Frame Group takes 18 footer win in Sydney

by Glen Stanaway on 27 Jan 2006 Michael McKensey on the 18 footer Frame Group delivered a sharp message of warning to the Sydney Flying Squadron’s fleet on the weekend, with a clear victory in heat 4 of the Club Championship.

The event saw a whole new group of skippers take charge of the fleet, with the usual race winners well off the pace in the first race of 2006. Michael McKensey struggled earlier in the season to match the pace but on the weekend he was a leader from the outset and was never seriously challenged for first place. Once winning the start he sailed a conservative race simply focusing on shutting out other skiffs out behind him by applying basic covering tactics and staying upright on what was a blustery day.

The other challengers for the lead early in the race included British ex-pat Chris Kameen on Austar and Michael Rynan on Avaya. Kameen has proven to be the rising star in the fleet having never sailed skiffs prior to arriving in Australia.

It is fortunate for Kameen that he has teamed up with fellow ex-pat David Rogers and local Sam Jackson who between them have a wealth of skiff experience and have been able to ease Kameen into his role. However it did not help him on Saturday; a capsize on the last leg saw Dinghy Solutions and Avaya both sail past into second and third respectively.

Back in the fleet it was a changing of the guard. Michael Carter (Synergy!) and Mike Boyd (Sydney Star Accommodation) both had shocking starts and never recovered. Both have been regular winners in the earlier part of the season and were quite unaccustomed to chasing the other skiffs.

Unfortunately Sydney Star Accommodation ended up retiring from the race with a torn spinnaker. During a tight battle at a rounding mark with Paterson’s Dinghy Solutions the crew on Sydney Star neglected to clear knots from the spinnaker halyard prior to dropping the sail. The simple mistake led to the spinnaker wrapping around parts of the rigging and tearing. Boyd then had to capsize his skiff to allow crew to untangle the mess and retrieve what was left of the sail.

Other retirees included Wentworth Courier Sydney Weekly, who had difficulty handling the conditions with new crew on board.

Sydney Flying Squadron GP 18 Foot Skiffs

Club Championship Heat 4 Top Placing

1 Frame Group (M Mckensey)
2 Dinghy Solutions (G Paterson)
3 Avaya (M Rynan)