Michael Coxon takes out first race of Worlds

by Peter Campbell on 2 Aug 2004 Sydney sailmaker and international yachtsman Michael Coxon took out the first winning honours in the eight race ACE Etchells World Championship which started off Mooloolaba today, capitalising on what he described as a ‘little bit of luck’ in the form of a significant wind shift near the first mark of the 12 nautical mile course.

With the Pacific Ocean surf pounding onto the beaches of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the fleet of 85 boats enjoyed exhilarating but testing sailing as the northerly breeze freshened from 12 to 17 knots during the afternoon.

However, Coxon, steering North Sydney, had to first overtake his elder brother, former Olympian Richard Coxon, also from Sydney, who led over the first two legs of the 12 nautical mile course with The Bottle, and two other Etchells Masters skippers, John Savage, from Melbourne, steering Cobra IV and Rob Antill from Lake Macquarie, steering Trekka.

At the finish, Michael Coxon finished about 40 seconds clear of Peter McNeill, steering Tom Pepper XVII, from Lake Macquarie, with Savage, a past two times Etchells World champion, third. Antill finished in fourth place and Richard Coxon fifth, losing the lead with a spinnaker handling problem at the end of the first downwind leg of the course.

‘We had a terrible start and decided to go right in the hope of gaining some ground and we got that lucky break when the wind swung our way,’ Coxon said back at Mooloolaba Yacht Club. ‘That helped but I think we adjusted well to the changing conditions, changing gears as the breeze freshened to take full advantage of that early lucky break.’

America’s Cup legend Dennis Conner, who won yesterday’s invitation race in Menace, placed 23rd while his former America’s Cup rival, John Bertrand, was back in 37th place at the helm of Two Saints and a Magpie.

Bertrand had been well placed on the first windward leg, but took a 720 degree turns penalty at the first mark after a racing rules infringement with former World champion Cameron Miles, sailing Pacesetter.

Miles went on to finish 11th, with Bertrand losing many places in exonerating his rules breach.

Michael Coxon, is shaping up as a strong contender for the World Championship, having won two of the lead-up regatta races and finishing second to Dennis Conner in the Invitation Race,

Apart from the luck of the windshift, he and his crew sailed well in the testing winds today.

The Sydney sail maker is a former America’s Cup sailor and varies his Etchells sailing by being sailing master on the super maxi ocean racer, Alfa Romeo.

Crewing with him are former Olympian Steve Jarvin and Will McCarthy, currently a member of the Alinghi crew preparing to defending the America’s Cup in 2007.

Today’s race was delayed for 25 minutes because of a major windshift, but when Principal Race Officer Arthur Hodge fired the gun the 85 boats hit the line in a perfect start.

As the leading boats neared the first windward mark, however, the wind shifted to the right, giving boats on the seaward side of the course a marked advantage, reaching into the mark, while those on the inshore side had to make several extra tacks to reach the mark.

In fact, three Masters skippers (aged over 50 years) were out in front, with Richard Coxon leading from John Savage and Rob Antill. At the end of the second beat to windward, 44-year-old Michael Coxon had edged ahead of his 59-year-old brother Richard and the other Masters while Peter McNeil also worked his way into second place.

At the finish, Michael Coxon won by a comfortable 40 seconds from McNeil, a Lake Macquarie sail maker with Savage sailing an excellent race to retain third place, ahead of Antill, Richard Coxon and the young Brisbane sailor Jason Muir, sailing Racer XY with a crew of former Sabot champions.

Close astern of Muir came Andrew Hunn from Hobart, sailing Zulu with Chris Pratt from Adelaide sailing well to finish ninth with Squid.

Grant Wharington, the Melbourne yachtsman who pulled out of the Sydney Gold Coast ocean race with his super maxi Skandia early today to fly from Ballina on the NSW North Coast to make the start of the first race of the Etchells Worlds, had a disastrous day, finishing 49th in Satu II.

Two races are scheduled for tomorrow, but currently there is a strong wind warning for Queensland southern coastal waters that may effect racing.


