Lincoln Crowne wins 12ft Skiff Australian Championship

by Brett Hobson on 1 Apr 2013 Lincoln Crowne, sailed by Jonathon Temple and Richard Jones have wrapped up the 2013 Australian Championships yesterday with another win and a third place.

The win capped off another great performance from the pair, who have dominated the regatta.

Garde (Brett Hobson & Macca Paton) finished second and Gemmell Sails (Murray Press and Scott Lanham) picked up third overall.

The series was completed in three days due to a lack of breeze on the scheduled fourth day of racing.

In race one, Gemmell Sails and Lincoln Crowne fought for the lead up the first work, with Gemmell Sails just getting the jump at the windward mark ahead of Garde, Lincoln Crowne and Havoc.

A good battle developed early between the first three skiffs, before Lincoln found their way into the lead by the bottom mark, and then extended that lead by some four minutes over the course of the next lap.

Garde and Gemmell Sails continued to fight for second place, when Gemmell Sails got the raw end of the deal going through the narrows off Cabaritta, allowing Garde to move ahead, and Variety to catch up and threaten for third.
Vantage Real Estate had a stellar final lap to move ahead of Variety, and closer to Gemmell Sails, and when Gemmell Sails had a quick capsize on the final beat to the finish, the door was open for Vantage to take third place.

Race two saw the breeze lighten off slightly. Havoc made a blinder of a start to lead the fleet up the first work, with Vantage Real Estate, Lincoln Crowne and Gemmell Sails all in close proximity.

Half a lap later, both Lincoln and Gemmell Sails led the fleet and were tussling for the win.

The minor placings changed several times over the next lap, with Garde, Havoc and Vantage Real Estate tussling for third place, with Variety snapping at their heals.

The lead also changed several times, before Lincoln Crowne got a small jump on Gemmell Sails and went on to record another win.

Garde had worked themselves into a clear third place, before Variety and Vantage Real Estate both made a threat for the podium on the final downwind. Garde just managed to hold both out right on the line, Variety were not so lucky, loosing three spots in quick succession to end up sixth, Vantage grabbing fourth and Havoc fifth.

Lincoln Crowne continue to dominate the 2013 championships, winning both races yesterdays (three and four).

They recorded reasonably comfortable victories in both, but did not have it all their own way. Garde pushed them right to the last work in race three, and both Garde and Gemmell Sails continued to exchange the lead with Lincoln Crowne in race four before they final broke free down the last spinnaker run.

Lincoln Crowne now hold a commanding lead on four points, with Garde on 10 and Gemmell on 12.

Vantage Real Estate continued their great regatta, picking up two fourth places, to sit comfortably in fourth overall. Havoc remains consistent, finishing fifth in race three. They have showed good speed at time throughout the regatta, and will continue to improve and begin pushing for a podium place very soon.

Jonathon Temple and Richard Jones on Lincoln Crowne wrapped up the championship yesterday with another win and a third place.

The win capped off another great performance from the pair, who have dominated the regatta.

The first start was delayed an hour due to lack of breeze. The fleet finally got away in a mid range big rig South Westerly. CST and Maesrk line both had good first works to be at the pointy end of the fleet at the windward mark. Unfortunately Maersk suffered some mast damage ruling them out.

CST continued to lead, with Gemmell Sails coming after them quickly. Lincoln were starting to work their way through the fleet after a bad start, and had moved into third.

Gemmell hit the lead up the third work, passing CST, and went on to record a comfortable win.

During the final lap, Garde made gains on both Lincoln and CST and eventually passed both to come home second.

The breeze swung more to the south for the second race, and the course was moved accordingly. CST again dominated the start and first work, but it was Variety who lead at the top mark showing brilliant boat speed, with Garde rounding second.

The lead pair jumped to a healthy lead from CST, with Lincoln in fourth place.

Variety extended their lead over Garde up the next work, while Lincoln moved into third place, with Gemmell and Havoc now fighting for fourth.

Garde gained back on Variety down the next run, both skiffs were neck and neck rounding the bottom mark. A bad next work by Variety and Garde allowed Lincoln to now threaten for the lead, and the rest of the fleet to move closer. This made for a thrilling final downwind leg, with a group of skiffs including Havoc, CST, Gemmell, Variety, Lincoln and Garde all manoeuvring around Cabaritta at the same time. Garde faired best and Variety faired worst, but it was Lincoln again who would lead at the bottom mark with only half a leg to go.

They hung on to record a seven second win from Garde, Variety grabbing third place right on the finish line after being sixth at the bottom mark.