Elliott Noye new Tasmanian SB20 champion
by Peter Campbell & Jane Austin 19 Feb 2019 00:22 NZDT
15-17 February 2019
SB20 surfing downwind on the River Derwent in their Tasmanian Championship © Steve Catchpool
Banjo's Shoreline Crown Series Bellerive Regatta has become a major annual event on the calendar of Hobart's fleet of SB20 sports boat sailors, this year again using the regatta on-the-water expertise to conduct their Tasmanian State championship.
Elliott Noye is the new Tasmanian champion, outsailing a fleet of sailors he describes as of "world class" over the two day's of close racing for the 17 boat fleet.
Noye helmed Porco Rosso to a commanding victory with a scorecard of 2-2-4-1-1-(9)-4 to finish ten points clear of defending champion Pinch (Frazer Read) who was two points ahead of class veteran Nick Rogers in Karabos.
Porco Rosso's crew of Noye, owner Paul McCartney (main) and Edward Snowball (bow), took a firm grip on the championship from day one, starting with two seconds and then two wins as the River Derwent seabreeze freshened to 18 knots.
Pinch also had two wins, race one and race seven, with race eight being abandoned halfway through on Sunday afternoon, while Smigger (Ian Smith) won race two, Karabos race three and Australian champion Aeolus (Brett Cooper) won the final race.
The all-female crew, sailing Cook Your Own Dinner with Felicity Allison on the helm, finished 13th overall including a brilliant third in the final race. Another excellent result came from Hutchins student William Cooper and his crew who finished ninth in Murray Jones -THSSA.
Interviewed by Jane Austin at the end of the regatta, Noye, who last year finished second in the European SB20 championships in Ireland, described the level of SB20 sailing in Hobart "as definitely world class" adding "every Thursday night we have guys on the Derwent who have been in the top ten in the world."
Emphasising this, Ellott added: "We are all trying to push our way up so that one of us can eventually win a worlds one day", going on to announce that the Porco Rosso team would be heading to Europe again this year.
"We will do two trips to Europe. We have a boat in the UK, so we will do the British nationals in mid-June, and the week after that we will put the boat on a ferry and drive down to Cascais (Portugal) where the SB20 worlds are next year.
"After contesting the Portuguese nationals, we will head back to France at the end of September for the French grand slam, followed by the worlds in Hyeres."
This coming Saturday, Elliott Noye has another challenge, match racing in International Dragons against SB20 opponent and doyen of the Dragon class, Nick Rogers.
They are sailing to decide who will represent the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in a challenge match for the historic Sayonara Cup against the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.