i14 Victorian State Championships 2022 at Royal Yacht Club of Victoria

The weather report was lining up and eleven 14's entered to compete for the 2022 Victorian State 14 Championship at Royal Yacht Club of Victoria located in Williamstown. The fleet was joined by the Victorian Javelin fleet who were also competing for their 2022 State Titles.

Heats 1&2 were back-to-back and scheduled for a 2.00pm start. The RO advised that the days racing was to be held on the Alpha course situated some 10-15 min sail around the corner from the yacht club and was apparently used for the 1956 Olympics. The conditions were perfect, a sunny 24 degrees and 10-15 knot SSW wind with comfortable sea conditions.

i14 Victorian State Championships 2022 - photo © Ronstan Irwin Sails

Heat one was on time with the fleet bunched in a tight group in the 10 knot conditions with windward mark some 1.2 NM away. Ben Strong and Daniel Farthing were first to tack away and headed towards the favoured side. Lindsay Irwin and Andrew Perry had gear breakage and consequently were late for the start. Mark Krstic and James Lanati rounded first closely followed by Ben/Daniel. Anthony Anderson/ Daniel Vaughan rounded next with a tight group of boats.

Mark/James won with Ben/Daniel putting together a good race for second and Anthony Anderson and Dan Vaughan in third place.

i14 Victorian State Championships 2022 - photo © The Joker

Second race for the day started in a building 12+ knot sea breeze with perfect sailing conditions. The start line was true and there was a tight bunch of boats all hitting the line together. Lindsay/Andrew tacked off early as did Ben/Daniel. Mark/James followed with Ben/Daniel leading at the first mark. Mark and James went onto win with Lindsay and Ben having a mighty tussle for 2 laps with Lindsay hitting the line a boat length in front to take second place from Ben/Daniel followed by Chris Vaughan/Matt Balmer.

Saturday evening was a chance to rehash what was a perfect day's racing over a few cold beers and dinner on the yacht club deck overlooking the CBD of Melbourne. As the night moved on, the younger group ventured off to enjoy the festivities of Williamstown.

i14 Victorian State Championships 2022 - photo © Freya Vickery

Day 2 was greeted with warm temperatures plus 30 deg and wind from the north, directly onto the launching ramp. As the boats started to launch the wind increased coming down in puffs over 20knots making getting out of the harbour very challenging. The course was set adjacent to the club off Port Melbourne, race 1 started in plenty of wind gusting in excess of 20 knots. A tight bunch again hit the line and sailed out towards the main shipping channel on starboard where the breeze was funnelling down in even larger puffs.

Mark/James tacked immediately at the boat and were met with a nice shift up the breeze. The flat water had all boats absolutely steaming downwind in excess of 20knots at times. Mark/James won again with Lindsay/Andrew second. Dave Wright and Callum Prestedge had sailed a blinder and had 3rd place tucked way only to have a big wobble some 30m from the finish allowing Stewart Vickery and James Patterson to snatch third place.

The breeze began to moderate as the afternoon wore on with the second race still starting in fresh conditions of 18knots. Lindsay/Andrew, Mark/James and Ben/Daniel were all crossing tacks up the first beat, the variable conditions creating big snakes and ladders moments. Mark/James lead at the top Lindsay/Andrew had a great downwind and lead at the bottom mark. The following work was close with Lindsay and Mark coming together at the top mark. The next run down saw Mark/James spinnaker pole explode taking them out of the race while Lindsay/Andrew sailed to a comfortable win. Chris Vaughan and Matt Balmer sailed a nice 2nd leg and came through to finish second with Stewart/James in third place.

i14 Victorian State Championships 2022 - photo © Freya Vickery

The final day of racing started early for some with boat work being needed from the breezy conditions from the day prior, Anthony Anderson lent Mark Krstic the series leader his spinnaker pole and used a slightly shorter spare for the day.

Once again, we had picture perfect conditions with a 10-12 knot southerly, the fleet was back out on the Olympic course and Heat 5 started in a soft 8 knots with Lindsay, Ben, Mark, and Anthony forming the leading group up the first beat. Mark/James rounded the top mark first and recorded another win with Lindsay/Andrew second and Ben/Daniel third. It was all on for the final race with a number of boats all on close points overall.

The breeze increased to 10 -12 knots for the start of Heat 6, Lindsay/Andrew, Mark/James and Anthony/Daniel forming the lead group followed closely by Chris and Stewart. Lindsay Irwin was once again struck with gear failure and bombed out just before the weather mark. The fleet rounded all in close proximity. Mark/James went on to win and Chris/Matt sailed a fine race to finish in second with Anthony/Dan in third place.

Congratulations to Mark Krstic and James Lanati for a clean sweep of the series and the Victorian 14 Association would like to thank the race officers, volunteers and Royal Yacht Club of Victoria for hosting what was a great 3 days of close racing.

Overall Results: