Australians win 12ft Interdominion trophy

by Di Pearson on 20 Jan 2007 The Sydney crew of Emmett Lazich and Cameron McDonald (CST Composites) won the final Race 8 to take out the 12ft skiff Interdominion crown at the International Skiff Regatta hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club today; however New Zealand retains the Teams trophy for the 10th year running.

A former multiple Moth world champion, Lazich, who is also a successful 49er sailor and coach, won the first three races of the series and backed up with a win today with McDonald to beat their nearest rivals throughout the regatta, the well-sailed Kiwi crew of Chris Reid and Alex Vallings (Nuplex Maersk). Vallings, the defending skipper from 2005-2006.

Reid, who is in his rookie season as skipper, won Races 4 and 7, with a second in Race 2 and finishing second to the CST Composite crew today. It was appropriate that the top two of the series finished their day in those positions.

Commenting on their second place, a philosophical Reid said: 'Now we’ll have to come back!' He went on to say: 'It’s been a fantastic event with good close racing.'

Behind Reid, came a further two New Zealand entries, that of Nathan Bax/Alex Hinton (Bax Contractors) and National champions Hamish Hey/Mike Candy (Nice Action). Because of their actions, the New Zealanders cart of the Teams prize. The Kiwis have always proved hard to beat and this time proved no different.

One of two only Queensland entries, Paul O’Malley-Jones//Richard Billett (Gob Smacked Dwarves) did an incredible job to come home fourth overall. There are few Queensland 12s racing right now, so the two deserve big accolades.

Lazich and McDonald led the final race from start to finish, with the Nuplex Maersk duo in second place all day; none of the other entries bothered either one of them around the triangle and two windward/leeward course, with racing getting underway at 2.00pm this afternoon.

A Sydneysider, Lazich has been heavily involved in research and development, trying to fine tune his 12 footer down to a two-rig job, which apparently paid off in this series. His and CST Composite’s work is ongoing.

Under overcast skies with rain falling for their entire race, the 30-boat fleet representing NSW, Queensland, Victoria and New Zealand experienced gusty and shifty conditions at the Sail Melbourne event raced on Corio Bay.

Winds kicked in to 12-18 knots, increasing to 20 plus on the reach. By the last leg of the course, breezes had died to 5-8 knots.

Next year’s Interdominion will be sailed in New Zealand.

Series Results [Class ET] for 12ft Skiff up to Race 8 (Drops = 1)

