SB20 Pre-Christmas Summer Pennant Series at River Derwent in Hobart
by Jane Austin 6 Dec 2019 02:08 PST
Honey Badger wins the SB20 Pre-Christmas Summer Pennant Series in Hobart © Jane Austin
Consistent sailing from Hobart youth team, Honey Badger, has delivered the young sailors the one design division win in the SB20 Pre-Christmas Summer Pennant Series hosted by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and the Derwent Sailing Squadron (DSS). The young DSS team, skippered by Oli Burnell with his brother Toby and Josh Brown, demonstrated what a classy unit they are in the hot SB20 class.
On the eve of the final night of sailing, a readjustment to the scores following a glitch with the scoring program, saw Honey Badger go into the lead on 29 points from previous leader Rebellion (Steve Catchpool) on 30 points, and Wedgewood (David Graney) in third on 46 points. Burnell was edgy prior to the race knowing how tight the series was but breathed a sigh of relief when high winds forced the cancellation of all racing, ensuring no change to the series rankings.
Burnell took over the helm from father Paul, who was recovering from back surgery, and ensured his father's advice given over many years of sailing was followed. "We had strong starts in almost every race which put us in a good position at the top mark. Toby and I have a good relationship onboard and adjusted to our new roles easily. We only had one bad race which shows how consistency at any age and any ability can see you achieve results in SB20 sailing," said Burnell.
Rebellion won the PHS Division (32.5 points) from Wedgewood (33 points) and Blue Gull (Scott Glanville) on 42.5 points.
Burnell will take a break from SB20 sailing to join the International Dragon Class with Nick Rogers and Leigh Behrens to prepare Karabos for the 2020 Prince Philip Cup Regatta and the 2020 Ted Albert Memorial Regatta, which will be sailed in Hobart from 4-11 January.