No Excuse wins Port Jackson C'ship & Eaton Cup

by Peter Campbell on 7 Apr 2008 Rupert Henry, a relative newcomer to Etchells one-design racing, became the eighth different skipper in eight years to win the Port Jackson Championship, sailed on Sydney Harbour over the weekend. Helming No Excuse, the former Sydney 38 and ocean racing skipper, won the historic Eaton Cup with a consistent series of 3-1-3-4-5-3 for 14 points after one drop race.

Saturday's heats were sailed in a light and variable 5-8 knot breeze, but Sunday saw the fleet enjoy a steady 10-15 knots.

Henry won from Steven Tracy & Bob Weir's Ganesh, winner of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadon's Summer Series for the Etchells, which had a scorecard of 10-7-6-1-3-2 for 19 points.

Two past Port Jackson Champions finished equal third on 21 points. Defending champion and prominent ocean racing yachtsman Roger Hickman (Sun Tzu) won the final race after a series score of 6-8-4-2-8 to level with Peter Alexander (Tonic) who won the Championship eight seasons ago. This weekend Tonic's placings were 17-5-1-7-4-4.

Nick Kingsmill, who donated the Eaton Cup, a trophy won in 1909 by his great grandfather, a Light Horseman and Gallipoli hero, won the heat five of the Championship to finish seventh overall at the helm of Vincero.

Among the fleet was Alice Springs-based Jeff Rose, who sailed his boat Second Wind into a creditable fifth place overall on 26 points.

The J24 class also sailed a six race Autumn Championship Regatta over the weekend, with John Crawford's Innamincka winning the series with a 2-3-5-1-1-1 scorecard for 8 points from Bob Ross in Stamped Urgent scoring 4-2-1-3-2-OCS for 12 points. Third place went to Brushetta (Alister Morison) on 13 points.