94-year-old yacht seeking national honours again

by Peter Campbell on 23 Feb 2002 A classic timber yacht, built in 1907, will contest the Australian Keelboat Championship which start off Adelaide tomorrow, defending the IRC handicap title
she won in a major upset at Hamilton Island last year.



The yacht, Eun Na Mara, will race against the latest state-of-the-art offshore racing boats in a seven race series being conducted by the Royal Yacht Club
of South Australia and the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia, with more than 50 entries from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.



En Na Mara caused one of the greatest upsets in yachting history when she won the IRC (International Rating Club) handicap category in the 2001
Australian Keelboat Championships, a combination of being sailed exceptionally well in idea flat-water conditions and by enjoying the lowest handicap in the
fleet.



She will have at least two of those assets when she defends the IRC title off Port Adelaide, but the sea conditions may be heavier.



Now owned by Melbourne yachtsman Nick Chapman, Eun Na Mara, a 10 metre class classic yacht designed by Scottish naval architect William Fife, has
been raced in the harbours of every state capital city in Australia except, until now, in Adelaide.



Her most famous victory, until winning the IRC championship last year, was before World War I when, named Culwalla III and owned by prominent Sydney
yachtsman Walter Marks, she sailed to Melbourne and won back the prestigious Sayernara Cup.



To get to Melbourne, the crew sailed her via Hobart, winning two major events there, including the Bruny Island Race, now Australia’s oldest ocean yacht
race.


These days, Eun Na Mara is road-freighted to regattas from her berth at Melbourne’s Royal Brighton Yacht Club.



The only Sydney yacht in the Ausralian Keelboat Championships is Stephen Ainsworth's Farr 48, Loki, which sailed to Adelaide direct from Hobart to contest
the IRC Championship.



Melbourne yachtsmen are well represented in the IRC Championship, entries from there include Graeme AInley's veteran Bacardi, two Sydney 38s, Lou
Abrahams’ Another Challenge and Kevin Wood’s Ticket of Leave, along with designer Robert Hick’s Toecutter, and the remarkable Eun Na Mara, Nick
Chapman’s classic cutter launched in 1907.



The strong local entry includes David Urry’s Farr 40 OD, War Games, Geoff Boettcher’s Secret Mens Business, David Buckland’s new Sydney 38, Full Bore,
from Port Lincoln, and Chris Tillett’s Mumm 30, On The Edge.



The Australian Keelboat Championships start with an invitation race tomorrow, followed by seven windward/leeward races for the 50-boat fleet off Port
Adelaide from Monday through to Thursday.



On Friday, March 1, many of the fleet will set sail in the annual 155 nautical mile Adelaide to Port Lincoln race followed by the weeklong Lincoln Week
regatta at the wellknown fishing port.