Sail Port Stephens - Rintoul V and Nervous win Performance Cruising

by Di Pearson on 18 Apr 2010 Peter Byford’s Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 42 designed by Joie De Vie from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in NSW won the final race in Division one of the Performance Cruising series at Sail Port Stephens today, but it was not enough to oust Margaret Rintoul V or Dances With Waves out of the top two places.

Graham Morton and Graham Buckeridge's beautiful 18.5 metre German Frers designed sloop from Middle Harbour Yacht Club finished forth today, but it was enough to win them the series by just one point from Jim Thomas’ Beneteau 40.7 Dances With Waves from Sydney.

Margaret Rintoul’s navigator, Julie Hodder, said this evening: “We had a very aggressive start – we were first over the line without actually breaking it! It was hard sailing up the bay; it was really soft, so it was hard work. You had to concentrate.”

Hodder said the whole crew “had a fantastic time here in Port Stephens – but we’re all exhausted. It’s not easy; the days are long when you are constantly sailing in light breeze. We’ll be back.“

On Dance With Waves, Jim Thomas had three-time Olympic skipper Nicky Bethwaite navigating and renowned 16ft skiff sailor, Fast Eddy among the regular crew. It all helped and Thomas and his wife were thrilled with their second place.

“This is our first time here – we talked to a few people who said they enjoyed it and recommended we come. The weather’s been fabulous and it’s close to home. Have the feeder races up here is a great idea,” Thomas said.

“We really enjoyed the hospitality of the Newcastle CYC – they were very welcoming - and then we arrived in Port Stephens and got the same welcome here. The facilities are great and so is Port Stephens. To do well was a bonus,” he added.

“We did well because we worked as a team,” said crew member Keith Le Compte. “We’ve all sailed together on one boat or another, including my yacht, so you work really well together,” he said.

Greg Newton and his Antipodes crew from the CYCA in Sydney win the ‘Man of the Match’ award today. They gracefully retired after going to the rescue of Brian Shuttleworth’s Mangogroove from the Performance Racing division, which got embedded in a mud bank for over 20 minutes.

Matt Bonser had nothing to be ‘nervous' about at all at this regatta. The Port Stephens sailor came out and won the opening race of the series and did not look back.

Two second places with his cheeky little Elliott-7 sealed the deal and Bonser and his Nervous crew won the Division two trophy cleanly from fellow Port Stephens sailor Michael Kirby’s NSX 38 She’s the One. A third local sailor, Brad Sewell from South Lake Macquarie, sailed Mainstay, his Sydney 32 into third place.

Regatta Administrator Rob Hampshire said this afternoon: “Sail Port Stephens has been a huge success; it has the potential to become one of the better regattas in Australia.” Although he is prominent at other major regattas in Australia, this is the first time Hampshire has experienced Sail Port Stephens, the largest growling regatta in Australia, which is now in its third year. “The Corinthian spirit is well and alive here; it’s good to see,” he said.

Regatta co-ordinator Jody O’Brien was unavailable for comment – she was still working hard to make sure the event finished the way it started – in a fun but professional manner.

The Performance Cruising divisions contested three Passage Races over three days which concluded today. The final race started at 11.10am with Division one off the line first, followed by Division two, five minutes later.

For further information go to: www.sailportstephens.com.au