Pl B# Sail # Crew Subg. Boat Name 1 T

1 45 AUS1273 Michael Coxon, Will McCarthy & Steve Jarvin North Sydney 1 1

2 62 AUS915 Peter McNeill, Paul Turner & Greg Torpy Tom Pepper XVII 2 2

3 12 AUS1287 John Savage, Peter Gillon & Andrew Plympton Masters Cobra IV 3 3

4 32 AUS1275 Rob Antill, Jason Antill & Joel Antill Masters Trekker 4 4

5 15 AUS1084 Richard Coxon, David Ritchard & Tim Watkin Masters The Bottle 5 5

6 58 AUS874 Jason Muir, Lucas Prescott & Steve Lambourne Racer XY 6 6

7 82 AUS1289 Andrew Hunn, Stephen McCallum & David Connor Zulu 7 7

8 10 AUS1253 Mark Doyle, Peter Martyn-Jones & Travis Tubman Miramar 8 8

9 4 AUS1143 Chris Pratt, Grant Evans & Nick Paterson Squid 9 9

10 27 AUS1219 David Turton, Andrew Turton & Daryl Spicer AUS1219 10 10

11 35 AUS509 Cameron Miles, Chris Links & David Sampson Pacesetter 11 11

12 24 AUS865 Bruce McBriar, Tony Bond & Jeff Casley Masters Fast Forward 12 12

13 33 AUS1254 Julian Plante, Nick Garland, Geoffrey Bonouvrie & Matthew Day Odyssey 13 13

14 59 AUS1117 Glenn Collings, Steve Young & Jake Gunther Satu 14 14

15 13 GBR1175 Ted Fort, Iain Morrison & Brian Watson Seniors Susie 15 15

16 42 AUS832 Damien King, Simon Cunnington, Andy Butler & James Ware Barry White 16 16

17 31 AUS1121 Ian Johnson, Gary Smith & Tim Ede Bananas In Pyjamas 17 17

18 54 NZL814 Lindsay Kennedy, Trevor Swinburne & Grahame Catley Masters Upfront 18 18

19 36 AUS945 Michael Manford, Richard Rowell & Dean McAullay The Croc 19 19

20 41 AUS1277 Mark Bulka, Glen Ashby & Stewart Nichols Balanced A-Tac 20 20

21 67 AUS869 John Warlow, Richard Byerly & Tom Jordan Blinky 3 Eyed Fish 21 21

22 64 AUS1129 Shane Devssen, Murray Larkin & Aaron Heritage Pleasure & Pain 22 22

23 34 USA1060 Dennis Conner, Peter Burton & Dirk Kneulman Seniors Menace 23 23

24 44 AUS1131 David Clark, Josh Whittaker & Andrew Smith Little G 24 24

25 65 AUS867 David Rose, Scott Cavanaugh & Stu Casey The War of the Roses 25 25

26 28 AUS1274 Rod Jones, James Walker & Patrick Meehan Ethel 26 26

27 56 AUS1144 David Bull, Scott Miller & Andrew Wilkund Masters Bullet 27 27

28 69 AUS923 Mark Bradford, Mike O'Brien & Gary Adshead Racer X 28 28

29 74 AUS1213 Lucas Down, Shane Gaddes, Adam Roberts-Thomson & Sean O'Rourke Whooshka 29 29

30 9 USA1212 Jonathon Nye, Jan Muysken & David Baker Carina 30 30

31 68 AUS864 Vaughan Prentice, Chris Anderson, Ashley Deeks & Darren Hutchinson Little Bit Funky 31 31

32 6 AUS1270 Simon Estella, Bucky Smith & Mal White La Vie Dansante 32 32

33 48 AUS1134 Robert Weir, Peter Bigelow & Steve Tracey ARGHA Noah 33 33

34 81 AUS1102 Steve O'Rourke, John Minter & Bruce Swane Panther 34 34

35 17 AUS751 Steve Gunther, John Collingwood & Russell Hutton Legless 35 35

36 71 NZL1240 John D. St. Clair Brown, Dennis Kendall & David Barnes Masters Waiwera Infinity 36 36

37 14 AUS1244 John Bertrand, Richie Allanson & Mark Richards Masters Two Saints &a Magpie 37 37

38 85 AUS1030 Noel Drennan, Bill Browne & Ernie Lawrence A Cat and Two Saints 38 38

39 39 AUS1088 Rob Brown, Bruce Wookey & Garry Gudmunson SteamPacket V 39 39

40 19 AUS963 Rick Maxwell, Simon Shaw & Bradley Moore The Rat 40 40

41 61 NZL1184 Cameron Appleton, Paul Gudmunson & Peter Merrington Embers 41 41

42 3 AUS1136 David Royle, Peter Royle & Jon Ward Bohica! 42 42

43 63 AUS850 Andrew Drummond, Rebecca
Alston, Ian Drummond & Arron Drummond Run Like You Stole S 43 43

44 75 AUS1257 David Lawranc