Reigning champs lead 14ft Skiff Australian titles

by Di Pearson on 14 Jan 2007 Former 14ft skiff world champions and reigning Australian champions Lindsay Irwin/Andrew Perry won the first race of the 2007 Australian 14ft Championship on Corio Bay in Geelong, Victoria today.

Irwin and Perry sailed 'Irwin Sails' to victory ahead of Roger Blasse/Andrew Gilligan (Read Between the Lines) and third placed Alex Newman/Derek Layfield (Roger Ramjet). All three are representing Victorian clubs.

Blasse, from Black Rock in Victoria, described today’s scenario. 'It was quite shifty; the breeze was up and down – 10-15 knots with lots of pressure gusts but nice flat water. Excellent sailing, we were powered up.'

'We were in front for the first part of the race, but Lindsay got the jump on us and we never got in front again,' continued Blasse, a former multiple OK Dinghy sailor who has also been sailing the 14s for the past three years.

Still alternating between OK Dinghy sailing and the 14s, Blasse said: 'We use similar sails and gear to Lindsay (including Irwin sails) and if we can get our speed up to his, we can try and outsail him, but he’s good. I’m lucky because Gilly (his crew) has been in this class 18 years. It’s great to have a crew who’s so good.'

Third placed Alex Newman described racing today: 'It was very close racing in very shifty winds – one of those days when you needed to have eyes in the back of your head!'

'We were jockeying in second and third place all day and just trying to keep those behind us at bay – that was the hard part. The best part of the day was the great conditions – beautiful flat water and good breeze – a perfect place to hold the event,' Newman said.

According to Newman, Irwin/Perry and South Australian pair Grant Geddes/Dan Wilsdon who finished second at the 2006 Nationals are the two crews to beat at this Championship. The former pair finished fifth, the best placed Aussie crew at the 2006 Worlds sailed at Long Beach in California, while Geddes and Wilsdon were next best placed in 10th, while Newman finished 17th.

Not a good day for reigning NSW champions Stew Vickery/Tim Withall (Argo) who finished well down the list. 'Not one of our better efforts or days – we’ll see what we can do tomorrow,' Vickery said ashore after the race.

Race 1     (13/01/2007) PROVISIONAL RESULTS

 

14ft Skiff Class ET results Wind 12 knots at 140 deg. Waves 0m.

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	From	Elapsd	Skipper	Score	Fin Tim
1	AUS631	IRWIN SAILS	VIC	01:40:37	Lindsay Irwin	1.0	14:45:37
2	AUS642	READ BETWEEN THE LIN	VIC	01:43:41	Roger Blasse	2.0	14:48:41
3	AUS638	ROGER RAMJET	VIC	01:44:42	Alex Newman	3.0	14:49:42
4	AUS645	RAY AND THE CRAZY 88	VIC	01:45:27	Anthony Anderson	4.0	14:50:27
5	AUS640	BOOST	SA	01:45:37	Grant Geddes	5.0	14:50:37
6	AUS646	FLAUNT IT	VIC	01:47:37	Ron Scherwinski	6.0	14:52:37
7	AUS633	WAM	VIC	01:47:54	Alan Vickery	7.0	14:52:54
8	AUS608	PROLAMPS	WA	01:49:42	Warren Sare	8.0	14:54:42
9	WA652	TARGET	WA	01:49:57	Ray Hancock	9.0	14:54:57
10	AUS353	TWO DOGS	VIC	01:50:15	Stephen Edmunds	10.0	14:55:15
11	AUS643	Deep Water	VIC	01:51:22	Mark Kristic	11.0	14:56:22
12	AUS626	SNATCH	WA	01:53:10	Stuart Sloss	12.0	14:58:10
13	AUS641	ELLIOTT INDUSTRIES	WA	01:53:39	Cameron Elliott	13.0	14:58:39
14	AUS364	GREAT LEAP FORWARD	VIC	01:55:42	Ridhard Ekberg	14.0	15:00:42
15	AUS644	ARGO 16	VIC	01:56:02	Stewart Vickery	15.0	15:01:02
16	AUS602	THE PEST	WA	01:56:21	Glen Tincombe	16.0	15:01:21
17	AUS639	ALEXANDER SAILS	SA	01:56:26	Davifd Alexander	17.0	15:01:26
18	AUS647	JKM	VIC	01:56:37	Mark Elsworthy	18.0	15:01:37
19	AUS612	NA1	VIC	01:57:40	Greg Coutts	19.0	15:02:40
20	AUS10	CARBON COMET	WA	01:57:54	Luke Devine	20.0	15:02:54
21	AUS514	MEXICAN WAVE	SA	02:01:17	David Hayter	21.0	15:06:17
22	AUS610	CARBON CONCEPTS	VIC	02:03:26	Robert Vickery	22.0	15:08:26
23	N227	DUKES	NSW	02:03:53	David McCrudden	23.0	15:08:53
24	AUS628	DONKEY ON THE EDGE	VIC	02:08:15	Philip Strong	24.0	15:13:15
25	NZL41	FOR THE LADIES	NZ	02:08:23	Matt Balmer	25.0	15:13:23
26	AUS601	WALKING ON WATER	WA	02:08:30	Graeme Everett	26.0	15:13:30
27	AUS553	MUPPET	NSW	02:10:12	Oliver Merz	27.0	15:15:12
28	AUS345	FRANKSTON TOYOTA	VIC	02:12:25	David Mcgeoch	28.0	15:17:25
29	AUS629	MISS MATCH	VIC	02:13:41	Rick De Jong	29.0	15:18:41
30	AUS605	TONKA TUFF	VIC	02:13:47	Scott Davis	30.0	15:18:47
31	USA609	EXTENDED ADOLESENSE	USA	02:16:10	Andrew Bates	31.0	15:21:10
32	AUS363	RIDE EM + WRECK EM	Vic	02:16:24	Andrew Low	32.0	15:21:24
33	AUS309	LYNX	VIC	02:20:59	Benjamin Strong	33.0	15:25:59
DNC	615	TBA	VIC		John Taylor	43.0
DNC	AUS342	LONGBOW	VIC		Brian Long	43.0
DNC	AUS347	LOVEBONE	WA		Paul Thompson	43.0
DNC	AUS355	HOLDFAST MARINE	VIC		Peter Roberts	43.0
DNC	AUS481	COTTEE'S ELECTRICAL	ACT		Jamie Cottee	43.0
DNC	AUS363W	ADDICTION	VIC		Adam Evans	43.0
DNC	N278	SEATEC GET IT ON	NSW		Barrie King	43.0
DNF	630	SLIVER	SA		Brec Mitton	43.0
DNF	AUS363R	ARGO14	VIC		Martin Cooper	43.0

It was a hard day’s work for all, with racing on the windward/leeward triangle course taking two hours plus to complete, making a late start for the 12ft skiffs which were due to start at 3.00pm, but did not get underway till much later.

Hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club as part of Sail Melbourne, the Championship continues tomorrow with two further races in their 10-race series which finishes on January 20.