Success for General and Troopers

by FSC Offshore on 25 May 2011 A blend of technology and experience marked the four winners of Fremantle Sailing Club’s Success Cup, which was presented at a luncheon ceremony on Sunday. The Cup is awarded to the overall winners of the Club’s offshore racing series, comprising the George Law Foundation race in September, the Gordon Haselhurst Coventry Reef race in December, the Halls Head and Point Robert Return races in March, and the Westender race in April.

Wins in the breezy first two races of the series, supported by mid-fleet finishes in the later season events, was enough for Paul Eldrid and Scott Disley’s new full-carbon Bakewell-White 37 General Lee to snare first place in Division One IRC. Their Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club club-mate Tony Mitchell, sailing his recently-optimised Farr 47 Sled was a close second, with the consistent Fremantle Marten 49 Optimus Prime, skippered by Trevor Taylor, third.

It was a Royal Freshwater Bay trifecta in Division One YAH, with Sled winning from General Lee and Jon Hanson’s Elan 410 Wasabi.

In Division Two IRC, Ian Holder’s champion Whiting 32 Bad Habits, from Hillarys Yacht Club, recovered from a potentially explosive withdrawal in the first race to win with three firsts and a second. Simon Torvaldsen’s Blondie, a beautiful new generation S&S 34 from Royal Perth Yacht Club, proved again that the classic design is an IRC weapon, banking an impressive three seconds and a first to finish a close second. Iconic Fremantle skipper Bill Burbidge, sailing his well-travelled Farr 36 Le Truck, completed another successful season in third place.

Under the YAH handicapping system, Burbidge’s Le Truck had revenge, taking first place from Blondie and Bad Habits in a close contest.

In the inaugural Double-Handed IRC Division, Fremantle’s well-credentialed John Holder, sailing his Farr 11.6 Plus 16, was too good for the opposition. Royal Perth’s Dennis Vincent and Hilary Arthure enjoyed their first season in the Beneteau First 34.7 Wyuna to take second place, from Fremantle’s Scott and Julie Olsen in their Jomac MG30 Max. The positions were identical under YAH handicap.

Also pioneered this season was the Coastal Cup Division, which provides an opportunity for smaller and less-experienced yachts to have a taste of offshore sailing. The division features a Category 4 safety standard, shorter courses and a performance-based YAH handicapping system. The series was hotly contested, with Paul Arns’new Fremantle Hanse 40 No Rehearsal holding off club-mates Isabel Aujoulet-Law sailing the Spirit 28 Babystar and Clodagh Irwin’s Beneteau Oceanis 331 Anastasia.

Fremantle Sailing Club’s offshore series attracted close to seventy entries, and strategies are in place to continue to grow the number of participants, particularly in the double-handed and Coastal Cup/Division Three competitions.

FSC is now preparing for a busy winter, with a seven race inshore series and the prestigious four race offshore Valmadre Cup series scheduled.