2026 Etchells Noel Paterson Corinthian Cup at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron
by Etchells Brisbane 23 Apr 17:14 NZST
17-19 April 2026
2026 Noel Paterson Corithian Cup © Mike Middleton
The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Etchells fleet hosted the second edition of the Noel Paterson Corithian Cup this past weekend and what a spectacular weekend it was, both on and off the water.
We had 16 entries for this year's edition. Up from Sydney were Jason Antill and his crew on Flirtation (Northern Havoc) and the Minters with Crews Control, while up from Southport were Pegasus (Stephen Broadbent), Sneaky Ninja (Tomoko Nakanishi) and Gusto (Angus Jackson). The gas prices must be biting on the CG as two of them elected to sail up from Hollywell - on the nose all the way apparently. That's one way to practice your tacking!
Friday's racing was conducted in an idyllic 10 kt northerly.
Race 1 honours went to Flirtation comfortably ahead of Waterloo Too (Noel Paterson) and TAG (Todd Anderson). Mama Says: Nothing Good Happens After Midnight (NGHAM) (Brad Ginnivan) result wasn't helped by a DQS settled in the room after a P/S cross incident.
Race 2 saw The Saint (Dave Smith) take the gun after leading all the way around the track. Crews Control were second tied with NGHAM. Racing doesn't come any closer than that!!!
Race 3 saw Rapscallion (Dave Healey) led from start to finish to take the final gun of the day with TAG back in second for their second podium of the day and Waterloo also grabbing their second podium of the day in 3rd.
With racing so close, if you could get away at the front, you got richer while everyone else was fighting it out for clear air and clean lanes.
The day rounded out with beers and Chris's famous BBQ chicken wings back on the dock.
Saturday was an early start (0900) in order to be back in time for the afternoons 'long lunch'. The forecast was for a light westerly/southerly before filling to a moderate southerly around lunch time, but Huey had other ideas and it was already 12 kts and building by the time we are on the course. It was a solid 15 and puffing up to 17 by the start.
TAG won race 4 for their first bullet of the series - 4 races 4 winners. Flirtation were back on form after an 11th and 6th in races 2 and 3 to grab 2nd ahead of Pegasus.
The final race of the day saw Flirtation grab their second bullet of the series followed by NGHAM and TAG in 3rd.
The solid breeze meant we were all back in plenty of time to get scrubbed up for the seafood 'long lunch' which by some accounts lived up to the name. With close to 100 participants it was an example of the wonderful spirit and camaraderie that exists in the Brisbane Etchells fleet.
Aside from the mid regatta race presentations, there was an enlightening Q&A with club stalwarts Vaughan Prentice and Chris Anderson about their sailing careers including sailing on the Black Jack 100 super maxi programme. The afternoon rounded out* with the presentation of the fleets Pick of the Year trophy awarded to someone who has provided an outstanding contribution to the fleet on or off the water. This year's recipient was our Fleet Captain Brad Ginnivan who has done a great job for the fleet this including the organisation of this year's Corithian Cup regatta.
*it seems the afternoon became evening for some once the rum squall came through!
Sunday was a slightly more civilised start time of 1100 which allowed for the setting of a new record of the most sailors on an Etchells - 48!! Thanks to Helen for allowing Athena to be put to this test.
The 1100 start did prove to be a challenge for the Crews Control crew who hadn't been sighted before most of the others had left the dock. It seems they were caught in the rum squall the previous evening!
The light and dying westerly filled into a very pleasant and shifty 12 kt sou'easter on our way out to the line.
Race 6 saw TAG grab top spot ahead of Flirtation with NGHAM in 3rd and The Saint 4th. This mirrored the overall positions on the table.
Going into the last race (baring any major issues) it looked like it would be TAG and Flirtation battling for top honours, NGHAM and the Saint for 3rd.Waterloo Too and Rapscallion were tied for 5th and with Crews Control just a few points back all hoping for things to go their way in order to sneak into 3rd.
As you can imaging with was all on at the start. TAG was a fraction early at the pin and had to restart and subsequently fouled Rapscallion resulting in having to do a pirouette, Flirtation, The Saint and Crews Control all got away to good starts and headed left while NGHAM, Rapscallion and Waterloo Too were all back in the pack trying to find clear lanes.
