M30 class racing at Rolex Trophy series
by M30 Australian Class Media Release on 3 Dec 2007
M30s on the start line Sam Crichton
After a very successful year for Australian M30 teams, interest in the class in Australia is growing at a rapid rate. New boats have arrived in Sydney for Guy Stening and John Formosa, with Stening sailing in the upcoming Rolex Trophy One Design series along with Victorian Bruce Eddington, Queenslander Colin Loel and fellow Sydney skipper Garry Hobson. The Rolex Trophy Series is being hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and racing will be held off Sydney Heads on December 8 and 9.
Guy Stening, who joined the class a little over 12 months ago, finished fourth in his first class Australian Championship in February 2007 and went on to compete at the M30 class World Championship in Sardinia, Italy in October. Sailing against a number of former M30 class World Champions, including Vincenzo Onorato and Erik Maris, Stening finished second in the pre worlds regatta and fourth in the 40 boat fleet that raced for the 2007 World Champion title.
'It's been a terrific year and we're really pleased with how things have gone. We went to the Worlds for some experience against the international fleet and came away with a fantastic result. The class is growing across Australia and we are looking at a large fleet for the Australian Championship in February', said Stening.
Bruce Eddington has enjoyed a very successful year racing against fellow class members in the USA with Southern Sun winning the class division at the 2007 Key West Race Week. Eddington returned to sail on two more occasions with the US M30 fleet and in September at the Sail Newport M30 regatta took the regatta title with an envious point score of nine points for nine races.
'We had a great year both here and overseas and are looking forward to seeing the class grow in Australia. This is a highly competitive one design fleet across the world and we always enjoy racing against class mates both in Australia and overseas', commented Eddington.
The M30 fleet is anticipating a highly competitive fleet at the 2008 M30 Australian Championship which will be held February 1-3 and hosted by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. A number of international M30 teams have expressed interest in racing at this highly competitive event. Teams from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia are looking to make it a truly national event.
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