Optimum wins Farr 30 Australian Championships

by Suellen Hurling on 22 Mar 2009 Guy Stening and his Optimum crew have claimed the 2009 Farr 30 Australian Championship title for the second consecutive year.

The current world champion had the regatta won before the final race of the series and headed back to shore early to begin the celebration.

The regatta was held on the waters of Moreton and Waterloo Bays east of Brisbane at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (RQYS) based at Manly.

'The standard of racing has been very competitive, close and fast which always makes for a great regatta,' said Stening.

'Thanks must go RQYS’s team of volunteers and Denis Thompson for running doing a sterling job out on the water.

'I’ve sailed all over the world and the facilities and infrastructure at RQYS are state-of-the-art. Having a motel on location certainly made logistics easy and the regatta less stressful. We will definitely be back racing here again in the future,' continued Stening.

This was the first time the Australian Championship has been held outside of Victoria and New South Wales with the Queensland sailors securing third, forth and fifth overall.

Three times Australian Champion Bruce Eddington (K2) finished second just one point behind Optimum due to the series having all 10 races count towards the overall result. This is the second year in a row Eddington has finished behind Stening and Optimum.

'This has been a fantastic regatta and the race committee need to be congratulated for hosting a great regatta. Like Guy, we certainly want to race on these waters again soon,' said Eddington.

Today’s forecast was an increase on the previous days with gusts of 26 knots hitting the fleet. The crew work was at a premium for the short sharp courses the race committee set to finish off the regatta.

Over the three day regatta the conditions were considered 'perfect' by the sailors. Consistent wind angles and pressure ensured racing was about skill and determination and not cast by the hand of Hughie’s whim.

'There were dicing moves by some of the boats with plenty happening on board at each mark rounding. The wind and swell made for some great spectator highlights,' said PRO Denis Thompson.

Third overall was RQYS sailor Colin Loel and his Asterix crew.

'I’m puffed!' said Loel. 'I’m stoked with our result, but am really glad it’s done.'

While Optimum, K2, Rumbo, Don’t Tell Mumm and GOA pack their boats, Asterix, Immigrant and Synergy are preparing for the Queensland IRC Championships which are being held at RQYS next weekend the 28/29 March.

RQYS Website – www.rqys.com.au

Results -

SERIES RESULTS

Series Scores updated on :  22/03/2009  13:58:21

(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)

Series Results [Championship Results] for D1 up to Race 10 (Drops = 0)

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Sers Score	Race 10	Race 9	Race 8	Race 7	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	AUS7151	Optimum	Guy Stening	RSYS/CYC	19.00	9.00S	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	2.00	1.00	1.00
2	AUS6101	K2	Bruce Eddington	SYC	20.00	1.00	2.00	4.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	1.00	2.00	2.00
3	AUS3093	Asterix	Colin Loel	RQYS	36.00	3.00	4.00	2.00	3.00	5.00	5.00	3.00	4.00	4.00	3.00
4	AUS150	Synergy	Alex Douglas	RQYS	43.00	2.00	3.00	7.00	5.00	4.00	4.00	6.00	5.00	3.00	4.00
5	AUS523	GOA	Chris Tyquin	RQYS	46.00	7.00	5.00	3.00	4.00	3.00	3.00	4.00	3.00	9.00F	5.00
6	AUS6135	Rumbo	Clark Holbert	PSYC	60.00	5.00	7.00	5.00	8.00	6.00	6.00	5.00	6.00	6.00	6.00
7	6696	Don't Tell Mumm	Gary Hobson	SFS	65.00	4.00	6.00	6.00	7.00	8.00	8.00	7.00	7.00	5.00	7.00
8	PC6	Immigrant	Jeffery Paul	PCSC	73.00	6.00	8.00	8.00	6.00	7.00	7.00	8.00	8.00	7.00	8.00