2023 Australian Contender Championship and Pre-Worlds at the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club
by Ed Presley 14 Jan 2023 02:13 PST
11-13 January 2023
At last an event to be proud of; the International Contender class focus on the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club in the build up to the much anticipated 50th World Championships of the Contender class.
This event has been in the diary for the last three years but for some long forgotten global reason, just couldn't get over the line, but it's here now and looks to be living up to the hype.
We start with the Australian Championship, also acting as a Pre-Worlds. Extortionate global shipping costs means that the European and North American contingents have been reduced to a handful, but no matter as the Contender is blessed with an incredibly strong Aussie fleet who always clean up on their home patch.
Perth is proving to live up to its billing as perfection for Contenders, pushing out 15+ knots and 30 degree heat every day. Just right to make the rest of the world consider re-mortgaging to make the trip.
True to form, 3-time World Champion Mark Bulka from McCrae looks prepared and has made very few mistakes utilising outstanding downwind speed to gain the advantage in the early races. Mark hasn't had it easy though, as the series has developed, NSWs Matty Mulder has got to grips with the conditions and unleashed unmatched upwind pace to level the points. This battle of opposing strengths has made for close racing. Also going strong and using local knowledge is event organiser Simon Barwood of Perth.
When all points were counted Mark Bulka just inched it on countback taking the Australian crown back from Matty and setting up a superb battle into the Worlds. As the fleet look forward to the coming event, more challengers will emerge to break into the top three.
Great work by the Australian Contender class for making this event so successful amongst many external pressures, we look forward to the 2023 World Championships.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Helm(Nat) | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 2457 | BALANCE | Mark Bulka(AUS) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | [ 4] | 2 | 8 |
| 2 | 2434 | SOCIALLY DISTANT | Matt Mulder(AUS) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | [ 2] | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | 2237 | BLACK TIE | Simon Barwood(AUS) | [ 6] | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 2442 | WILDCAT | Paul Green(AUS) | 9 | [ 10] | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 30 |
| 5 | 2468 | PREGO PREGO | Callum Burns(AUS) | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | [ 8] | 7 | 31 |
| 6 | 2578 | CEST SI BON | Andre Webster(AUS) | 5 | [OCS] | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 32 |
| 7 | 2323 | POTHOLE | James Ellis(AUS) | 17 | 5 | [RET] | 5 | 5 | 5 | 37 |
| 8 | 2540 | BALANCE | Richard Whittaker(AUS) | 7 | 9 | 11 | [ 13] | 6 | 8 | 41 |
| 9 | 2486 | TRATTORE ARRABBIATO | Lindsay Irwin(AUS) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | RET | [DNC] | 42 |
| 10 | 2444 | RETURN | John Humphries(AUS) | 8 | 8 | 5 | 9 | RET | [DNC] | 60 |
| 11 | 2136 | RIVA DERCI | Ian Bowman(AUS) | 14 | 15 | [ 19] | 15 | 11 | 9 | 64 |
| 12 | 2565 | HECTOR | John Lindholm(AUS) | 10 | 11 | 9 | 12 | DNC | [DNC] | 72 |
| 13 | 2785 | HORTON | James Blackburn(NZL) | 19 | [ 19] | 17 | 14 | 10 | 12 | 72 |
| 14 | 2676 | EUGENE | Grant Robinson(AUS) | 12 | 13 | 10 | 10 | DNS | [DNC] | 75 |
| 15 | 2560 | NO DIGGITY | Jeff Owen(AUS) | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | RET | [DNC] | 76 |
| 16 | 2687 | BLUE GREY | John Fickling(AUS) | 23 | 24 | [ 25] | 24 | 9 | 10 | 90 |
| 17 | 2777 | CENTO | Stephen Eshman(AUS) | 15 | 16 | 14 | 19 | DNC | [DNC] | 94 |
| 18 | 2 | AUDAX | Mark Thorborg(NED) | 16 | 17 | 15 | 17 | DNS | [DNC] | 95 |
| 19 | 2518 | BFW | Andrew Chisholm(AUS) | 13 | 7 | 16 | DNC | DNC | [DNC] | 96 |
| 20 | 2648 | FLIPPER | Ned Lindholm(AUS) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | DNC | [DNC] | 100 |
| 21 | 2564 | T‑T‑T‑TOTALLY WIRED | Michael Edmonds(AUS) | 24 | 23 | RET | 20 | [RET] | 11 | 108 |
| 22 | 2776 | LA VELOCITA | Ian Kirkwood(AUS) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 23 | DNC | [DNC] | 113 |
| 23 | 2494 | PEN15 | Richard Shallcross(AUS) | DNC | 14 | 13 | RET | DNC | [DNC] | 117 |
| 24 | 1483 | SWEATY BETTY | Scott Wilson(AUS) | 21 | 21 | 24 | 21 | RET | [DNC] | 117 |
| 25 | 2164 | AGAINST ALL ODDS | Steven Clarke(AUS) | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | DNC | [DNC] | 118 |
| 26 | 2630 | NEXT BLUE | Pim Langendijk(NED) | RET | RET | 21 | 18 | DNS | [DNC] | 129 |
| 27 | 2238 | NEOPNEE | Keith Spencer(AUS) | 25 | DNS | 23 | 25 | DNC | [DNC] | 133 |
| 28= | 2296 | SUPERTOY WOOD CONTEND | Brian Carroll(AUS) | RET | DNS | DNC | DNC | DNC | [DNC] | 150 |
| 28= | 24 | WHY NOT | Reinhart Klemens Opitz(GER) | RET | RET | DNS | DNC | DNC | [DNC] | 150 |