Leaders crowned on final day of Sail Mooloolaba

by Andrew Gough on 5 Jun 2011 The breeze held at 3 – 5 knots from the north in the final days racing here at Sail Mooloolaba 2011. The leaders were finally crowned on the second and final day, with tough and tactical battles on the water.

The large Optimist fleet started at 10:00 today and completed a total of seven races to finish the series. The racing was tight at the top, however this didn’t faze Queensland Development Sailing Team member Kyle O’Connell (13years) who came out in front and was crowned the new Queensland Optimist State Champion for 2011.

'I thought I was over in the final race, so I was worried up the whole beat, then I just got the hooter and was so happy' O’ Connell said.

'The conditions weren’t my favourite, but I got through it and I’m really happy' he said.

In a tightly fought final, O’Connell beat day one leader Klaus Lorenz by a single point to secure the victory. In third place was Brisbane’s Charlie Wyatt on a total of 22 points, who raced extremely consistently over the last day to secure his position on the podium.

The championship came down to the final downwind leg, where Lorenz, Wyatt and O’Connell worked through the swell to contest for the overall win. 'On the downwind Klaus gybed onto port and hit me, he had a 720, so it was who-ever won the race between Kyle and Klaus won the regatta' Wyatt recalled.

In the high performance Moth class, conditions didn’t favour the high flying super light boats, but the small fleet fought for the overall win. Taking the top podium finish and Queensland title was Steven Sherring, in second place was Jack Sherring and in third Brent Pearson.

On the eastern course the Keel boats completed two races in the final day. With clean starts the Sports Boats held the pace in the lighter conditions, and the leaders battled for the handicap trophy. In the Etchells fleet David Turton’s Harold Holt defeated Jervis Tilly and Mark Dagge, the regatta was a tight fight between these skippers.

With some extremely close top mark rounding’s, Peow Peow steered by Andrew Triggell and Mister Magoo owned by Jason Rucket, both fought it out in the windward leeward races. However the competitive fleet couldn’t top the performance of Triggell’s crew who took the overall win and had a score card of four straight wins.
In second was Dulon Polish owned by Phillip Gray, and third was Darren Spence’s Melges 24 Kaito.

Across to the Laser course and again racing was tough and tight. In the Standard rigs the top podium finish went to Sunshine Coast local Wayne Price, in second overall was Jake Lilley, followed closely by Benjamin Franklin in third.

In the Laser Radial fleet, Mitchell Kennedy defeated Maddison Kennedy who narrowly beat father Mark Kennedy on count back in the final race. 'It was a bit different from yesterday it was coming from the north, the breeze was kind of steady, but it was really patchy, you had to keep your head out of the boat' Mitchell Kennedy said. The Kennedy family dominated the Laser Radial fleet, and had the local edge over their competition.

In the highly contested Laser 4.7 class overall winner was Jacinta Ainsworth, followed narrowly by Hayden Johnson. In third was Brisbane’s Fergus Galloway who had an extremely consistent final day winning three out of the four races, just not enough to push him into second overall.

On the all boats course the 29er fleet was topped by William Bates, and the 505 class was taken out by Claus Ekerstien. In the Sharpies The Gingerbreadman steered by Sam Heritage defeated Ric Outred narrowly in the final day’ s racing, and the Sabre fleet was won by Lindy Witt from the Southport Yacht Club. Coming in second in the spirited Sabre fleet was John Campbell, narrowly ahead of third placed Lee Foster.

The open and off the beach divisions have finished their competition for this year. However Sail Mooloolaba continues through the week, with the remote control yachts, and match racing championships to follow.