Musto Etchells Australasian Winter Championship day 2 - King vs King

by Musto Etchells Australasian Winters media on 11 Jun 2011 Musto Etchells Australasian Winter Championship day two commenced under cloudy skies. Offshore the sea was grey and lumpy, the breeze blowing at around 18 knots and chilly.

Race 3 of the series started with a General Recall, then a Black Flag start and that unusually also became a General Recall. A large bunch of Etchells were over the line as a group at the Committee Boat end and race officials initially had trouble identifying them all.

However six boats were BFD; Damian King (Barry) and David Rose (This will make her scream), along with Ian Johnson (Bananas in Pyjamas), Tom Woods (Echo Beach), Michael Coxon (North Star) and Mark Richards (Are We There Yet?).

After the eventual restart the breeze eased a little as the fleet headed towards the top mark for the first time.

Mooloolaba sailor David Turton (Harold Holt) led the fleet followed by Mornington skipper Philip Coombs (Quantum Leap) with Lake Macquarie sailor Kane Sinclair (Why Be Flat) third.

Peter McNeil (Absolute Pearler) was fourth, series leader Tom King (Iron Lotus), who had started on the pin, was fifth then James Chilman (The Stig), Hong Kong sailor Mark Thornburrow (Racer X), Jeanne-Claude Strong (Yandoo XX) and Paul Minter (Crew’s Control). Ante Razmilovic (Mo Jo) completed the leading group.

At the bottom mark at the spinnaker drop, David Turton still held the lead. Michael Stovin-Bradford (Touch Pause Engage) had moved up into second, Kane Sinclair was still third, Tom King had moved into fourth, followed by James Chilman, Mark Thornburrow and Paul Minter. Ante Razmilovic moved up into eighth. Gary Boyd (B Squared) and David Clark (Fifteen) completed the top ten.

At the top mark and at the finish the top seven remained unchanged.

On the run down to the finish Tom King and crew with their red spinnaker flying, tried all they could to bridge the gap on Turton but in the end the finish line beat them.

A good race win for local David Turton, sailing on his home waters. Tom King, the current series leader was second, Kane Sinclair claimed third, then came Michael Stovin-Bradford, Mark Thornburrow and James Chilman.

David Clark and Ante Razmilovic too had their own private battle, with Clark ahead of Razmilovic at the top mark. Razmilovic however managed to sail through Clark towards the finish crossing ahead in eighth with Clark having to settle for ninth in race 3.

Adding to the complexity of the race was the breeze which continued to shift through out the race duration. The initial course was set at 170, however the breeze moved through to 180 and at the top mark there was more west in it at 200-210 but then it cycled back down to 170.

Conditions eased for the start of race 2 of the day and race 4 of the series. With ten knots of breeze and in a one metre swell the fleet prepared to face the starter as light drizzle began to fall.

It was the regatta’s first clean start and the Etchells that were on the pin and went left dominated the first leg, while those on the right were buried.

At the top mark for the first time, Mark Thornburrow led the fleet followed by overall leader Tom King with Damian King in hot pursuit. Mark Johnson was next followed shortly after by Kane Sinclair and Michael Coxon, who was happy to be sailing a race after sitting out race 3 with a BFD. Jervis Tilley (Bushfire), Sydney sailor Douglas Flynn (Wobbegong), Perth sailor Gary Smith (Tusk) and Melbourne sailor Mark Bulka (Perfect Balance) all made their top ten debut for the day.

While it was soft at the top mark, a rain squall delivered solid pressure of 14-15 knots down the left hand side of the course and the leaders accelerated, went round the left hand mark and headed back up the course. By then, the pressure had extended back up the course.

At the second windward mark on the way to the finish and after their last spinnaker hoist, it was the battle of the Kings.

Damian was ahead of Tom, Mark Johnson was third and Michael Coxon had moved up to fourth. Murray Gordon (Hydrotherapy) followed, then Kane Sinclair, Mark Bulka, Jervis Tilley and David Rose.

A good performance by Rose and crew, daughter Taylor Jane and Joshua Torpy, moving up into tenth despite the tough conditions and being 20 kilos under the class allowed weight limit.

The battle of the Kings continued as the fleet headed to the finish, Damian still leading Tom.

Damian King led all the way down the last run but just metres from the line Tom King accelerated in a gust and crossed just half a metre ahead of his Melbourne rival.

Behind them Mark Johnson had closed the gap to finish third ahead of Murray Gordon, Michael Coxon, Kane Sinclair, Mark Bulka, Jervis Tilley and David Rose.

Dockside Damian King said 'Our second in the last race was better than the BFD in the first. We are really hoping for two races tomorrow.’

Tom King commented 'We managed to stay out of trouble in the first race; we were if anything a little late, so we were there to fight another day.

‘In the second race we worked our way up and found pressure down the run and we just squeaked past Damian at the last. The Barry Boys will be the crew to beat tomorrow.'

