Sail-World.com : Sorro's Philosopher’s Club wins in Geelong
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Sorro's Philosopher’s Club wins in Geelong |
Everyone knows that Australia’s Sydney Yachts, part of Azzura Marine, builds yachts for south ocean conditions and they have won enough ocean races to prove that. In the 2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart there were 14 Sydney Yachts, considerably more than any other yacht builders.
18 months ago Sydney Yachts launched the Sydney 36CR. Because it has a swept back spreader rig and a bowsprit the 36CR has been very popular with Club racers, who want a simple fast boat, which is easy to sail short handed.
However this boat is a ‘wolf in lambskin’ and it’s been racking up some top class racing results. Right out of the box Denis Cooper’s 36CR Amante won the 2006 Gascoigne Cup. Anthony Dunn’s Sydney 36CR Equinox was a close second at the 2007 Audi Sydney Harbour regatta and was second in the IRC Cruising Class at Hamilton Island in 2007.
Now one of the best known ‘old salts’ on the Australian sailing scene, Peter Sorensen, has won Division 2 in the tightly contested first round of the Australian National IRC Championship at the 2008 Skandia Geelong Week with his new Sydney 36CR Philosopher’s Club.
He topped the podium, ahead of Grant Botica's Adams Ten, Executive Decision second, with Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia Dick Fidock’s As Good As It Gets, the former Fruit Machine third.
Although now in his early 60’s, Sorensen (Sorr) has been campaigning in the high adrenalin racing for many years. He was the1983 and 1984 18 footer World Champion. He did some serious big sailing with his Volvo 60 Magnavox 2UE and the Farr 50 Morning Mist/2UE Titan Ford. But he returned to fast little boats with his lime green 8 metre sports boat flier Vivace, taking line honours in major sports boat regattas in recent seasons.
Last year Sorro decided it was time to go back to a bigger boat and he spent a lot of time looking at the available offerings before ordering the Australian made Sydney 36CR.
'I’ve owned lots of very fast boats, but when it gets to handicap ranking, I’ve always been at the back of the field. Last year I decided I’d like to give handicap racing a try. I did a lot of research and I talked to another old skiffie, Iain Murray from Azzura Marine, as I realised the Sydney 36CR was clearly a very good boat.
'Every Monday night a bunch of mates meet for a quiet little drink…we call it the Philosopher’s Club, and from the date we ordered the boat, we’ve been arguing about what the boat should be called. It was simpler to call it the Philosopher’s Club rather than keep talking about it.'
They’ve done more than talking on the water. Philosopher’s Club sailed in the Rolex Trophy series coming second in Division and on Sunday she won in Geelong. The boat is yet to sail a Club race.
Sorro summed up, ‘She is a fantastic boat, loves a bit of breeze and she is great fun to sail. We are going to do the complete Audi IRC Australian Championship circuit.’ Laughing he added ‘My old Jaguar is well past its use by date and I can see myself in a shiny new Audi.’
Martin ‘Tacka' Thompson from Sydney Yachts commented ‘the 36CR boxes well above its weight. Philosopher’s Club is the first one with a tiller. Peter researched for some time, keen to have a very competitive boat. I think one of the secrets is that this model goes fast consistently and it’s easy to change gears.’
Designer Andy Dovell said ‘The Sydney 36 CR is a real little peach. It has got the benefit of what we learned from the first two cruising racers, the 39CR and the 47CR; it has history, good performance and good balance, which is something you always strive for. And we’ve done a lot of homework; a lot of development has gone into the boat over the years.
‘The masthead rig and then the carbon swept back rig and bowsprit. There has been a whole lot of development along the way and all of that has gone into the boat.’
With more than 20 boats on the water now, we can all expect to see many more 36CR's on the cruiser/racer scene.
