Young 88 New South Wales Champs- Pistol Dawn outguns the fleet

by Andrew Spencer on 16 Apr 2013
On April 6-7, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club hosted the Pittwater Young 88 Championships. A combination of three Saturday windward-leewards races and a Sunday course race saw three different race winners, highlighting the competitive nature of the fleet.

The race committee managed to get all three races away on a Saturday that saw almost all racing on Sydney Harbour abandoned due to lack of breeze.

Race One saw two of the fleet of six yachts over the line early, allowing Young Obsession(Paul Stubbs) to get away and lead from start to finish. Young N Old and Pistol Dawn finished second and third respectively after fighting through the fleet after restarting.

Race 2 saw the podium places shuffled with Pistol Dawn (Andrew Spencer) winning from Young Obsession and Young N Old.

Race Three was a drifter with the course being shortened to a single beat. Quicksticks (Bill Warren) mastered the fluky conditions to lead home Andiamo and Mind Over Matter. At the finish, the fleet was spread over only 150m, but there was 19 minutes between first and sixth – a battle of concentration!

At the conclusion of Day 1, the championship was wide open with Pistol Dawn and Young Obsession tied on 8, a single point ahead of Quicksticks.

The Sunday course race started after a delay in light 5kn breeze from the North. Once again, the elastic nature of the fleet saw the placings change many times over the race course.

With no Pittwater based Y88s in the race, there was very little local knowledge as each crew tried to identify the YA marks around Pittwater. One highlight being the Y88s rounding a YA mark to starboard whilst the local non-spinnaker fleet rounded the same mark to port at the same time.

In the end, Pistol Dawn managed to edge out Young N Old by a few boat lengths to claim Race 4 and the title. Quicksticks third place was enough to tie with Young Obsession for overall second place. Andiamo (Morcome/Allen) showed glimpses of form in their first Y88 regatta. Class secretary and sponsor Julian Todd skippering Mind Over Matter also had moments of brilliance but battled setup issues with new sails.

The social nature of Y88 racing kicked off following racing with prizes thanks to Backvintage Wines and Gemmell Sailmakers. RPAYC provided fantastic club and berthing facilities coupled with first rate race management.

Whilst the one-design ethos of the class is maintained, the skippers collectively have relaxed some of the NZ class rules (such as sail cloth) to help build numbers in the racing fleet. Young 88 owners are encouraged to contact Julian Todd (jtodd@backvintage.com.au) for more information.


About the Young 88

The Young 88, about 8.8m (30 ft) in length and with a fractional rig, is a popular multipurpose boat that offers speed and agility for racing, with space and comfort for cruising. The first mould was built in New Zealand by Roger Land in the 1980s, and since then 158 have been built. There are good fleets racing in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, New South Wales and Tasmania.

The Young 88 class is driven in Australia by the Julian Todd with support from the Young 88 Owners Association of New Zealand (Inc). For more information, please contact:

Website: www.young88.org.nz