Riga regains Dragon class State title

by Peter Campbell on 15 Nov 2008
Martin Burke’s Riga, helmed by Ian McCrossin, last evening regained the International Dragon NSW Championship after a weeklong battle on Sydney Harbour.

Riga finished two points ahead of Richard Franklin’s Liquidity after the two Dragons raced boat for boat around the course in the eighth and final race, finishing just 15 seconds apart.

The two boats had gone into the final race with Riga just one point ahead, but McCrossin, a former World Champion in the International Flying Dutchman class, managed to keep ahead of Liquidity.

Each boat had three wins during the championship, which began last Saturday with the three heat Mini Regatta and continued throughout the week with the RSYS Spring Twilight Regatta.

Riga finished on 14 points from placings of 2-6-1-5-2-1-1-1 while Liquidity’s score was 16 points from OCS-1-4-1-1-3-3-3.

Former Olympian Carl Ryves placed third overall with Sidewinder, winning the final race to finish on 19 points from placings of 1-3-10-4-6-2-3.

The championship was sailed in generally moderate to fresh breezes, with Friday evening’s final race a demanding event in a 15-20 knot nor’easter gusting at times to 25 knots.

Fortunately, the Dragons finished before the worst of the thunderstorms swept across the city and the harbour. Two boats retired from the fleet in the strong conditions.

The RSYS in January will host the prestigious Prince Philip Cup Australasian Championship, with Dragons expects from most Australian States and New Zealand.