Formula 18 Australian Championship - Successful first day for new cat

by Vanessa Dudley on 23 Jan 2010
A brand new boat finished its first day of racing as the overall leader of the Club Marine Formula 18 Australian Championship at Audi Victoria Week today.

BO, a Capricorn C2 skippered by Steven Brewin and crewed by Jack Benson, finished third in the first race in spite of being late for the start, and then decisively won the next two races to finish the day on 4.6 points. Conditions were testing with the 15-20 knot southerly wind gusting higher at times and a short but choppy seaway.

Second overall after three races is the Hobie Tiger Scott Lovig Holden, sailed by Robbie Lovig and Lachlan Gibson, with a 1-2-4 scorecard for 6.8pts, followed on 7pts by Scrunch or Fold, a Capricorn F18 sailed by Matt Homan and Lucas McDonald.

The leading boat is one of two new C2s which arrived in Australia only four days before the start of this series being hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club.

The F18 catamaran class permits innovation in design and technology within overall parameters, and the C2 is a new development of the established Capricorn design produced by Victorian company AHPC, one of the world leaders in the high octane racing class, and launched at the Paris Boat Show in December. Company head, Greg Goodall, is racing the second C2 at these nationals with his son Brett.

'The new boat has got more volume in the front of the hulls than the Capricorn, it didn’t nosedive downwind today and it feels pretty quick,' said Steve Brewin, a Sydney sailmaker who is the current national champion and a top ranked international competitor and former world champ in the single-handed A-Class catamaran.

Brewin’s crew, Jack Benson, is an A-Class sailor from Darwin, and this is the first time the two have sailed together as a crew. 'We had a communication error on our last gybe in the first race that maybe cost us second place, just because we’ve never sailed together before,' Brewin said.

'But that will improve and we’re planning to do the F18 worlds together, because they are straight after this year’s A Class worlds in France.'

Brewin and Benson missed the first start today by about 40 seconds because they were testing some of the new systems on the C2. 'Because the boat’s only just arrived in the country they have been thrown together in a hurry for this series and they need a few tune-ups,' Brewin said. That’s probably what cost Greg and Brett Goodall a better placing today.

'Robbie (Lovig) and Lachlan (Gibson) sailed well, they had the best teamwork and boat handling today,' Brewin said.

The series continues tomorrow with four races scheduled on Corio Bay from midday.

Club Marine Formula 18 Australian Championship

PROVISIONAL RESULTS

Series Results [Fleet] up to Race 3 (Drops = 0)

Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew	From	Sers Score	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		AUS4	BO	Steven Brewin		DSC	4.6	0.8	0.8	3.0
2		2602	SCOTT LOVIG HOBIE	Robbie Lovig		WPYC	6.8	4.0	2.0	0.8
3		AUS41	SCRUNCH OR FOLD	Matt Homan		HYC	7.0	2.0	3.0	2.0
4		500	EGDE BY WINDRUSHz	Brett Burvill	Luke McMullen	NYC	14.0	3.0	4.0	7.0
5		826	DUTCH RUDDER	Michael Guinea		TSC	17.0	5.0	7.0	5.0
6		1	ICE	Mal Richardson		AUS	21.0	7.0	10.0	4.0
7	5.0S	AUS101	KRANK THE NOODLE	Greg Wyers		KCC	26.0	10.0	5.0	11.0
8		501	ON EDGE	Cara Lithgo		NYC	26.0	6.0	14.0	6.0
9		AUS111	DUREPOX	James Ogilvie		NCYC	27.0	9.0	9.0	9.0
10		751	DARKHORSE YACHTING	Katie Pellew		RPAYC	36.0	15.0	11.0	10.0
11		619	CRUEL AND HEARTLESS	Ian Simpson		SPASC	40.0	13.0	13.0	14.0
12		14	BLOW ME AWAY	Leigh Thorne		FYC	41.0	14.0	15.0	12.0
13		1244	TBA	Adam Beattie		CYC	42.0	8.0	8.0	26.0C
14		1082	WAZ AND CO	Warren Guinea		RQYS	45.0	26.0C	6.0	13.0
15		AUS46	CAPRICIOUS	Dave Parker		MCYC	46.0	12.0	26.0C	8.0
16		1023	FLYING FISH	Leanne Gould		SFS	47.0	18.0	12.0	17.0
17		NED007	THE ROSE	Maggie Nissen		SPASC	48.0	16.0	17.0	15.0
18		1730	FOR SALE	Michael Broise		PMYC	49.0	17.0	16.0	16.0
19		1983	FRISKY CAT	Kyle Amadio		PBSC	63.0	11.0	26.0F	26.0C
20		1502	COLONIC IRRIGATION	Andrew Pritchard		MCYC	71.0	19.0	26.0C	26.0C
21		AUS203	C2	Greg Goodall		PMYC	78.0	26.0C	26.0C	26.0C
21		752	SNEAKNIT	Leigh McNally		CYC	78.0	26.0C	26.0C	26.0C
21		700	SALLY	Gary Gornall		CYC	78.0	26.0C	26.0C	26.0C
21		2018	BLACK PEARL	Geoff Fiske	lochie neal	ROYC	78.0	26.0C	26.0C	26.0S
21		TBA1	TOP GEAR	Luke McMullen		DSC	78.0	26.0C	26.0C	26.0C