Etchells Australian Championship- World Champion John Bertrand leads

by Etchells Australian Championship 2011 Media on 14 Jan 2011 The Rex Gorell Prestige Etchells Australian Championship is being sailed from the Royal Geelong Yacht Club on Corio Bay, Victoria. The series runs through until Saturday 15th January 2011.

The rain was heavy overnight, causing major flooding over the Geelong to Melbourne Highway. However the weather gods smiled on Corio Bay and under blue sky and in a steadily building south-westerly breeze the fleet went into sequence preparing for the 12.35pm start.

Race 5 of the series was set as a two lap race, with 1.8 mile leg lengths. The Race Committee sent the fleet south west towards Corio Quay, avoiding the shipping lanes.

At the gun Robert Hanna (Smoking Gun), Cameron Miles (Are We There Yet?) and Graeme Taylor (Magpie) were OCS and all three went back.

The sun was bright and the breeze built as the fleet headed up to the mark for the first time.

Noel Drennan (Jack’s Hut) rounded the top mark first. Then followed Dave Clark (Fifteen), Jake Gunther (The Boat), Mark Bulka (Perfect Balance), John Bertrand (Triad), Simon Cunningham (Slippery When Wet) and Cameron Barton (Trekka).

Rounding in eighth was Cameron Miles (Are We There Yet?) who was last boat to cross the start line by 30 seconds, after his OCS and return. Miles chose the right hand side of the course and found pressure on the first run down from the wheat silos.

Mark Thornburrow (Racer X923) and Gary Boyd (B Squared) completed the top ten. Yesterday's Race 4 winner Damien King (Barry) was buried, well back in the fleet.

The breeze was dropping as they came down to the bottom mark, with 'Nitro' Drennan a clear leader in the middle of the course. Behind him Dave Clark and Jake Gunther were neck and neck, as the three opened up a lead of around five lengths on the fleet.

The pressure increased on the right hand side of the course as the fleet reached the bottom mark.

Drennan held a three lengths lead as he rounded ahead of Bulka and Gunther. Clark then Bertrand followed. Cameron Miles was having a blinder after being stone motherless last at the start and rounded in sixth. Brad Sheridan (US Forces 1223), Thornburrow, Ian Johnson (Bananas in Pyjamas), Barton, Bruce McBriar (Fast Forward) and Brendon Jukes (Jukes of Hazard) followed. The Barry Team were still buried with their bow number -24th.

At the top mark for the second time, the breeze had dropped to six knots as Noel Drennan led them around, followed by Mark Bulka and Jake Gunther. Cameron Miles moved up into fourth place, John Bertrand was fifth, Simon Cunningham was now sixth, Dave Clark seventh and Brad Sheridan eighth.

Noel ‘Nitro' Drennan (Jack’s Hut) held his form to the finish, crossing ahead of Mark Bulka (Perfect Balance), Jake Gunther (The Boat), John Bertrand (Triad), Cameron Miles (Are We There Yet?), Dave Clark (Fifteen), Simon Cunningham (Slippery When Wet), Brad Sheridan (US Forces 1223) and Mark Thornburrow (Racer X 1923). Damien King (Barry) improved to finish 14th.

Cameron Miles (Are We There Yet?) said on water ‘Starting last we had to go right, which was what we had planned, and we found the perfect shift. We wanted to go right; we might not have gone that far right. ‘

The Overall Series leader after Race 5 was John Bertrand (Triad) on 17 points from Damien King (Barry) on 21 and Mark Bulka (Perfect Balance) on 27. With the drop in play after Race 5 it was a tight, competitive Championship.

The breeze had swung around to the south west and dropped down to two knots as the fleet sat waiting for Race 6 to commence.

PRO Greg Sinclair and his race management team waited patiently for the ‘Battle of the Breezes’ to be decided. By 17:15 the north easter had won.

In seven to eight knots the fleet was gunned away on two windward leewards, leg length one and a half miles.

At the top mark for the first time, Lake Macquarie sailor Tom Braidwood (Bad Doll) led the fleet round. Brendon Jukes (Jukes of Hazard) was next, followed by Mark Bulka (Perfect Balance), race 5 winner Noel Drennan (Jack’s Hut), Mark Thornburrow (Racer X 1923), Stephen Gunther (Dawn Raid), Peter Merrington (Odyssey), Cameron Miles (Are We There Yet?) and Gary Boyd (B Squared).

One lap later at the top mark for the second time, Braidwood had extended his lead to a minute with daylight back to Bulka and Thornburrow. Jukes went round in fourth, Drennan fifth, Stephen Gunther sixth, then Boyd, Merrington, John Bertrand (Triad), Jervis Tilly (Bushfire), local Geelong sailor Brendan Garner (The Moe Szyslak Experience) and Brendan Sheridan (US Forces 1223).

Tom Braidwood (Bad Doll) impressively won race 6 of the series. Noel Drennan (Jack’s Hut) finished well, moving from fifth up to second. Hong Kong sailor Mark Thornburrow was third (Racer X 923), Mark Bulka (Perfect Balance) fourth, Brendon Jukes (Jukes of Hazard) fifth, John Bertrand (Triad) sixth, then Stephen Gunther (Dawn Raid), Peter Merrington (Odyssey), Gary Boyd (B Squared) and Graeme Taylor (Magpie).

Dockside Tom Braidwood commented ‘We got a good start and Lambie (Ben Lamb) kept pushing; all I do is I stare at the woollies (tell tales).

‘Actually we have been working hard on our gear shifts, the boys sailed very well. We got five bad starts (general recalls) in the invitation race and have had good starts every since.’

Ben Lamb said ‘We pushed hard for a pin end start. The boat was going really fast, we were staying on the left of everyone all day. We were covering the fleet and we felt confident to just sail our own race.

‘In all the shifty races we are out the back door, I've got no idea why, but if its a little bit more straight forward, then we are on fire.’

Damien King (Barry) said ‘In the first race we had an average start, but we were too far back to hold our lanes - overall I think we were lucky to finish where we did.’

On the second race of the day he commented ‘We talked about going left and thought the pin would be too congested. Obviously the wrong decision. We were with John Bertrand and we held on, then at the bottom mark he went left and we went right. The left won.’

John Bertrand (Triad) and crew Grant Simmer and Andrew ‘Dog’ Palfrey tightened their grip on the Championship and sit on 22 points, nine points ahead of nearest rival Mark Bulka (Perfect Balance) on 31. Noel Drennan (Jack’s Hut) is third on 35 points and equal with Mark Thornburrow (Racer X 923). Damien King (Barry) is fifth on 36 points.

John Bertrand smiled. ‘A very difficult day today, very light. The PRO did a good job getting in a good race, by being very patient. There were massive shifts off the line and we were caught twice. But we managed to get back into it.’

Andrew Palfrey. 'We had really good speed upwind, after another bad start. We wiggled away from there. In the last run we gained the five places.

‘In Etchells you can sail quite deep VMG and Grant has been taking us up and down and keeping in the veins of pressure. I think we are doing that more than anyone else.

'‘It has taken a little time for us to gel together, I have not sailed with John since we won the Worlds last August and I’ve never sailed with Grant before, but we have been getting better and better.’

Grant Simmer. 'We have had a couple of good runs, where we've in the middle of the course, working the narrow lines of pressure and the guys have been doing a good job holding the boat in those narrow lines.'

Tomorrow is the final day of the Rex Gorell Prestige Etchells Australian Championship. Bertrand looks set to add the Etchells Australian Championship 2011 to his impressive list of achievements, but time will tell.

Full results at http://www.etchells.org.au/nationals/

*Results are provisional.