Gweilo sweeps top honours at prestigious CYCA awards

by Mitch Grima 7 Apr 2021 22:00 PDT

Gweilo was crowned the 2020-21 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore champion © Hamish Hardy

Matt Donald and Chris Townsend have been crowned the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Ocean Racing Yachts Persons of the Year after a standout season of blue water racing for Gweilo.

The TP52 claimed top honours at the 2020-21 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Series Prizegiving and Ocean Racer of the Year Awards.

COVID-19 restrictions meant four of the six 2020-21 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore races were abandoned, with the Bird Island Race and Cabbage Tree Island Race won overall by Gweilo and Christian Beck's Juan-K 100 Infotrack respectively.

Donald and Townsend collected the Jack Halliday Perpetual Trophy as Overall IRC champion of the Blue Water Pointscore Series, with bowman Justin Mulkearns (Roger Hickman OAM Trophy) and mainsheet hand Noel Drennan (Troy McClean Memorial Trophy) scooping individual awards for their roles in the series win.

Gweilo also dominated the CYCA Ocean Racer of the Year Awards, with Kyle Dodds winning the Sally Gordon Memorial Trophy for Ocean Crew Person of the Year and Andrea Green named Ocean Racing Navigator of the Year.

Donald paid tribute to the dedication of the Gweilo crew as he set his sights on defending the Blue Water Pointscore Series trophy.

"We've come a long way in the last three years, worked hard at our program, made lots of modifications to the boat," Donald says.

"It all comes down to the camaraderie of the crew, in my view. We've got some fantastic sailors around us.

"We knew we had the right people, so we knew we'd be competitive. I think the accolades that have come to Gweilo over the last 12 months have surprised us a little bit, but when you look at the calibre of people that are sailing with us, it's probably no surprise that we've done so well, which is quite an achievement.

"We'll participate strongly in the CYCA Winter Series and we'll go after the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore again, the pinnacle being the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. The boat has some great momentum."

The Gweilo crew celebrate with their trophies at the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Prizegiving and CYCA Ocean Racer of the Year Award - photo © CYCA

Jiang Lin was crowned Ocean Racing Rookie of the Year after campaigning Min River to overall PHS and ORCi wins in the Two-Handed Division of the Blue Water Pointscore.

Gordon Ketelbey was a popular winner of the Ocean Racing Veteran of the Year award.

Ketelbey returned to offshore sailing in 2018 after a life-changing accident and competed in the Bird Island Race with broken ribs.

The owner of Zen was then diagnosed with cancer in December 2020, but showed incredible determination to race in the Cabbage Tree Island Race whilst undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The first ever Youth Ocean Racer of the Year award went to Charlie Gundy.

After a successful match racing career with the Youth Sailing Academy, Gundy moved seamlessly into ocean racing and has become a valuable crew member on No Limit.

Meanwhile, Matt Allen's Botin 52 Ichi Ban - the two-time overall Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race champion - scooped second place in the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Series, with Craig Neel and Bob Steel's TP52 Quest finishing third.

Honour roll - Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Series:

Gweilo

2020-21 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore champion (Jack Halliday Perpetual Trophy for finishing 1st IRC Overall and 1st IRC Division 1)
3rd Line Honours - Bass & Flinders Series
1st IRC Bird Island Race (Janzoon Trophy)
Noel Drennan - Tony McLean Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the mainsheet hand of the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Champion)
Justin Mulkearns - Roger Hickman OAM Memorial Trophy (Awarded to the Bow Person of the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Champion)

Ichi Ban

2nd IRC Overall and 2nd IRC Division 1 - Blue Water Pointscore
1st ORCi Overall and 1st ORCi Division 1 - Cape Byron Series (Cape Byron Perpetual Trophy)
2nd Line Honours - Bass & Flinders Series

Quest