Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard FD July August September 2023

Etchells Australian Championship at Fremantle - Overall

by Jonny Fullerton 13 Jan 2018 02:15 AEDT 9-12 January 2018
Final day - Etchells Australian Championships at Fremantle © Ron Jensen

Magpie sailed by Graham Taylor, James Mayo and Richard Allanson sailed the final two races today to seal the 2018 Etchells Australian Championship title by a comfortable nine points and equal John Bertrand’s record of three back to back wins. The Mornington YC crew sailed a very consistent regatta and had impressive boat speed both up and down the course all week.

There were two windward / leeward course races on the final day in warm sunshine and winds ranging from 8 - 17 knots. The first race was light and kept shifting in the final moments before the start causing some delays in the start routines. At the third attempt the full fleet of 32 boats got away to sail 1.5nm legs to a windward mark in the lee of Carnac Island. A new race leader emerged round the top mark in Chris Pratt and his crew from Royal Perth YC. The red spinnaker of Sydney based Jeanne-Claude Strong and white kite of David Turton and his Queensland crew were chasing down the first run, which was a fairly even split over the course. The gate rounding was again really packed and a bit frantic.

Around the top for the last time appeared the red kite of Jeanne-Claude just ahead of David Turton. These two boats were tied on equal points at the start of the day and Michael Manford’s Croc was a bit buried in the pack. As they came down to the finish line, Jeanne-Claude just managed to cross David Turton’s bow and slide over the line for her first race win. David Turton made a rapid gybe to protect his second position at the boat end of the line from earlier race leader Chris Pratt from RPYC. Martin Hill and his crew from Sydney were back in the mix with a fourth. Graeme Taylor’s Magpie recorded their worst result of the regatta an eighth! The whole fleet of 32 boats finished the course in under four minutes.

There was a short wait for the final race when the wind tried to shift again from 210 to 220 degrees. Eventually after another two U flag starts, the final race got going at around 1240pm in a slightly stronger 15 - 17 knots and a building chop. This time the lead boats were again camped down at the pin end, but three were called a bit to eager picking up the dreaded OCS radio call.

Michael Manford and his crew Dean McAullay and Nick Gray from RFBYC got a great start at the pin and led around the windward mark by several boat lengths. Again David Turton was in the lead pack but Jeanne-Claude appeared to be deep in the fleet. Another fairly even spread on the run and another congested gate rounding. For the final lap up to the top mark the breeze started getting a bit more perky and the waves building.

Michael Manford and the Croc eased to a fairly comfortable victory to secure third position overall in the regatta. David Turton crossed second, an excellent effort for the Queenslanders who also took second place overall on the final day.

“In the first race today we missed a shift on the first upwind beat which would have put us in great shape if we had got it but it was nice to come back in the final race of the series and get a first.”

“We got a great pin end start and managed to control the fleet from then onwards and were really running well downwind. It was a birdie in the last hole, it was good fun.” Michael explained.

Graeme Taylor, James Mayo and Richard Allanson pulled through the fleet to cross the line third and take the 2018 Etchells Australian Championship title in some style.

Jeanne-Claude and her Sydney based crew suffered her worst race score of the regatta (15th) dropping her off the podium but still a very gallant fourth place overall.

After Chris Hampton’s great result in race seven he suffered the unfortunate ignominy of losing a crew overboard on the final run causing a dramatic broach. As they hauled him back onboard the mainsheet man apparently fell in rescuing him! Apart from the three boats scored OCS, this was the only DNF.

The Etchells crews have enjoyed four days of lively weather and some superb racing. The Etchells fleet will be returning to Australia for the World Championships, to be held Brisbane on the East coast in October this year.

David Turton made the long trip from Brisbane really worthwhile. “I am very pleased with the way we sailed, apart from the first race, we managed to fight our way back from the 7 - 8’s to second’s and third’s and when we have been in the teens we have managed to get back into the 6 - 7’s.”

“It has been a beautiful place to sail, its been quite lumpy around the track, magnifi-cent breeze, good sea way, short steep, bumpy, windy, plenty of shifts, great sailing.”

The final word was reserved for the winning skipper Graeme Taylor: “It’s been an amazing week, we got everything in the weather, we had a light air race, heavy air race, a couple in between, we have had an absolute ball, and we are thrilled with the result. We are really pleased to have won three in a row and matched John Bertrand who is the only other person to do that, so we have an opportunity to go one better next time. We have a great team of people around us and it just makes it enjoyable as much as everything else.”

