Etchells Australian titles- Kiwi’s surf to second

by Steve Hall on 17 Jan 2009
At the final day of the Commonwealth Bank 2009 Australian Etchells Championships, hosted by the Royal SA Yacht Squadron, the wind and waves provided tough and challenging conditions.

Final race, after a general recall the second start was ‘clean away’. The fleet split with a poor start for Ian Johnson – Bananas in Pyjamas.

At the top mark, the leaders came in from port tack, with John Bertrand (Triad) crossing ahead. Rounding the mark; Bertrand, Mark Bulka (Critical Balance), Rob Brown (Steampacket 7) and then the New Zealander Alistair Gair (Velsheda), rounded with very little between them.

With Bertrand expected to retire having already won the championship yesterday and with second nearly in the bag for Gair; needing to finish seventh or lower with Bulka finishing first, there was still much interest from the spectator boats braving the tough conditions.

With the ‘Magic’ Kiwis Gair and crew chasing and known for their surfing skills the battle for second with Bulka was on.

Bertrand pulled out at the bottom aiming to win the ‘race for the dockside crane’ and headed in.

The wind increased to over 20 knots with the waves starting to show some structure with the tide going slack.

The fleet split again for the second beat, tacked up the middle chasing the shifts.

At the top mark approaching on Port tack – Brown, Bulka, Gair and Skip Lissiman (Bandwagon), all turned with very little to separate them.

Another sparkling furious surfing session ensued, to the bottom mark with now only 34 boats competing.

The wind increased further for the final beat, the fleet headed into Largs Bay, at the gun it was Bulka with over six boat lengths from Gair and then Brown.

The last great race of the championship then commenced; the battle to the dockside crane.

A protest involving Bulka is being heard though will not affect the second place of Gair, however is likely to impact on third and fourth place.

Comments from the racers.

Shane Dussen (Wood Duck). 'Overstood the mark, missed it, then 14th or 15th, that’s life.' He went on to say 'Mystery Taxi is going to the Worlds, 736 Wood Duck ... a bit old.'

Mark Bradford (Roni) 'Found the speed at the end. See you at the Worlds.'

When discussing Mark Bulka’s need to finish first with Gair worse than seventh to draw second place, Gair said, 'Kept an eye on him, he’s really good in the light, so wasn’t too worried.'

Ian Johnson (Bananas in Pyjamas). 'Best sailing waters in the world, I mean that, bloody oath!'

Rob Brown (Steampacket 7). 'Good first beat nose to tail, really good weather, we go well up to 18 knots', continuing he said, 'The club and race management is excellent.'