In the shifty conditions, places see-sawed but by the top the final time Flirtation had a narrow lead from Crews Control and The Saint. The fleet had well and truly compressed by the final lay line and Waterloo Too and NGHAM managed to find a gap and rounded just behind the leaders.
With a strong tidal flow running down the course Rapscallion were caught out under the fleet and mark and had to gybe out, and to put the final nail in their coffin for the day, hit the top mark. Waterloo Too had managed to get up to 4th but dropped 2 places on the final run to Pegasus and Knot Easy putting an end to their bid for a podium.
NGHAM and TAG were not able to recover from their mid fleet positions to challenge the leaders either.
Flirtation took their 3rd bullet of the series ahead of Crews Control and The Saint. This saw them crowned winners for the series with a 5 point gap back to TAG and The Saint a further 6 back in 3rd. Congratulations to all.
A big thanks to everyone who helped make this a great event including the sponsors:
- Southern Sheet & Coil Truecore
- Australian Framing Solutions (Jake) Moreton Bay Signs (Brad)
- Rope Solutions Muir Marine
- North Sails Jim Snow (Jim)
- Rixx Eyeware Osck Brand
- CinCin premium cocktails
And the race committee and volunteers, the club, David and Linda Redfern for providing their boat for the sponsor on Saturday and all the others that provided assistance including Spikey Mikey for this media/photography work and Sue Healey for weigh in (apologies to anyone I've missed).
We look forward to an even bigger and better event next year.
Next Up: we have the Fleet Dinner and Yome Awards on Saturday 20 June. Get your award nominations for misdemeanors and high crimes into Brad or Patto ASAP. Nothing should go unpunished!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat | Skipper | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Flirtation (EAUS1026) | Jason Antill (S) Kane & Ashley | RPAYC | 1 | ‑11 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 13 |
| 2 | TAG (EAUS1330) | Todd Anderson (S) Curtis & Alex | RQYS | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ‑8 | 18 |
| 3 | The Saint (EAUS941) | David Smith (S) Barry & Fiona | RQYS | 4 | 1 | 5 | ‑10 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 24 |
| 4 | Mama says: Nothing Good Happens After Midnight (EAUS1130) | Bradley Ginnivan (S) Scott & Jake | RQYS | ‑17 | 2.5 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 25.5 |
| 5 | Crews Control (EAUS994) | Paul Minter (S) John & Steve | CSC | 5 | 2.5 | ‑17 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 28.5 |
| 6 | Waterloo Too (EAUS921) | Noel Paterson (S) Andrew & Will | RQYS | 2 | ‑9 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 30 |
| 7 | Rapscallion (EAUS1365) | David Healey (S) Kevin & Ian | RQYS | 7 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 5 | ‑14 | 32 |
| 8 | Knot Easy (EAUS876) | Jason Hawkins (S) James & Chris | RQYS | 6 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 4 | ‑11 | 5 | 36 |
| 9 | Pegasus (EAUS1278) | Stephen Broadbent (S) Nigel & Dean | RQYS | 8 | 10 | 7 | 3 | ‑10 | 8 | 4 | 40 |
| 10 | Happy Hour (EAUS1013) | Jake Gundry (S) Mark & Lee | RQYS | 11 | 6 | ‑12 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 52 |
| 11 | Sneaky Ninja (EAUS1347) | Tomoko Nakanishi (S)Michael & David | SYC | 10 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 9 | ‑12 | 57 |
| 12 | Athena (EAUS1258) | Helen Wood (S) Kristie & Neil | RQYS | 9 | 14 | 11 | 13 | ‑14 | 13 | 9 | 69 |
| 13 | The Project (EAUS866) | Gary Eves (S) Zoe & Chris | RQYS | 12 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | ‑17 | 13 | 69 |
| 14 | Gusto (EAUS885) | Angus Jackson (S) Dougal & Lachlan | SYC | 15 | ‑16 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 80 |
| 15 | Blindside Bludging (EAUS1021) | Geoff Dews (S) Dana & Neil | RQYS | 13 | 13 | 13 | 17 | ‑17 | 15 | 15 | 86 |
| 16 | Falcon (RQ45) | Kerry Spencer (S) Harold & Richard | RQYS | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 17 | ‑17 | 91 |
