Rod Jones begins quest to win 2009 Audi Australian IRC championship

by Ian Grant on 21 Jan 2009 Mooloolaba’s Rod Jones will begin his quest to win the 2009 Audi Australian IRC championship when he skippers the high performance Archambault A40 RC sloop Alegria in the 34 nautical mile Melbourne to Geelong passage race on Friday.

Alegria apart from winning her class Silver Medal at the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week in August has not raced competitively in recent months however skipper Rod Jones, tactician Adrian Finglas and the talented Sunshine Coast crew including Sean O’Rourke are individually prepared.

They have the respect of their fleet rivals after clinching an important class win in the 2007 Skandia Geelong Race Week then showed they were not ‘one race wonders’ by wrapping up the Audi Australian championship with a regatta to spare after a convincing class win in the 384 n/ml Audi Sydney to Gold Coast race.

However the tactical ‘play ground’ has changed with the match racing Cougar II and Wot Now throwing down the gauntlet along with the equally impressive West Australian sloop Limit and Stephen Ainsworth’s new Reichel-Pugh 62 Loki.

The Alan Whiteley skippered Sandringham Yacht Club sloop Cougar II has the proven potential to set the required handicap rated benchmark following her impressive win at Hamilton Island last August while an excellent result in the recent Rolex Sydney Hobart Race suggests Graeme Wood the 2008 Queenslander Of The Year recipient has the potential to add another important trophy to his collection with Wot Now.

All four owner/skippers have selected their crews from Australia’s best long distance race sailors in their bid to control the points table in Division 1 while Rod Jones will rely on the tactical skills of Adrian Finglas and his crew of Mooloolaba Dinghy Club mates to secure an overall lead in the 2009 Audi National championship by winning the Division 2 title against similarly competitive fleet of smaller yachts including the Queensland match racing One-design Farr 30’s Asterix (Colin Loel) and Synergy (Alex Douglas).

Both owners have made the marathon road trip to Victoria simply to refine their big fleet racing skills and crew technique in preparation for National Farr 30 championship to be decided over the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron courses on Moreton Bay from March 19-22.

Boat speed and boat handling will be a crucial factor when the Asterix and Synergy crews make their attempt to race on equal terms against the defending Australian title holder and current World champion Guy Stening steering Optimum.

Skipper Guy Stening and crew coached by Beijing Star class Olympian Andrew Palfrey combined cleverly to record a four point win over American Jim Richardson and Italian Vincenzo Onorato at Newport Rhode Island.

The New South Wales crew finished all of the eleven heats in the top nine to complete the series with a 1-1-3-9-1-2-2-7-3-2-5 which suggests Optimum will start as a strong favourite to successfully defend the National title on the tactically testing waters of Moreton Bay in March.