SA Cherub State Championship - Round One

by Michael Tozer on 1 Dec 2014 At the Daronmont Technologies Cherub State Championship Cunning Linguist and Boobs R Us showed the way in light conditions on Saturday to walk away leaders after round one.

Cunning Linguist (Glen Emery and Michael Tozer) set the pace early, posting two bullets from the first two races with Boobs R Us (Simon How and Steve Knights) hot on their heels in second place.

However consistency became key as Boobs R Us capitalised on a fifth in the last race by Cunning Linguist to pinch a one point lead overall; their success a result of three second-places from three races.

The 12 boat fleet got underway with a clean start in an oscillating five - eight knot breeze. Those who hit the right-hand corner of the course came out on top at the first mark where Cunning Linguist fought off Boobs R Us and AFK (Tom Crease and Colin Liddle), while the preceding boats battled for space. The breeze continued to oscillate throughout the race, favouring Quick Spoon who capitalised on the shifts downwind and crawled back from a disappointing first leg and eventually slipped past AFK to finish in third. Tight finishes were aplenty, with the top 10 finishing within a five minute window.

For the second time of the day the breeze picked up before the race got underway, giving sailors a false sense of hope, before dying again as the second race was started. A majority went right off the start line after seeing its benefits in race one, but Back In Black (Liam McMahon and Jessie Jones) bucked the trend and reached the top mark first after a hitting the left side from a pin end start. A lay line misjudgment then allowed Cunning Linguist and Boobs R Us to slip through and maintain first and second place. Block Party sailed a slick race to make up for a disappointing seventh in race one and achieved what would be the first of two third places. Tight racing in the middle pack gave Back In Black no opportunities to recover from their mistake, being one of three boats to finish within 30 seconds.

The breeze once again teased sailors between races but this time held for the pre-start sequence before dropping off once and for all. Several boats got caught far from the line as the wind died, leaving many with no choice but to bail out of unfavourable positions. Quick Spoon sailed smart throughout and held on to beat Boobs R Us by 11 seconds. An unsurmountable 5 minutes behind them in third and fourth was a tight tussle between Block Party and Boogie Nights (Lynton Trenorden and Jacob Keough), who looked determined in their best race of the day. It was an unforgiving final race which left three boats outside of the time limit and with a DNF result.

With two more races left to sail in February the championship remains wide open, only three points separates the podium. Consistency will be the key to victory as sailors will be treated to one drop upon completing five races.

Round two of the Daronmont Technologies State Championship will be held on February 7 at Brighton and Seacliff Yacht Club.

Score Card:

1. Boobs R Us (S.How): 2, 2, 2 (6)
2. Cunning Linguist (G.Emery): 1, 1, 5 (7)
3. Quick Spoon (A.Emery): 3, 4, 1 (8)
4. Block Party (J.Ramsey): 7, 3, 3 (13)
5. AFK (T.Crease): 4, 5, 6 (15)
6. Boogie Nights (L.Trenorden): 6, 7, 4 (17)
7. Raw (A.Blacker): 5, 9, 4 (21)
8. Back In Black (L.McMahon): 10, 6, 9 (25)
9. Dark Horse (M.Morley): 9, 10, 8 (27)
10. Beam Me Up (D.Robinson): 8, 8, 13DNF (29)
11. Big Girls Blouse (B.Doley): 11, 11, 13DNF (35)
12. No Clew (L.Potter): 12, 12, 13DNF (37)