Series Results [IRC] for Division 2 up to Race 7 (Drops = 1)
| Place |
Ties |
Sail No |
Boat Name |
Skipper |
From |
Design |
Sers Score |
Race 7 |
Race 6 |
Race 5 |
Race 4 |
Race 3 |
Race 2 |
Race 1 |
| 1 |
|
MH20 |
PHILOSOPHERS CLUB |
Peter Sorensen |
MHYC |
Sydney 36 Cr |
12.00 |
5.00 |
1.00 |
[11.00] |
1.00 |
1.00 |
2.00 |
2.00 |
| 2 |
|
R1121 |
EXECUTIVE DECISION |
Grant Botica |
RYCV |
Adams 10 |
17.00 |
1.00 |
4.00 |
4.00 |
3.00 |
4.00 |
[21.00O] |
1.00 |
| 3 |
|
5846 |
AS GOOD AS IT GETS |
Richard Fidock |
CYCSA |
Beneteau 40.7 |
20.00 |
2.00 |
7.00 |
[9.00] |
5.00 |
2.00 |
1.00 |
3.00 |
| 4 |
|
R1111 |
TOECUTTER 2 |
Robert Hick |
RYCV |
Hick 30 |
26.00 |
3.00 |
6.00 |
3.00 |
7.00 |
3.00 |
4.00 |
[8.00] |
| 5 |
|
360 |
PATRICE SIX |
Tony Kirby |
CYCA |
X Yacth X-41 Od |
28.00 |
8.00 |
5.00 |
[17.00] |
2.00 |
5.00 |
3.00 |
5.00 |
| 6 |
2.0S |
SM602 |
VELOCE |
Phil Simpfendorfer |
SYC |
Elliott 11 |
31.00 |
7.00 |
2.00 |
[14.00] |
6.00 |
7.00 |
5.00 |
4.00 |
| 7 |
|
G154 |
PEREGRINE |
Barry Walker |
RGYC |
Sydney 36s |
31.00 |
[9.00] |
3.00 |
6.00 |
4.00 |
6.00 |
6.00 |
6.00 |
| 8 |
|
SM35 |
ABSOLUT |
Terry Hall |
SYC |
Archambault 35 |
42.00 |
[10.50] |
8.00 |
2.00 |
9.00 |
8.00 |
8.00 |
7.00 |
| 9 |
|
B26 |
REVERIE |
Alan Woodward |
RBYC |
Beneteau 40.7 |
48.00 |
4.00 |
11.00 |
[12.00] |
8.00 |
9.00 |
7.00 |
9.00 |
| 10 |
|
R9006 |
BULLET |
D Cartan |
RYCV |
Bull 9000 |
56.00 |
6.00 |
[16.00] |
1.00 |
13.00 |
12.00 |
14.00 |
10.00 |
| 11 |
|
TYC7771 |
BLUE SKY |
Richard Fisher |
TYC |
Beneteau 40.7 |
59.00 |
[12.00] |
10.00 |
8.00 |
11.00 |
10.00 |
9.00 |
11.00 |
| 12 |
|
R336 |
SWORDFISH TROMBONE |
Tim Olding |
RYCV |
Mbd 36 |
67.00 |
13.00 |
12.00 |
5.00 |
14.00 |
[15.00] |
11.00 |
12.00 |
| 13 |
|
SM45 |
OUTRAGEOUS |
Ray Shaw |
SYC |
Beneteau First 44.7 |
76.00 |
15.00 |
17.00 |
[18.00] |
10.00 |
11.00 |
10.00 |
13.00 |
| 14 |
|
H6336 |
THE BOOKMAKER |
Andrew Slagmolen |
HBYC |
Nortshore Nsx36 |
80.50 |
10.50 |
14.00 |
10.00 |
[17.00] |
16.00 |
15.00 |
15.00 |
| 15 |
|
SM424 |
BARNSTORMER |
Brian Barnes |
SYC |
Bavaria Match 42 |
82.00 |
17.00 |
13.00 |
15.00 |
12.00 |
13.00 |
12.00 |
[18.00] |
| 16 |
|
M9000 |
GEOMATIC JOKER |
Grant Chipperfield |
MYC |
Jarkan 39 |
83.00 |
14.00 |
9.00 |
[19.00] |
16.00 |
14.00 |
16.00 |
14.00 |
| 17 |
|
B63 |
SCHUSS |
Denis McConnell |
RBYC |
Beneteau 40.7 |
93.00 |
18.00 |
[18.00] |
13.00 |
15.00 |
17.00 |
13.00 |
17.00 |
| 18 |
|
S47 |
MRS OVERNEWTON |
Leslie Norton |
RMYS |
Bavaria Match 38 |
101.00 |
16.00 |
[19.00] |
16.00 |
18.00 |
18.00 |
17.00 |
16.00 |
| 19 |
|
SM5985 |
INSX |
Robert Sill |
SYC |
Nsx 38 |
106.00 |
21.00C |
15.00 |
7.00 |
21.00C |
21.00C |
21.00C |
[21.00C] |
| 20 |
|
MH360 |
THIS WAY UP |
John Moore |
MOFSC |
Sydney36cr |
126.00 |
21.00C |
21.00C |
21.00C |
21.00C |
21.00C |
21.00C |
[21.00C] |
by Bob Maxwell
11:48 PM Sun 27 Jan 2008 GMT
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2008 Skandia Geelong Week
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