Shining Sea claims Sydney 38 State title

by Simon Reffold on 11 Oct 2004 After two persistent years in the class, Steve Kulmar and his crew aboard Shining Sea (RPAYC) have finally won a major title with the SLAM Sydney 38 One Design NSW State Titles.


At the end of the penultimate race though, it looked as though there was a chance that Leon Christianakis' extraordinarily well sailed Cydon (CYCA) fresh from an outstanding win at Hog’s Breath Race Week and with both Jamie and Bobby Wilmot in the afterguard, could have stymied Steve's tremendous run.


With four bullet's a, third and a fourth, Shining Sea was well clear of Cydon, London Tavern, with class newcomer Steve Ellis, the charter (RPAYC) and Acuity (Tony Walls, RPAYC).


Whilst Kulmar had to race the last couple of races, it seemed a fait a compli that they would take the title. However, as we know about this close one design class; things can often change.


Certainly for Kulmar, with former Olympian Steve McConaghy calling tactics and Jan ‘Clogs’ Schulten on main, the SLAM State Titles started well. The first three races were inshore in a slowly abating 25 knot sou-westerly that phased left throughout the day.


Shining Sea won two of the first three races and their fourth was as a result of a tremendous comeback after a bit of a flaky start. The crew adapted the boat well to the changing conditions and clearly had a good handle on the tactical demands of racing in a large One Design fleet.

Also looking good after the first day were Cydon, whose crew displayed typical consistency.

A special mention too, to Geoff Bonus' Calibre(CYCA). Geoff who won both the second and last races. Whilst the rest of his regatta was disappointing, including a collision with Estate Master (Martin &Lisa Hill, MHYC), he showed the potential the boat has been developing over the past twelve months.

Going into the second day, the fleet moved offshore in fresh southerly winds, a 2-3 metre swell and clear blue skies.


Again, Shining Sea excelled in the testing conditions and took the first race of the day by as very comfortable margin. The big improver at the front of the fleet though was London Tavern which moved into second place after Cydon recorded a tenth in the fifth race.


In the middle of the fleet too, there were some big improvers - Grant Halliday's The Business (MHYC) did really well and showed quite some promise.


So too did Team Lexus (James Mayo CYCA) who clearly enjoyed the offshore conditions and were always up the top of the fleet. Also impressive was Risk, recently purchased by father and son team Chris and Geoff Payne (RPAYC).

However, the big seas and fast downwind runs made the bottom mark roundings especially testing and it was during the first rounding of the first race that about eight boats came in simultaneously, with Calibre taking Estate Master out of the race and out of the day with a large hole in her port stern.


It was thanks to the brilliant and professional work of Matt Bonser and his team at Noakes boatyard at d'Albora Marina in Port Stephens that had the boat on the travel lift, repaired and back in the water within three hours - ready to race the next day!


After two first places and a third, Shining Sea's lead seemed unassailable, but the final days racing was in a light and variable sea breeze with a still large swell.

Denis Thompson and his race management team debated whether to keep the boats inside or out, but it was clear if there were to be any breeze, it would be offshore.

After being recalled in the first start of the day, Shining Sea did a great job to come back at the lead fleet, which included Andrew Short's ‘For Sale’ (PHYC), London Tavern, Cydon, Easy Tiger (Chris Way, RPAYC) and early race leader Team Lexus.


Kulmar and co. gybed off the fleet, only to find a potential fourth turn to eighth, while Cydon won the points that had them closing in for overall points on the former.

As the pressure filled the fleet changed and Geoff Bonus did a great job to keep Calibre at the top of the fleet for his second first place of the Regatta.

Close behind was AMI Jade (Peter McNamara, MHYC) and then Eleni, whose improvement throughout the regatta led to them being awarded the coveted ‘Most Improved’ Trophy.


Shining Sea played a smart tactical race, never letting Cydon get too far away and, whilst finishing sixth, it was enough to keep them well clear and the eventual winner.

Shining Seas tactician has produced some excellent results in various classes in the past year after relatively lying low following representing Australia at the Olympic Games in the Soling class in 1996.

He said of their win, ‘this is wonderful. I won this title a couple of years ago on Neil Whiston’s Fruit Machine.


This was a tough regatta. I knew Cydon and a couple of others would give us a hard time. It was a great feeling to beat them; especially because some of our wins were by over one minute. One Design racing is fantastic and it’s great to race at this level.

I am very happy with the job I did this weekend – I picked all the shifts right, except for one bad call on the last day. The first two days were the best, the breeze was big and the seas lumpy, so it was quite challenging. I’d love to do a lot more racing in this class, but I have a number of other regattas to go to.

I am looking forward to sailing with Steve again at the 38 Nationals,’ he said of the Sydney 38 Australian Championship which will occur at Skandia Geelong Week in January.

Such is McConaghy’s talent, he won the 11 Metre One Design Worlds in January and has been calling tactics on Colin O’Neil’s Davidson 59 After Shock, a winning team member at the Admirals Cup last year and this year winning Hog’s Breath Race Week and finishing a close third at Hahn Premium Race Week.

Top Five final results were: Shining Sea, Cydon, London Tavern, Acuity, AMI Jade.


Major thanks go the incredibly supportive and team at d'Albora Marinas Nelson Bay for all their work and support. Thanks too to Tom Hogan and the team at Hogs Breath Nelson Bay who kept the crews liberally refreshed in the de-facto yacht club bar each day.

Finally, thanks to SLAM Clothing for their support of the Sydney 38 One Design Class and especially this event. 18 Crews went home very happy after what was surely one of the best regatta's the class has enjoyed.

*Amended by Sail-World