Mooloolaba Etchells Fleet
Musto Etchells Australasian Winter Championship
9th to 12th June 2011
All Boats
Series Summary Pl B# Crew From 1 2 3 4 Tot
1 29 T. King, D. Edwards, O. McMahon & I. Wheen Sydney 2 4 2 1 9
2 17 M. Tonner-Joyce, G. Gibson & J. Collingwood Melbourne 9 1 14 16 40
3 06 M. Thornburrow, M. Mok, G. Gibson & S. Cooke Hong Kong 15 18 6 4 43
4 39 P. McNeil, D. Gleadhill & S. Reffold Lake Macquarie 6 17 5 18 46
5 19 M. Bulka, S. Nichols & B. Solly Melbourne 12 16 11 8 47
6 38 M. Langford, W. Howard, S. Ryan & J. Skelton Lake Macquarie 18 3 18 11 50
7 26 D. King, A. Butler, S. Cunnington & J. Ware Melbourne 3 5 42\BFD 2 52
8 35 K. Sinclair, G. Prosser & T. Wyborn Lake Macquarie 21 27 3 7 58
9 03 J. Tilly, J. Arnold & S. Billingham Sydney 16 14 19 9 58
10 22 D. Rose, J. Torpy & T. Rose Brisbane 1 6 42\BFD 10 59
11 12 G. Boyd, J. Boyd & A. May Lake Macquarie 28 2 15 14 59
12 05 A. Razmilovic, P. Backe & S. Flinn Hong Kong 13 8 8 30 59
13 25 V. Prentice, S. Jackson, D. Hutchinson & C. Anderson Brisbane 10 11 17 21 59
14 09 M. Johnson, C. Brook & N. Burfoot Sydney 7 36 16 3 62
15 20 D. Van Der Struyf, R. Rowell & B. Sheridan Swan River 5 20 21 23 69
16 15 D. Clark, S. Leonard & A. Smith Sydney 26 22 9 12 69
17 11 J. Strong, N. Wittey, M. Burke & T. Wittey Sydney 8 41 10 15 74
18 18 D. Turton, D. Biggar & D. Spicer Mooloolaba 29 13 1 33 76
19 14 M. Stovin-Bradford, A. Gordon & W. Phillips Sydney 14 33 4 28 79
20 41 M. Gordon, N. Beaudoin, A. Lee & W. Sykes Pittwater 23 23 29 5 80
21 36 J. Chilman, A. Deeks & G. Van Lunteren Brisbane 24 19 7 31 81
22 21 G. Smith, M. McAullay & R. Smith Swan River 35 21 20 13 89
23 13 M. Coxon, S. Jarvin & R. Allanson Sydney 27 15 42\BFD 6 90
24 34 P. Merrington, G. Bonouvrie & A. Merrington Pittwater 32 26 13 22 93
25 27 M. Richards, G. Smith & C. Jones Pittwater 4 28 42\BFD 20 94
26 24 P. Minter, G. Thomson & J. Minter Cronulla 33 24 12 27 96
27 23 I. Johnson, T. Ede & R. Brown Melbourne 19 7 42\BFD 29 97
28 40 N. Paterson, S. Board, M. Buchbach & B. Ginnivan Brisbane 25 25 28 25 103
29 08 T. Martin, P. Braithwaite & D. Civil Mooloolaba 20 40 27 17 104
30 32 R. Hammond, R. Gain & S. Langton Sydney 11 32 32 32 107
31 07 M. Dagge, J. Willis & M. Hansen Brisbane 38 12 26 34 110
32 33 G. Alexander, E. Candy & J. Herbert Mornington 37 9 30 35 111
33 04 D. Healey, T. Robba, A. Blundell & J. Hallam Brisbane 17 34 25 36 112
34 28 T. Woods, D. Blatchford & J. Woods Lake Macquarie 22 29 42\BFD 19 112
35 02 R. Weir, P. Thackray & M. Tyquin Sydney 31 35 24 26 116
36 01 D. Flynn, M. Creeden & D. Baker Sydney 34 37 22 24 117
37 31 D. Kerr, G. Kerr & L. Paterson Swan River 30 30 23 37 120
38 10 R. Holm, S. Evans & F. Merfield Whitsunday 40 10 31 40 121
39 16 P. Coombs, G. Smith & S. Schafer Mornington 39 31 33 38 141
40 42 G. Forgan-Smith, B. Pitt & J. Willey Gold Coast 36 39 34 39 148
41 37 D. Fairfax, S. Kichin & H. Seeberg Mooloolaba 41 38 42\DNF 41 162

Racing is scheduled to commence at 10.00am on Sunday.

Full Results available at http://www.mooetchells.yachting.org.au/

The Musto Etchells Australasian Winter Championship 2011 is sponsored by Musto Australasia, Events Queensland, Sunshine Coast Council, Newport Apartments, The Wharf Tavern, Sun Air Bus Services, Sail-World.com, PropertyToday.net.au, The Wharf Mooloolaba, Klingers Menswear Mooloolaba, Ullman Sails, Sunsport Marine.