Sorro's Philosopher’s Club wins in Geelong

by Bob Maxwell on 28 Jan 2008 Everyone knows that Australia’s Sydney Yachts, part of Azzura Marine, builds yachts for south ocean conditions and they have won enough ocean races to prove that. In the 2007 Rolex Sydney Hobart there were 14 Sydney Yachts, considerably more than any other yacht builders.

18 months ago Sydney Yachts launched the Sydney 36CR. Because it has a swept back spreader rig and a bowsprit the 36CR has been very popular with Club racers, who want a simple fast boat, which is easy to sail short handed.

However this boat is a ‘wolf in lambskin’ and it’s been racking up some top class racing results. Right out of the box Denis Cooper’s 36CR Amante won the 2006 Gascoigne Cup. Anthony Dunn’s Sydney 36CR Equinox was a close second at the 2007 Audi Sydney Harbour regatta and was second in the IRC Cruising Class at Hamilton Island in 2007.

Now one of the best known ‘old salts’ on the Australian sailing scene, Peter Sorensen, has won Division 2 in the tightly contested first round of the Australian National IRC Championship at the 2008 Skandia Geelong Week with his new Sydney 36CR Philosopher’s Club.

He topped the podium, ahead of Grant Botica's Adams Ten, Executive Decision second, with Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia Dick Fidock’s As Good As It Gets, the former Fruit Machine third.

Although now in his early 60’s, Sorensen (Sorr) has been campaigning in the high adrenalin racing for many years. He was the1983 and 1984 18 footer World Champion. He did some serious big sailing with his Volvo 60 Magnavox 2UE and the Farr 50 Morning Mist/2UE Titan Ford. But he returned to fast little boats with his lime green 8 metre sports boat flier Vivace, taking line honours in major sports boat regattas in recent seasons.

Last year Sorro decided it was time to go back to a bigger boat and he spent a lot of time looking at the available offerings before ordering the Australian made Sydney 36CR.

'I’ve owned lots of very fast boats, but when it gets to handicap ranking, I’ve always been at the back of the field. Last year I decided I’d like to give handicap racing a try. I did a lot of research and I talked to another old skiffie, Iain Murray from Azzura Marine, as I realised the Sydney 36CR was clearly a very good boat.

'Every Monday night a bunch of mates meet for a quiet little drink…we call it the Philosopher’s Club, and from the date we ordered the boat, we’ve been arguing about what the boat should be called. It was simpler to call it the Philosopher’s Club rather than keep talking about it.'

They’ve done more than talking on the water. Philosopher’s Club sailed in the Rolex Trophy series coming second in Division and on Sunday she won in Geelong. The boat is yet to sail a Club race.

Sorro summed up, ‘She is a fantastic boat, loves a bit of breeze and she is great fun to sail. We are going to do the complete Audi IRC Australian Championship circuit.’ Laughing he added ‘My old Jaguar is well past its use by date and I can see myself in a shiny new Audi.’

Martin ‘Tacka' Thompson from Sydney Yachts commented ‘the 36CR boxes well above its weight. Philosopher’s Club is the first one with a tiller. Peter researched for some time, keen to have a very competitive boat. I think one of the secrets is that this model goes fast consistently and it’s easy to change gears.’

Designer Andy Dovell said ‘The Sydney 36 CR is a real little peach. It has got the benefit of what we learned from the first two cruising racers, the 39CR and the 47CR; it has history, good performance and good balance, which is something you always strive for. And we’ve done a lot of homework; a lot of development has gone into the boat over the years.

‘The masthead rig and then the carbon swept back rig and bowsprit. There has been a whole lot of development along the way and all of that has gone into the boat.’

With more than 20 boats on the water now, we can all expect to see many more 36CR's on the cruiser/racer scene.

Series Results [IRC] for Division 2 up to Race 7 (Drops = 1)

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Design	Sers Score	Race 7	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		MH20	PHILOSOPHERS CLUB	Peter Sorensen	MHYC	Sydney 36 Cr	12.00	5.00	1.00	[11.00]	1.00	1.00	2.00	2.00
2		R1121	EXECUTIVE DECISION	Grant Botica	RYCV	Adams 10	17.00	1.00	4.00	4.00	3.00	4.00	[21.00O]	1.00
3		5846	AS GOOD AS IT GETS	Richard Fidock	CYCSA	Beneteau 40.7	20.00	2.00	7.00	[9.00]	5.00	2.00	1.00	3.00
4		R1111	TOECUTTER 2	Robert Hick	RYCV	Hick 30	26.00	3.00	6.00	3.00	7.00	3.00	4.00	[8.00]
5		360	PATRICE SIX	Tony Kirby	CYCA	X Yacth X-41 Od	28.00	8.00	5.00	[17.00]	2.00	5.00	3.00	5.00
6	2.0S	SM602	VELOCE	Phil Simpfendorfer	SYC	Elliott 11	31.00	7.00	2.00	[14.00]	6.00	7.00	5.00	4.00
7		G154	PEREGRINE	Barry Walker	RGYC	Sydney 36s	31.00	[9.00]	3.00	6.00	4.00	6.00	6.00	6.00
8		SM35	ABSOLUT	Terry Hall	SYC	Archambault 35	42.00	[10.50]	8.00	2.00	9.00	8.00	8.00	7.00
9		B26	REVERIE	Alan Woodward	RBYC	Beneteau 40.7	48.00	4.00	11.00	[12.00]	8.00	9.00	7.00	9.00
10		R9006	BULLET	D Cartan	RYCV	Bull 9000	56.00	6.00	[16.00]	1.00	13.00	12.00	14.00	10.00
11		TYC7771	BLUE SKY	Richard Fisher	TYC	Beneteau 40.7	59.00	[12.00]	10.00	8.00	11.00	10.00	9.00	11.00
12		R336	SWORDFISH TROMBONE	Tim Olding	RYCV	Mbd 36	67.00	13.00	12.00	5.00	14.00	[15.00]	11.00	12.00
13		SM45	OUTRAGEOUS	Ray Shaw	SYC	Beneteau First 44.7	76.00	15.00	17.00	[18.00]	10.00	11.00	10.00	13.00
14		H6336	THE BOOKMAKER	Andrew Slagmolen	HBYC	Nortshore Nsx36	80.50	10.50	14.00	10.00	[17.00]	16.00	15.00	15.00
15		SM424	BARNSTORMER	Brian Barnes	SYC	Bavaria Match 42	82.00	17.00	13.00	15.00	12.00	13.00	12.00	[18.00]
16		M9000	GEOMATIC JOKER	Grant Chipperfield	MYC	Jarkan 39	83.00	14.00	9.00	[19.00]	16.00	14.00	16.00	14.00
17		B63	SCHUSS	Denis McConnell	RBYC	Beneteau 40.7	93.00	18.00	[18.00]	13.00	15.00	17.00	13.00	17.00
18		S47	MRS OVERNEWTON	Leslie Norton	RMYS	Bavaria Match 38	101.00	16.00	[19.00]	16.00	18.00	18.00	17.00	16.00
19		SM5985	INSX	Robert Sill	SYC	Nsx 38	106.00	21.00C	15.00	7.00	21.00C	21.00C	21.00C	[21.00C]
20		MH360	THIS WAY UP	John Moore	MOFSC	Sydney36cr	126.00	21.00C	21.00C	21.00C	21.00C	21.00C	21.00C	[21.00C]