McNeill wins NSW Etchells Championship 2007

by Jacki Damiani on 22 Jan 2007 The series went right down to the wire as 2004 Etchells World Champion Peter McNeill held a narrow lead with a one point advantage over ‘Odyssey’ (Julian Plante) going into the last race of the series. Peter McNeill and his crew, Peter McLachlan and Dean Wyborn sailed a tactical last race to claim the Championship.

The hot conditions meant a westerly breeze greeted the competitors as they arrived on the race course. However, there was the hint of a nor’ east breeze so the Race Committee decided to wait a short while for the wind to fill in until it was strong enough to start racing for the day.

Under slight seas the entire fleet was a little edgy and it took two ‘General Recalls’ before the race got underway. There was some dramatic action at the first leeward gate with a port and starboard collision between ‘Etch’ (Jan Muysken) and ‘QRS’ (Alastair Stone) forcing both boats to retire from the race. ‘Etch’ suffered major damage with a hole on the starboard side of their boat from the waterline to the gunwale and limped back inside Barrenjoey Headland to safety.

‘Funky Cold Medina’ (Vaughan Prentice) excelled in this race and led from start to finish and was followed by the series leaders ‘Odyssey’ (Julian Plante) just beating ‘Koolong’ (Peter McNeill) to the finish.

So the pressure was on going into the last race. The wind had strengthened to 15 knots and the seas had changed to a very choppy swell. ‘Critical Balance’ (Mark Bulka) who had favoured the pin end in the previous race was back again. They finished the last race further back and were keen to redeem themselves.

The crew of ‘Odyssey’ (Julian Plante) knowing they had secured second place in the series kept a watchful eye over ‘Koolong’ (Peter McNeill) and did their best to upset them at the start, but ‘Koolong’ quickly ducked downwind into a better position and got away cleanly.

At the first windward mark rounding ‘Funky Cold Medina’ (Vaughan Prentice) led the way and was followed by ‘Dr Evil’ (Jake Gunther), ‘Bushfire’ (Jervis Tilly) and ‘Yandoo 20’ (Neville Wittey). By the time they were back up there ‘Koolong’ (Peter McNeill) had scraped into fourth position and sailed well on the downwind run to finish in third, clinching the NSW Championship. ‘Funky Cold Medina’ (Vaughan Prentice) again sailed a brilliant race to finish first with ‘Dr Evil’ (Jake Gunther) holding second position.

There was a loud cheer from crew onboard ‘Koolong’ when she crossed the line as they knew they had won the title and you couldn’t wipe the smile from Peter McNeill’s face.

After receiving the trophy, he admitted he was happy to win the Championship. 'I can’t complain. Consistency is the key in these types of regattas and we stuck to our plan to try and achieve good results at the front end of the fleet. I noticed Julian’s tactics at the start of the last race where he was trying to place as many boats between us as he could, but I did my best to avoid that situation. It was a team effort and a tribute to my crew, Dean Wyborn and Peter McLachlan that we won the Championship. It was especially great for Peter McLachlan, the owner of the boat to be sailing with us as he had travelled from Western Australia to compete.'

‘Odyssey’ (Julian Plante) finished the series in second place overall only three points behind. 'The racing was very close between us and ‘Koolong’ so we knew we had to go on the offensive in the last race. We tried everything to force them back and put boats between us, but in the end this probably worked to our disadvantage. We knew we had secured second so we had nothing to lose. Peter sailed really well and was very slippery to catch. The regatta was great, we sailed hard and fast. It was good to be back on home-ground and the owner Geoff Bonouvrie really enjoyed it as he hasn’t raced for a year or so. Matt Day, Nick Garland and Rohan Nosworthy performed really well and we are happy with our results'. The owner Geoff Bonouvrie commented 'It was good to be back on the boat, these guys keep me young and I’m looking forward to our next event'.

‘Critical Balance’ (Mark Bulka) finished the series in third place. 'We had a disappointing day and we found it pretty hard out there. This regatta I had a new team and the sea conditions didn’t suit us, the increase in the breeze really tested us as well. Bernie O’Hanlon did really well considering he normally sails Couta boats and the last time he touched a spinnaker was 25 years ago. Steven Young will return with me to defend the Victorian titles in March, but we all had a fantastic time and we were happy to finish third overall'.

The boat of the day had to be ‘Funky Cold Medina’ (Vaughan Prentice) with two impressive wins, leading start to finish in both races. 'It was good to get the double even if it was a little late in the series. We could finally get off the line quickly in good shape with great boat-speed. It was nice feeling to cross the fleet from the left hand side of the course.'

Now the NSW Championship is over the International Etchells Class is looking forward to the Victorian State Championships which will be held at Mornington Yacht Club, 9-12th March 2007.


Overall Results – 2007 International Etchells NSW Championships

1st Koolong Peter McNeill 15 points
2nd Odyssey Julian Plante 18 points
3rd Critical Balance Mark Bulka 28 points
4th Dr Evil Jake Gunther 29 points
5th Yandoo 20 Neville Wittey 31 points
6th War of the Roses David Rose 42 points
7th Bushfire Jervis Tilly 47 points
8th Dot Matt Whittnal 52 points
9th Funky Cold Medina Vaughan Prentice 57 points
10th Foolhardy David Hardy 64 points


Overall Results – Masters Division
2007 International Etchells NSW Championships

1st Ganesh Tracy / Weir RSYS
2nd Panther Steve O’Rouke BBYC
3rd North Sydney Station Richard Coxon RPAYC
4th Trekka Robert Anthill LMYC
5th Tonic Peter Alexander RSYS
6th Strength & Honour Matthew Mitchell GSC


Overall Results – Grand Masters Division
2007 International Etchells NSW Championships

1st Tonic Peter Alexander RSYS
2nd 3 Gone Missing David Ritchard RPAYC
3rd QRS Alastair Stone RSYS
4th PAM Hendrik Visser RPAYC


Winner Teams Event
2007 International Etchells NSW Championships

Royal Brighton Yacht Club - Victoria