Overall Results (Top six of 32 boats after eight races)

1 AUS947 Magpie - Graeme Taylor, James Mayo, Richard Allanson - 2,2,4,1,2,1,(8),3 = 15pts
3 AUS885 - This Thing of Ours - David Turton, Josh Torpy, Klaus Lorenz - (17),3,1,7 ,6,3,2,2 = 24pts
3 AUS1402 The Croc - Michael Manford, Dean McAullay, Nick Gray - 6,1,2,5,(13),4,9,1 = 28pts
4 AUS1435 - Jeanne-Claude Strong, Seve Jarvin, Marcus Burke, Kate Devereux - 3,9,3,(11),3,2,1,15 = 32pts
5 AUS1449 Lisa Rose - Martin Hill, Mark Langford, Julian Plante, Joachim Aschenbrenner - 1,10,5,2,8,(11),4,4 = 34pts
6 AUS1244 - Ciao - Douglas McGain, Michael O’Brien, Anthony Nossiter - 13,4,8,4,4,9,(20),7 = 29pts

etchellsswanriver.org.au

Related Articles

Royal Thames YC 250th Anniversary Regatta overall
Perfect Solent conditions and desperately tight racing for the conclusion Picture-perfect conditions of a building 8-18 knots from the south-west, bright sunshine and flat Solent conditions on the flood tide made for a glamorous conclusion to the Royal Thames Yacht Club's 250th Anniversary Regatta on Sunday. Posted on 16 Jun
Royal Thames YC 250th Anniversary Regatta Day 4
Challenging summer Solent conditions test the fleets A brisk south-westerly breeze, with gusts above 20 knots at times, made for challenging top-end conditions for all the fleets on a very busy Solent for the Royal Thames Yacht Club 250th Anniversary Regatta. Posted on 14 Jun
Royal Thames YC 250th Anniversary Regatta Day 3
Patience rewarded on light air afternoon Conditions more akin to the Mediterranean greeted the 251 entries on day 3 of the Royal Thames Yacht Club's 250th Anniversary Regatta, with bright sunshine and a shut-down of air flow across the Solent racecourses. Posted on 13 Jun
Royal Thames YC 250th Anniversary Regatta Day 2
All seasons in one day as the competition gets serious Day two of the Royal Thames Yacht Club's 250th Anniversary Regatta was described by Principal Race Officer, Tim Hancock, in his morning competitors' briefing as a 'transitional' one with a chilly, rain-filled weather system passing over the Solent. Posted on 12 Jun
Inaugural Eastern Asia Offshore Race start
Seasoned sailors beat through the harbour in super light winds 14 boats set off from Hong Kong's iconic Victoria Harbour in the Inaugural Eastern Asia Offshore Race, taking competitors on a 350nm journey to Tainan, the southwestern tip of Taiwan Island. Posted on 29 May
Jura Scottish Series runners and riders
Fleet are mustered in Tarbert Habour, Loch Fyne, ready to race Competitors at the Jura Scottish Series may not be assured of continued sunshine, the like of which has blessed the north of Britain for the last few weeks, but they should be blessed with breezes which seem set to build progressively. Posted on 23 May
Scottish Series champions will be back to defend
Jura Scottish Series on Loch Fyne starts soon Last year's overall winners of the Jura Scottish Series, Allan Manuel's Etchells 22 Bounce Back, are returning to Tarbert, Loch Fyne over the coming days looking to defend the class title which they won with a convincing scoreline. Posted on 20 May
Etchells North American Championship overall
Luke Lawrence and team win at San Diego Yacht Club The competitors for the Etchells North American Championship in San Diego left the dock Sunday morning for the final two races of the regatta with a lot of work still in front of them to determine the winner. Posted on 19 May
Etchells North American Championship day 2
Three more races held on Saturday The 2025 Etchells North American Championship continued with 3 more races on Saturday. Conditions were more favorable for racing today with wind in the 8 - 12 kt range. Posted on 18 May
Etchells North American Championship day 1
A strong day for Masfen, Cooke and Wilkinson give the NZL team top position Day one of the Etchells North American Championship started off under an AP flag with mostly cloudy skies. After an almost 90 minute delay, Race 1 got under way at 12:55 with a course bearing of 235 with 1.2 nm legs. Posted on 17 May
Boat Books Australia FOOTERSea Sure 2025Barton Marine Pipe Glands