2009 Etchells Australian Championship

Hosted By RSAYS

Updated:  16/01/2009  20:28:07

 SERIES RESULTS

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Bow no	Skipper	Crew	Crew.	Crew3	Sers Score	Race 8	Race 7	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	AUS1383	TRIAD (M)	40	John Bertrand	Andrew Palfrey	Ben Ainslie		20.00	[45.00F]	1.00	3.00	3.00	4.00	1.00	7.00	1.00
2	NZ950	VELSHEDA	38	Alastair Gair	Dave Ridley	Rhys Johnston	Derek Scott	22.00	2.00	3.00	1.00	1.00	7.00	4.00	4.00	[7.00]
3	AUS1338	CRITICAL BALANCE	44	Mark Bulka	James Ryssenbeek	Steve Young		36.00	10.00	[14.00]	4.00	11.00	1.00	2.00	2.00	6.00
4	AUS1318	BANANAS IN PYJAMAS	22	Ian Johnson	Tim Ede	Mark Tonner-Joyce		38.00	6.00	2.00	7.00	2.00	[19.00]	3.00	13.00	5.00
5	AUS870	RONI	48	Mark Bradford	Peter Merrington	Anthony Nositer		42.00	1.00	4.00	2.00	4.00	10.00	18.00	3.00	[19.00]
6	AUS1270	LA VIE DANSANTE	30	Chris Pratt	Simon Estella	Caillin Howard		44.00	11.00	[12.00]	5.00	5.00	3.00	7.00	5.00	8.00
7	AUS1374	STEAMPACKET 7 (M)	21	Rob Brown	Bruce Wookey	Garry Gudmunson		45.00	3.00	6.00	6.00	10.00	2.00	12.00	6.00	[18.00]
8	AUS1346	AVALON	27	Peter McNeill	Michael Bellingham	James Mayjor		68.00	[45.00S]	11.00	11.00	9.00	11.00	8.00	8.00	10.00
9	AUS1131	THE MOE SZYSLAK EXPE	31	Brendan Garner	Tim Clark	Michael ScHilt		77.00	13.00	9.00	18.00	12.00	5.00	9.00	[19.00]	11.00
10	AUS1244	DR. EVIL (M)	20	Jake Gunther	Tony Mc Phail	Russel Tyson		78.00	8.00	[17.00]	12.00	8.00	12.00	6.00	16.00	16.00
11	AUS891	BANDWAGON (M)	17	Skip Lissiman	Andy Fethers	Keith Swinton	Tyson Lamond	81.00	4.00	5.00	9.00	6.00	45.00B	11.00	1.00	[45.00Q]
12	AUS1366	PEDRO	15	Kirwan Robb	Jamie Thompson	Breeahn McCraken	Rodney Muller	85.00	5.00	15.00	8.00	17.00	14.00	[30.00]	23.00	3.00
13	AUS1276	OVER ENGINEERED	23	Garrath James	Andrew Colliver	Blair Coventry		85.00	7.00	[22.00]	16.00	13.00	6.00	13.00	17.00	13.00
14	AUS1367	CHILL PILL (M)	19	Rob Bird	Graeme Johnson	Nic Gray		90.00	[45.00F]	8.00	17.00	18.00	8.00	16.00	14.00	9.00
15	AUS1022	SCREAMING PLUM (M)	26	Doug Kerr	Greg Kerr	Luke Paterson		100.00	14.00	13.00	19.00	15.00	9.00	28.00	[45.00Q]	2.00
16	AUS1160	LIQUIDITY	14	Dirk Van Der Struyf	Nigel Nattrass	Adam Martin		101.00	12.00	10.00	23.00	[45.00O]	13.00	20.00	11.00	12.00
17	AUS868	YANDOO XX (M)	45	Jeanne-Claude Strong	Neville Wittey	Will Canty	Kieran Searle	102.00	[45.00F]	7.00	20.00	7.00	30.00	5.00	29.00	4.00
18	NZL1314	ADDICTION (M)	33	Lindsay Kennedy	Mark Kennedy	Magnus Doole		108.00	16.00	21.00	10.00	[30.00]	27.00	10.00	10.00	14.00
19	AUS1317	UNA MAS (M)	25	Mark Dagge	Matthew Hansen	Josh Willis		123.00	17.00	26.00	13.00	24.00	15.00	19.00	9.00	[32.00]
20	AUS1288	MAGIC BUZZ (M)	49	Steve Gunther	Adrian Hayes	Brad Jones		123.00	19.00	18.00	22.00	16.00	16.00	17.00	15.00	[30.00]
21	AUS883	TUSK	24	Gary Smith	Michail McAullay	Brett Shoebridge		130.00	9.00	20.00	15.00	20.00G	18.00	[35.00]	22.00	26.00
22	AUS892	SECOND WIND	16	Jeff Rose	Craig McCullam	Cam Gribble		137.00	[45.00Q]	16.00	14.00	19.00	23.00	21.00	21.00	23.00
23	AUS1136	DAYLIGHT COME (M)	29	Alastair McMichael	Andrew McAullay	Richard Edinger		143.00	18.00	[34.00]	25.00	21.00	20.00	15.00	20.00	24.00
