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No winners in Sydney Newcastle Yacht Race

by Di Pearson on 22 Feb 2015
Balance came within 5 minutes of finishing Dave Brogan
Paul Clitheroe’s Balance came within five minutes of being the only finisher in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Ocean Point Score’s (OPS) from Sydney to Newcastle late Saturday evening in one of the most frustrating races in recent memory.

Balance, a TP52, had led the race and was best positioned to finish. When Series leader About Time retired at 8.00pm, only four crews remained confident of finishing Race eight before its midnight curfew. Joining Balance in the long slug to Newcastle were two other TP52’s; Rupert Henry’s Fomo and Mick Martin’s Frantic, along with Olympic medallist Dave Forbes and his Kaiko 52, Merlin.

However, Balance’s owner, Paul Clitheroe was not aboard. 'I’m just back from Antarctica and in a brilliant tactical decision, I asked my crew to do the race for me,' he said from home this morning.

'Actually, I started out Saturday feeling very disappointed, but when I saw the Bureau of Meteorology observations saying two knots off Norah Head for most of the day and night, I decided I was genius!

'My crew are probably still trying to recover from a few drinks last night as they tried to forget the race,' he ended.

Principal Race Officer Darryl McManus started the race off Sydney Heads at 9.00am in oppressive heat on an overcast misty morning with little air to speak of and drizzling rain. Not what the doctor ordered. Looking ahead, contemplating finishing was already a daunting prospect for most.

A light and wafty south-easterly breeze ultimately decimated the 25-boat fleet. By 3.00pm yesterday 13 crews, doubting they could make the Newcastle finish line in time, retired and headed home. And who could blame them? They left the remainder of the fleet wallowing off Avoca.

OPS fleet just after the start © Dave Brogan
OPS fleet just after the start © Dave Brogan




Currently, Julian Farren-Price and his About Time have a stranglehold on the OPS Series, counting four wins in his tally. The CYCA member leads Balance and Swish (Steven Proud’s Kernan 44) by an almost insurmountable 12 and 17 points respectively.

Farren-Price has won the CYCA’s OPS for the past four years straight, and eight out of the last ten with his Cookson 12, which continues to impress in its 15th season.

 Complete Results:

IRC results Start : Div1 09:50 Div2 09:50
Place Sail No Boat Name Skipper AHC Fin Tim Elapsd Cor'd T Score Vis
ABN 35 IMAGINATION Robin/Annette Hawtho 1.112       0.0  
ABN 93 MERLIN David Forbes 1.223         Yes
ABN 99 PAZAZZ Rob Drury 1.127       0.0  
ABN 226 SWISH Steven Proud 1.246       0.0  
ABN 248 WAX LYRICAL Les Goodridge 1.145       0.0  
ABN 335 WILLYAMA R Barron/S San 1.079       0.0  
ABN 360 PATRICE Tony Kirby 1.285       0.0  
ABN 4966 KING BILLY Philip Bennett 0.990         Yes
ABN 6343 GREAT XPECTATIONS Rod Wills 1.079       0.0  
ABN 6377 TRITON Michael Cranitch 1.393       0.0  
ABN 6609 AMANTE Dennis Cooper 1.043       0.0  
ABN 6686 ST JUDE Noel Cornish 1.173       0.0  
ABN 6774 JACKPOT Adrian Van Bellen 1.078       0.0  
ABN 6952 FOMO Rupert Henry 1.366         Yes
ABN 7700 ABOUT TIME Julian Farren-Price 1.112       0.0  
ABN 7771 BALANCE Paul Clitheroe 1.361       0.0  
ABN 8008 OCC.COARSELANGUAGE 2 Warwick Sherman 1.180       0.0  
ABN 8338 ST GEORGE MIDNIGHT R Ed Psaltis/ Bencsik/ 1.193         Yes
ABN 8824 CHANCELLOR Edward Tooher 1.108       0.0  
ABN 11011 ANGER MANAGEMENT Phil Arnall 1.218         Yes
ABN 11033 KERISMA Matt Wilkinson 1.151         Yes
ABN 33345 BLACK SHEEP Derek & Martin Shepp 1.118         Yes
ABN A140 ARIEL Ron Forster 1.079       0.0  
ABN AUS01 ICHI BAN Matt Allen 1.501         Yes
ABN AUS5299 VICTOIRE Darryl Hodgkinson 1.352       0.0  
ABN GBR5211L FRANTIC Michael Martin 1.346         Yes
ABN N122 MARTA JEAN Steve Rae 1.074         Yes
ABN N349 SCHOUTEN PASSAGE Jan Howard 1.034         Yes
ABN N1367 SUMMER SALT Tim Gleeson 1.013         Yes

