SB20 Australian Championship at Hobart

SB20 Australian Championship at Hobart - Day 1

by Peter Campbell 8 Dec 2017 10:53 GMT 8-11 December 2017

Crews of the 35 SB20 sports boats contesting day one of their Australian Championship today spent around six hours on the water for eight attempts to start a race – and just two affirmative outcomes.

It was a most frustrating day for all concerned, the sailors, the race officers and the volunteers who manned the start, finish and mark boats, except for the winners – Rob Gough in Difficult Woman and Michael Cooper at the helm of Export Roo.

The wind was there, from the WNW, but it swung in all directions and at times just ''went up in the air'', leaving boats sailing backwards in the strong outrunning Derwent tide.

"We had six attempts at starting a race before we finally succeeded with seventh and eighth goes," race officer Nick Hutton said back ashore.

Strong winds on day one of the SB20 Australian Nationals in Hobart - photo © Jane Austin

Race one was abandoned as the leaders neared the windward mark for the second time.

An attempt at a restart ended 27 seconds before the 'gun' – and then began the long, long wait.

The skippers were aggressive on the start line, too, with several general recalls and BFDs (black flag disqualifications).

In fact, it was not until after 4pm that the first race successfully got under way, in 12 knots WNW breeze. Race two got underway after 5pm.

But it was worth the wait, both races providing brilliant sailing that saw the best in crew work and tactical sailing in the SB20, a high performance, one-design sports boat.

Strong winds on day one of the SB20 Australian Nationals in Hobart - photo © Jane Austin

The skill of the locals certainly augers well for the SB20 Worlds to be sailed on the Derwent next January.

Back to the winners and those who gave them the toughest competition.

Rob Gough certainly dominated the racing, with the champion foiler Moth sailor notching up an official first and second after the frustrations of the abandoned race one where he was leading.

Sailing Difficult Woman, he won race one from former State champion Scott Brain, helming Brainwave and Hypertronics. skippered by SB20 Australian class president Steve Catchpool.

Sailing with the same crew that sailed on Export Roo at the recent World championships at Cowes, England, Michael Cooper was his best in race two, winning from Rob Gough and class veteran Nick Rogers in Karabos.

At the end of day one of the SB Nationals, Difficult Woman leads with three points, followed by Rogers on seven, Cooper nine, Mathew Pilkington (Hentycc) 10, Steve Catchpool 13 and Elliott Noye (Porco Ross) 15 points.

Results after Day 1:

Pos	Skipper	Boat Name	Bow No	R1	R2	Pts
1	GOUGH Rob	Difficult Woman	47	1	2	3
2	ROGERS Nick	Karabos	48	4	3	7
3	COOPER Michael	Export Roo	31	8	1	9
4	PILKINGTON Matthew	Henty CC	59	6	4	10
5	CATCHPOOL Stephen	Hypertronics	83	3	12	15
6	NOYE Elliott	Porco Rosso	65	10	5	15
7	READ Frazer	Pinch	61	5	13	18
8	BURNELL Paul	Honey Badger	36	13	6	19
9	PEACOCK George	Team Musto	27	12	7	19
10	PRESCOTT Greg	TED	43	9	11	20
11	COOPER Brett	Aeolus	45	11	10	21
12	KING Samuel	Masterclass	75	7	15	22
13	FADER Richard	Black	46	15	9	24
14	ROBB Kirwan	Ikon20	58	18	8	26
15	GRANEY David	Wedgewood	95	14	17	31
16	FADER Edward	The Monkey Boat	7	17	20	37
17	BRAIN Scott	Brainwave	94	2	37	39
18	TILLY Jervis	Brazen	17	16	23	39
19	GORDON Stewart	Contact	21	26	16	42
20	ALLISON Jack	Warwick Dean	56	23	19	42
21	BROWN Clare	Fire of Athena	42	19	27	46
22	GLANVILLE Scott	Blue Gull	8	21	26	47
23	ROWLINGS Greg	Switzer-Piste	64	28	21	49
24	GRUBB Alice	Big Ted	29	25	25	50
25	LINKS Mark	Kit Fisto	96	37	14	51
26	DECLERCK Issi	Power of Athena	53	33	18	51
27	REID Anna	Mind Games	90	30	22	52
28	HENRY Robert	Sudden Impulse	93	22	30	52
29	COOPER William	Murray Jones	87	32	24	56
30	DARCEY Colleen	Pride of Athena	44	27	29	56
31	SHEEHAN Chris	TBA	68	20	37	57
32	HENLEY Steve	Wicked	86	31	28	59
33	DABNER Claire	Essence of Athena	18	29	31	60
34	SMITH Andrew	Smigger	49	24	37	61
35	ALLISON Felicity	Cook Your Own Dinner	81	37	32	69
36	GORE Dylan	El Pez	89	37	37	74

SB20 Australian Championship at Hobart - Day 1

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