
14	AUS882	JUKES OF HAZZARD	01:14:54	Brendon Jukes	14.0	15:39:54	16
15	AUS1144	RAPSCALLION	01:15:00	David Hearly	15.0	15:40:00	44
16	AUS1254	ODYSSEY	01:15:25	Peter Merrington	16.0	15:40:25	54
17	AUS940	NORTH STAR	01:15:46	Michael Coxon	17.0	15:40:46	40
18	AUS1293	THATS LIFE	01:15:53	Ian Crisp	18.0	15:40:53	23
19	AUS994	CREWS CONTROL	01:16:25	Paul Minter	19.0	15:41:25	34
20	AUS1361	DAWN RAID	01:16:37	Stephen Gunther	20.0	15:41:37	36
21	AUS1277	MID GYBE CRISIS	01:16:43	Wayne Dixon	21.0	15:41:43	77
22	AUS1385	CONCUBINE	01:17:58	Jason Ward	22.0	15:42:58	28
23	AUS1164	B SQUARED	01:18:23	Gary Boyd	23.0	15:43:23	64
24	AUS1383	TRIAD	01:18:54	John Bertrand	24.0	15:43:54	33
25	AUS865	FAST FORWARD	01:19:06	Bruce Mc Briar	25.0	15:44:06	65
26	AUS1358	ARE WE THERE YET ?	01:19:10	Gary Smith	26.0	15:44:10	58
27	AUS947	MAGPIE	01:19:11	Graeme Taylor	27.0	15:44:11	27
28	AUS1129	STRETCH	01:19:29	Caillin Howard	28.0	15:44:29	29
29	AUS1275	TREKKA	01:20:13	Cameron Barton	29.0	15:45:13	75
30	AUS1253	MIRAMAR	01:20:21	Mark Doyle	30.0	15:45:21	53
31	AUS1391	TANGO	01:20:26	Chris Hampton	31.0	15:45:26	39
32	AUS651	ON A MISSION	01:20:36	Malcolm Blom	32.0	15:45:36	10
33	AUS747	FUNCTIONAL OVERLAY	01:20:56	Niesje Hees	33.0	15:45:56	47
34	AUS1021	BUSHFIRE	01:20:58	Jervis Tilly	34.0	15:45:58	21
35	AUS876	FIFTEEN	01:21:09	David Clark	35.0	15:46:09	15
36	AUS1024	VOODOO SPIRIT	01:21:19	Guyon Wilson	36.0	15:46:19	12
37	AUS1389	SMOKING GUN	01:21:21	Robert Hanna	37.0	15:46:21	38
38	AUS1278	EXTRA BAD DOLL	01:21:22	Micheal Hiatt	38.0	15:46:22	78
39	AUS1374	SLIPPERY WHEN WET	01:21:35	Simon Cunningham	39.0	15:46:35	42
40	AUS961	BACK IN BUSINESS	01:21:39	John Coates	40.0	15:46:39	61
41	AUS948	SMILE N WAVE	01:22:04	Graeme Alexander	41.0	15:47:04	48
42	AUS1226	BAD DOLL	01:22:17	Thomas Braidwood	42.0	15:47:17	26
43	AUS1025	WALK ON WATER	01:22:24	Glenn Norton	43.0	15:47:24	25
44	AUS1189	THE ARCHER	01:22:42	Clark Swan	44.0	15:47:42	18
45	AUS1288	GOOD VIBES	01:22:48	Robert Holm	45.0	15:47:48	22
46	AUS1141	MENS SHIRTS	01:22:56	Peter Stubbings	46.0	15:47:56	41
47	AUS1131	THE MOE SZYSLAK EXPE	01:23:05	Brendan Garner	47.0	15:48:05	11
48	AUS913	NEVER ENOUGH . . . .	01:23:31	Andrew Telford	48.0	15:48:31	43
49	AUS924	BARRY	01:23:59	Damien King	49.0	15:48:59	24
50	AUS1335	FREE ADVICE	01:24:27	Mary Hanna	50.0	15:49:27	35
51	AUS511	GRAND V	01:25:58	Gordon Hinds	51.0	15:50:58	51

Website http://www.etchells.org.au/nationals/