2010 Australian Access Championships at Royal Brighton in Victoria

by David Staley on 6 Jul 2009
The Australian Access Class Association has announced the 2010 Australian Access Class Championships will be held at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club from Thursday January 14 through Sunday January 17 next year.

Royal Brighton hosted a very successful Victorian Championships for the Access classes in 2008 and has also conducted a variety of World and Australian Championships over the years for a range of classes. One of the State's premier keelboat clubs, RBYC is about 10km from the Melbourne CBD, has a recently refurbished clubhouse and a modern floating marina.

Over 70 competitors are expected to compete, arriving from most Australian States along with sailors from New Zealand, Singapore and Japan. Single-person competition will be held in the Access 2.3, 303 and Liberty classes. Two-person competition will be held in the Access 303 and SKUD 18.

2010 is the first time that the SKUD 18 will be included in the Australian Access Class Championships. The SKUD is the two-person Paralympic sailing equipment. Developed in Australia by Access Sailing's Chris Mitchell and co-designer Julian Bethwaite, the SKUD 18 is a high performance ballasted skiff with an asymmetric spinnaker. It is a sleek, fast and challenging craft, but safe for sailors with quite profound disability.
[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]
Whilst an open event, the majority of sailors competing in the Access Championships have some form of disability, many using wheelchairs for mobility ashore. But once afloat, their speed and tactics match any able-bodied competitor. Several aspiring Paralympians and past Access Class Champions are sure to be at Brighton for the event.

Young Queensland sailor Duncan MacGregor at 19 years old is the reigning Access 2.3 World Champion and has posted strong results in the Access Liberty and SKUD 18 classes as well. But he was recently beaten by his 13 year old sibling Angus at the Access Class International Championships in Yokohama, Japan.

Krista Bailey is an emerging Victorian talent. The top female competitor in this year's Victorian and Australian Championships, Krista was also the Silver Fleet winner at the 2009 Access Liberty World in Auckland this January.

South Australia's Chris Riordan is a past Australian Champion in the Liberty class, but returned to the Access 2.3 to add his name to the Australian Access 2.3 Champions in the 2009 Nationals. But the result was by a single point from Queensland teenager Angus MacGregor.

Gold Coast septuagenarian Barry Coates is ranked number 2 in the world in the Access Liberty. After being runner up to a Kiwi at the 2009 Liberty Worlds, and missing the opportunity to compete at this years Nationals in his home State, Barry will be back to vie for the Australian Liberty Championship that has so far eluded him.

Royal Brighton member Charles Weatherly was the inaugural President of the Australian Access Class Association and has been a key driver of Sailability Victoria for many years. Charles is a past Australian Champion in every Access class except the SKUD 18. Next year's event at Brighton will be the first SKUD Nationals, so will Charles be sailing a SKUD? Two of his children, Alison and David, remain active and highly competitive in the Access 303 class especially.

Special Olympics sailors with an intellectual disability will also use the Access Nationals as part of their preparation for the National Games regatta that will select the Australian team for Athens in 2011. Past members of the Australian Special Olympics Sailing Team that competed in Shanghai in 2007 will be challenged by the new crop of Victorian sailors training for their first National Games.

Access sailors of all ages and abilities from right around the country are now looking forward to competing at Royal Brighton Yacht Club and reveling in the summer sea breeze conditions. A team from New Zealand have already confirmed they will be attending, so it is hoped that international entries will be even greater than forecast.

The Official Notice of Race is now being developed and this should be available in early July. Look out for information on the class website www.accessclass.org or visit the Royal Brighton Yacht Club website www.rbyc.org.au.

[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]