ORCI results Start : Div1 09:50 Div2 09:50
Place Sail No Boat Name Skipper AHC Fin Tim Elapsd Cor'd T Score Vis
ABN 35 IMAGINATION Robin/Annette Hawtho 1.1057       0.0  
ABN 93 MERLIN David Forbes 1.2427         Yes
ABN 99 PAZAZZ Rob Drury 1.1199       0.0  
ABN 226 SWISH Steven Proud 1.2353       0.0  
ABN 248 WAX LYRICAL Les Goodridge 1.1238       0.0  
ABN 360 PATRICE Tony Kirby 1.2868       0.0  
ABN 2001 QUETZALCOATL Antony Sweetapple 1.1358       0.0  
ABN 4966 KING BILLY Philip Bennett 0.9757         Yes
ABN 6343 GREAT XPECTATIONS Rod Wills 1.0621       0.0  
ABN 6377 TRITON Michael Cranitch 1.3867       0.0  
ABN 6609 AMANTE Dennis Cooper 1.0142       0.0  
ABN 6837 MINERVA Tim Cox 1.1360       0.0  
ABN 7700 ABOUT TIME Julian Farren-Price 1.1033       0.0  
ABN 7771 BALANCE Paul Clitheroe 1.3463       0.0  
ABN 8008 OCC.COARSELANGUAGE 2 Warwick Sherman 1.1769       0.0  
ABN 8338 ST GEORGE MIDNIGHT R Ed Psaltis/ Bencsik/ 1.1848         Yes
ABN 8824 CHANCELLOR Edward Tooher 1.0844       0.0  
ABN 11011 ANGER MANAGEMENT Phil Arnall 1.1772         Yes
ABN 11033 KERISMA Matt Wilkinson 1.1348         Yes
ABN 33345 BLACK SHEEP Derek & Martin Shepp 1.0881         Yes
ABN A140 ARIEL Ron Forster 1.0541       0.0  
ABN AUS5299 VICTOIRE Darryl Hodgkinson 1.3294       0.0  
ABN GBR5211L FRANTIC Michael Martin 1.3202         Yes
ABN SYD181 ONLINE Stephen Trevillion 1.0507       0.0  

PHSTCF results Start : Div1 09:50 Div2 09:50
Place Sail No Boat Name Skipper AHC Fin Tim Elapsd Cor'd T Score Vis
ABN 35 IMAGINATION Robin/Annette Hawtho 1.1302       0.0  
ABN 93 MERLIN David Forbes 1.2600         Yes
ABN 99 PAZAZZ Rob Drury 1.1227       0.0  
ABN 195 SAMARKAND Walter Carpenter 1.1306       0.0  
ABN 226 SWISH Steven Proud 1.2505       0.0  
ABN 248 WAX LYRICAL Les Goodridge 1.0960       0.0  
ABN 335 WILLYAMA R Barron/S San 1.0319       0.0  
ABN 360 PATRICE Tony Kirby 1.3159       0.0  
ABN 2001 QUETZALCOATL Antony Sweetapple 1.0541       0.0  
ABN 4966 KING BILLY Philip Bennett 0.9730         Yes
ABN 6343 GREAT XPECTATIONS Rod Wills 1.0863       0.0  
ABN 6377 TRITON Michael Cranitch 1.3997       0.0  
ABN 6396 SPORTS BAR Nev & Jo Blair 1.0730       0.0  
ABN 6609 AMANTE Dennis Cooper 1.0221       0.0  
ABN 6686 ST JUDE Noel Cornish 1.1590       0.0  
ABN 6774 JACKPOT Adrian Van Bellen 1.0904       0.0  
ABN 6837 MINERVA Tim Cox 1.1363       0.0  
ABN 6952 FOMO Rupert Henry 1.4204         Yes
ABN 7700 ABOUT TIME Julian Farren-Price 1.1592       0.0  
ABN 7771 BALANCE Paul Clitheroe 1.3749       0.0  
ABN 8008 OCC.COARSELANGUAGE 2 Warwick Sherman 1.1799       0.0  
ABN 8330 SHIBUMI B Moore P Thompson 0.9658       0.0  
ABN 8338 ST GEORGE MIDNIGHT R Ed Psaltis/ Bencsik/ 1.2411         Yes
ABN 8824 CHANCELLOR Edward Tooher 1.0398       0.0  
ABN 10000 BRINDABELLA Jim Cooney 1.4051       0.0  
ABN 11011 ANGER MANAGEMENT Phil Arnall 1.1247         Yes
ABN 11033 KERISMA Matt Wilkinson 1.1221         Yes
ABN 33345 BLACK SHEEP Derek & Martin Shepp 1.1029         Yes
ABN A140 ARIEL Ron Forster 1.0970       0.0  
ABN AUS01 ICHI BAN Matt Allen 1.5458         Yes
ABN AUS5299 VICTOIRE Darryl Hodgkinson 1.3481       0.0  
ABN GBR5211L FRANTIC Michael Martin 1.3137         Yes
ABN MH111 JOUST Ray Entwistle 1.0740         Yes
ABN N122 MARTA JEAN Steve Rae 1.0435         Yes
ABN N349 SCHOUTEN PASSAGE Jan Howard 1.0290         Yes
ABN N1367 SUMMER SALT Tim Gleeson 0.9432         Yes
ABN NZL1 ART EQUITY MAHLIGAI Murray Owen 1.1456         Yes
ABN SYD181 ONLINE Stephen Trevillion 1.0224       0.0  


Boat Books Australia FOOTERCyclops Marine 2023 November - FOOTERRS Sailing 2021 - FOOTER

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