Place	Ties	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew	From	Sers Score	Race 8	Race 7	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		CST COMPOSITES	Emmett Lazich	Cameron Mcdonald	NSW	27.70	0.00	3.00	13.00	11.70	[13.00]	0.00	0.00	0.00
2		NUPLEX	Chris Reid	Alex Vallings	NZ	32.00	3.00	0.00	8.00	10.00	0.00	8.00	3.00	[23.00]
3		BAX CONTRACTORS	Nathan Bax	Alex Hinton	NZ	48.70	[17.00]	14.00	10.00	0.00	3.00	5.70	13.00	3.00
4		NICE ACTION	Hamish Hey	Mike Landy	NZ	60.40	16.00	[21.00]	0.00	5.70	11.70	3.00	10.00	14.00
5		GOB SMACKED DWARVES	Paul O'malley-jones	Richard Billett	QLD	64.70	15.00	8.00	5.70	3.00	10.00	15.00	[15.00]	8.00
6		GARDE	Brett Hobson	Alex Johnson	NSW	74.40	8.00	10.00	18.00	13.00	[19.00]	11.70	8.00	5.70
7		0	Jonathan Temple	Richard Jones	NSW	87.40	22.00	5.70	16.00	14.00	14.00	10.00	5.70	[25.00]
8		MGS	Russell Davis	Timothy Christensen	NZ	88.00	[19.00]	17.00	3.00	8.00	15.00	17.00	18.00	10.00
9		AS GOOD AS IT GETS	Glenn Armstrong	Tim Faulkner	NZ	113.00	14.00	[24.00]	14.00	18.00	16.00	21.00	14.00	16.00
10		GIZMO	Michael Bochner	Tim Barraclough	NSW	114.40	13.00	23.00	11.70	20.00	22.00	[23.00]	11.70	13.00
11		DIMENSION POLYART	Simon Ganley	Rod Chave	NZ	116.70	10.00	11.70	[37.00F]	16.00	20.00	14.00	16.00	29.00
12		DATA CALL	Andrew Stevenson	Brad Greenrod	NSW	130.00	21.00	20.00	15.00	15.00	17.00	[37.00F]	24.00	18.00
13		HI REV	Greg Roake	Matt Hart	NZ	132.70	25.00	16.00	22.00	17.00	5.70	[28.00]	25.00	22.00
14		GARDE GEOTHERM	Scott Hobson	Brad Phillips	NSW	138.70	29.00	[37.00O]	17.00	23.00	23.00	18.00	17.00	11.70
15		WAY UP	Jason Parkin	Ben Pefluiter	NZ	142.00	20.00	18.00	19.00	19.00	24.00	22.00	20.00	[28.00]
16		ROAD KILL	Ed Cox	Peter Bevis	NSW	146.70	5.70	19.00	37.00F	[37.00F]	32.00	13.00	21.00	19.00
17		ACER	Julian O'mahony	Richard Johns	NSW	147.00	23.00	13.00	37.00F	[37.00F]	21.00	19.00	19.00	15.00
18		DIPOLAR SOFTWARE	Edward Blackman	Paul Carpenter	NSW	155.70	11.70	26.00	37.00F	[37.00F]	18.00	20.00	22.00	21.00
19		FOXY LADY TOO	Phil Stevenson	James Mccrudden	NSW	162.00	30.00	15.00	21.00	24.00	26.00	[37.00C]	29.00	17.00
20		VANTAGE REAL ESTATE	Jack Winning	Brett Phillips	NSW	171.00	24.00	25.00	20.00	21.00	29.00	26.00	[32.00]	26.00
21		SIRROMET	Michael Spies	Damion Vlotman	NSW	178.00	37.00C	37.00C	37.00F	[37.00F]	8.00	16.00	23.00	20.00
22		WOOF	James Walsh	James Birdsall	NSW	195.00	18.00	28.00	37.00F	[37.00F]	31.00	27.00	30.00	24.00
23		STEVE JARVIN MOTORS/	James Francis	William Chapman	NSW	196.00	37.00F	22.00	[37.00F]	22.00	27.00	29.00	28.00	31.00
24		BOAT & YACHT STORE	Matthew Peat	Paul Wilson	NSW	202.00	27.00	29.00	37.00F	[37.00F]	30.00	25.00	27.00	27.00
25		PINK B	Nicholas Bernard	Andrew O'brien	NSW	209.00	28.00	27.00	37.00F	[37.00F]	25.00	31.00	31.00	30.00
26		FLYING ANIMALS	James Fleming	Lindsay Stead	QLD	214.00	26.00	32.00	37.00F	25.00	28.00	33.00	33.00	[37.00F]
27		BREAKING WIND	Jakub Ronowicz	Chris Urquhart	NSW	225.00	37.00F	31.00	37.00F	37.00F	33.00	24.00	26.00	[37.00F]
28		HOLT	Grant Nicholson	Scott Hill	NSW	234.00	37.00F	30.00	37.00F	26.00	37.00F	32.00	35.00	[37.00C]
29		24/7 PEST CONTROL	Peter Hill	Steven Hill	NSW	245.00	37.00F	33.00	37.00F	37.00F	37.00C	30.00	34.00	[37.00F]
30		BLOCKBUSTER	Jock Sinclair	Donald Williams	VIC	259.00	37.00C	37.00C	37.00C	37.00C	37.00C	37.00C	37.00C	[37.00F]