Champagne Sailing for Bavaria Yachts and X-Yachts

by Andrew Parkes on 26 Oct 2007 The annual Sydney Harbour Regatta for Bavaria Yachts and X-Yachts was held last Friday at Middle Harbour Yacht Club. 'Champagne Sailing' best described the day with sun and wind, on the worlds most spectacular harbour.

The first fleet away was the X-Yachts racing with spinnakers. With a stiff North-North Easterly blowing, it was a great work up to Manly, before a long spinnaker run to Clark Island. At the head of the fleet the IMX 40 'Nips-N-Tux' was battling it out with the new X-41 One Design 'X-41', who didn’t get off the start line well and gave the early advantage to Howard De Torres and his crew.

A long windward leg back to Manly saw the X-41 stretch her legs and show the full potential of this new Racer-Cruiser. While there was plenty of action at the front of the fleet, the X-35 'Hijinx' was sailing above her rating and leading the fleet on IRC corrected time. At the finish, 'X-41' took Line Honours, a great result for North South Yachting Director Tony Kirby and his crew. The overall winner of the X-Yachts Cup for 2007 was Ray Carless and his crew on 'Hijinx', with 'X-41' second and 'Nips-N-Tux' third.

The Bavaria Yachts division and X-Yachts non-spinnaker division sailed the same course, starting five minutes later. In the Bavaria Yachts fleet, Bruce Ritchie and his crew on the Match 42 'Union' showed a clean pair of heels and lead around the first mark at Manly. From there she extended on the fleet and was a clear Line Honours winner. Behind 'Union' a real tussle was developing between three boats for the Overall winners trophy on handicap. The two Bavaria 44’s 'Eternity' and 'Cloud Break' swapped positions throughout the race while 'Double Trouble', the Match 35 of Steve Whyatt was trying to put enough distance on the 44’s to beat them on time. In the end it was 'Eternity', Tony Dyson and crew first, 'Double Trouble' split the big boats to finish second and Graham Hodgkinson finished third on 'Cloud Break'.

In the X-Yachts non spinnaker division 'White Satin', an X-43 owned by Bill and Nevine Neill overcame a poor start to lead the fleet around the track and take Line Honours. Guest helmsman for the day was Max Scalia from Melbourne who joined in the fun as he awaits the arrival of his new X-40, the first into Australia. Another newcomer to the fleet was 'Firefly', an X-43 owned by Dean and Jan Gillies, the regatta was their first real sail in their brand new yacht. As always, 'Solveig' the X-37 owned by David McLean was snapping at the heels of her larger sisters in the fresh conditions. The dark horse was the stunning, blue hulled 'Gaia', an X-482 owned by Colin and Gai O’Brien. She found the heavier winds and long legs to her liking to take out first place from 'Solveig' with 'White Satin' third.

Following the racing all of the competitors returned to the Sand Bar at Middle Harbour Yacht Club for refreshments and drinks before the presentation. To make the day even more special, Barry Tranter acted as the regatta photographer for us and took some sensational photos of the fleet. Each competitor was presented with a framed photograph of their yacht on the day to remind them of the fun they had, and what it means to be part of the Bavaria and X-Yachts family.