24	AUS736	WOOD DUCK (M)	42	Shane Deusson	Stephen Dunn	Myles Kohler		150.00	15.00	19.00	35.00	14.00	26.00	23.00	18.00	[37.00]
25	AUS1321	CHOICES (M,GM)	46	Ian Dixon	Mark O Brien	Nick Paterson		150.00	[45.00F]	28.00	21.00	22.00	24.00	14.00	24.00	17.00
26	AUS1141	MENS SHIRTS (M)	34	Peter Stubbings	Ann Stubbings	Ross Melville		168.00	22.00	24.00	24.00	20.00	25.00	25.00	28.00	[29.00]
27	AUS1129	MURPHYS LAW (M)	52	Geoff Boettcher	Tim Cowen	Jason Clark		178.00	20.00	27.00	33.00	25.00	[36.00]	26.00	12.00	35.00
28	AUS832	BAD SQUIRREL (M, GM)	51	Andrew Short	Phil Webb	Brett Yardley		186.00	21.00	23.00	31.00	29.00	29.00	[36.00]	26.00	27.00
29	AUS1272	FOOLHARDY (M, GM)	54	James Hardy	Tom Hardy	Alan Bessell		186.00	24.00	[36.00]	27.00	34.00	21.00	24.00	31.00	25.00
30	AUS1311	MYSTERY TAXI	10	Paul Henshall	Bruce Henshall	Jeremy Tustin		187.00	[45.00S]	35.00	28.00	23.00	17.00	27.00	35.00	22.00
31	AUS1223	TANGO (M)	41	Chris Hampton	Tim Godbert	Tom Connell		189.00	23.00	29.00	29.00	27.00	28.00	38.00	[45.00F]	15.00
32	AUS1117	7PS (M)	53	Ian Anderson	Stuart Emery	Malcolm Pearson	Ashleigh Emery	195.00	25.00	25.00	26.00	26.00	[45.00B]	29.00	25.00	39.00
33	AUS1360	ETCH (M,GM)	37	Jan Muysken	Ian Audsley	Peter Alexander		206.00	28.00	[45.00F]	34.00	31.00	33.00	22.00	27.00	31.00
34	AUS1258	RUBY	18	Jason Ward	Damien McCaughey	Tim Cawley		210.00	26.00	30.00	32.00	37.00	31.00	[41.00]	34.00	20.00
35	AUS608	MEDIUM RARE	39	Wayne Knill	Russell Jones	Noel Paterson		220.00	29.00	45.00F	30.00	[45.00F]	22.00	32.00	34.00G	28.00
36	AUS714	FRENCH STICK (M)	35	Andrew Waterman	Andrew Ellison	Robert Howatt		231.00	45.00Q	31.00	[45.00F]	35.00	35.00	34.00	30.00	21.00
37	AUS1218	SUPERHEAT (M, GM)	12	David Henshall	Steve Jenkins	Dean Furniss		233.00	27.00	33.00	37.00	38.00	32.00	[39.00]	32.00	34.00
38	AUS951	FISH FACTORY (M, GM)	47	Michael Bradley	Guy Maegraith	Malcolm Larsen-Smith		246.00	30.00	45.00F	[45.00F]	32.00	34.00	31.00	36.00	38.00
39	AUS1291	THE DON (M)	50	Don Wilson	Eric Findlay	Dave Allinson		246.00	31.00	39.00	38.00	33.00	[45.00B]	33.00	39.00	33.00
40	AUS1158	NEW WAVE	43	Peter La Fontaine	Peter Cox	Sam Dryden		250.00	45.00F	32.00	39.00	28.00	[45.00B]	37.00	33.00	36.00
41	AUS775	BANZAI (M, GM)	32	Robert Holyoak	Bruce Roberts	Robin Braendler		261.00	33.00	38.00	36.00	39.00	37.00	[43.00]	37.00	41.00
42	AUS609	GOMAS (M, GM)	28	Richard Colebatch	David Biven	Ian Andrews		265.00	32.00	37.00	41.00	36.00	38.00	40.00	41.00	[43.00]
43	AUS833	MAXEN WLEDIG (M, GM)	11	Donald Halley	Dennis Fearnley	Richard Hunter		283.00	34.00	[45.00F]	42.00	41.00	40.00	44.00	40.00	42.00
44	AUS215	BARRACUDA	36	Liza Reynolds	Chris Heritage	Aaron Heritage		284.00	45.00F	[45.00F]	40.00	40.00	39.00	42.00	38.00	40.00

(Ties: S=Score R=Race B= Bettered. Penalties: A=ARB B=BFD C=DNC D=DNE E=ESP F=DNF G=RDG L=Late Entrant M=DGM N=ENP O=OCS P=Protest Q=DSQ R=RAF S=DNS U=DUT V=AVG X=EXC Z=ZFP Y=SCP #=NoData [x.y]=Discarded)

Sponsors have been quick to jump aboard, recognising the contribution sailing makes to the local community and keen to associate with a healthy outdoor sport. Sponsors include; The Commonwealth Bank, Musto, Club Marine Insurance, Coopers Brewery, Jacobs Creek Wines, Kaesler Wines and Aircommand Australia and the Royal SA Yacht Squadron.