Etchells Australian Championship at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club

Etchells Australian Championship at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club - Overall

by Lisa Ratcliff 15 Jan 2017 11:47 GMT 11-15 January 2017

Saturday swell at the 2017 Etchells Australian Championship at Royal Prince Alfred YC © Stephen Collopy / RPAYC

John Bertand in Triad2 coming into a finish during the 2017 Etchells Australian Championship at Royal Prince Alfred YC © Stephen Collopy / RPAYC

Magpie swoops twice

Graeme Taylor and his Magpie crew of Steve Jarvin and James Mayo sailing for Victoria's Mornington Yacht Club posted the best scores among a who's who of keelboat sailing to be named Etchells Australian champions for the second year running.

Taylor, Mayo and Richie Allanson won in 2016 at Royal Brighton Yacht Club. In 2017 off Palm Beach on Sydney's northern beaches, Taylor and Mayo were joined by Steve Jarvin who cut short his skiing trip and spent five days travelling to make the final two races of the five-race one design series.

"It's never easy at an Etchells nationals" Taylor said of the entry calibre, "you just have to chip away and eventually it comes good," he added, while heading back to his home state with some extra luggage.

"We are very, very happy. The race committee did an amazing job, they were smart enough to know what was going on out there and try and work with the conditions. We were very glad they binned that last race, it was getting hard to get a handle on the shifts."

On the number of general recalls and black flag starts over the shortened and very intense series Taylor said, "Everyone wants to get a good result, they are pushing hard. You do your best and sometimes things fall your way, we were lucky this time."

Magpie's training partners Iain Murray, Euan McNichol and Richie Allanson finished second overall by three points with Northern Havoc and the current Etchells world champ, John Bertrand, took third with Triad2 and his crew of Bill Browne and Jake Newman.

"We didn't get a win but we were always there, and it was good enough to bring us home second," Murray said. "It was difficult out there with weather and sea conditions. Our target is the world champs in September; this is the first part of the journey. It's the second regatta we've sailed and we are going up the curve."

Murray's America's Cup commitments will restrict his return to sailing and in particular Etchells racing, a class he says people move on from but often return to. "We all seem to come back to the Etchells, it's the common denominator. There a good bunch of people in the class who enjoy racing and we all rendezvous. There are some old hard heads, like us, and out there today was the RPAYC junior squad who at the other end of the learning curve and showing plenty of promise.

"I've got a pretty busy time coming up with the Cup, I'll do what I can," Murray promises. He will lead one of the Australian teams preparing for the San Francisco worlds in September 2017.

Given three of the 'red shirts' from the Wild Oats XI supermaxi crew picked up trophies at the Etchells major title, Murray says the pressure is now on their Oats crewmate Chris Links to perform well at the Finn nationals the Royal Motor Yacht Club Broken Bay is hosting January 16-21.

The 46-boat Etchells fleet went out on Saturday to the Palm Beach Circle where the residual sloppy seas from a big blow late Friday combined with 1-3 knot winds made offshore conditions very unpleasant. In the hope things would improve crews and officials waited patiently in the searing heat until 4pm before commencing the long journey back to the host Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club sunburnt and without posting a score.

Offshore winds were light ENE on Sunday for races four and five. As the wind freshened to 15 knots race officer Ross Wilson attempted to start race six under a U flag but it was a general recall. The committee went straight to black flag but a major wind shift at 30 seconds to go forced a postponement, and then the time limit kicked in.

First female helm was Jeanne-Claude Strong (Yandoo XX), first and masters and grand masters crew was Bertrand's Triad2 and first Corinthian boat was Fifteen+ (David Clark, Mark Langford, Sasha Ryan, Will Howard).

The RPAYC's youth development team of Malcolm Parker, Clare Costanzo, Evelyn Foster and Rachel Bower grabbed the older guard's attention in race five on Sunday afternoon when they crossed Magpie's bow and went on to post their best result, 11th. Other YD sailors were sprinkled among the fleet.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew	Crew	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1	47	AUS947	MAGPIE	Graeme Taylor	James Mayo	Steve Jarvin		MYC	4	[10]	2	4	6	16
2	29	AUS1119	NORTHERN HAVOC	Iain Murray	Euan McNicol	Richard Allanson		RSYS	7	3	6	[8]	3	19
3	44	AUS1440	TRIAD2	John Bertrand	Bill Browne	Jake Newman		RBYC	1	[46F]	4	6	15	26
4	5	AUS870	ENCORE	Peter Conde	Brian Hillier	Myles Baron Hay		RQYS	[15]	2	12	9	5	28
5	40	AUS1332	TOP 40	Peter Merrington	Geoffrey Bonouvrie	Ian McKillop		RSYS/CYCA	13	6	5	5	[18]	29
6	13	AUS1443	TANGO	Chris Hampton	Mark Andrews	Sam Haines		RBYC	3	1	[28]	1	27	32
7	45	AUS1325	IRIS III	Peter McNeill	David Gleadhill	Dean Blatchford		LMYC	2	12	[22]	18	1	33
8	42	AUS1442	IRON LOTUS	Michael Coxon	Alex Rozenauers	David Edwards	Ivan Wheen	RSYS	16	11	1	[21]	7	35
9	49	AUS1436	WOBBEGONG2	Doug Flynn	Henry Kernot	Steve McConaghy		RSYS	9	[20]	3	11	13	36
10	15	AUS1380	FIFTEEN+	David Clark	Mark Langford	Sasha Ryan	Will Howard	CYCA	12	[16]	11	12	4	39
11	71	AUS832	ANIMAL HOUSE	Dirk Van Der Struyf	Luke Paterson.	Richard Rowell		RFBYC	10	[28]	20	3	9	42
12	33	AUS1219	CARABELLA IV	Matthew McCann	Campbell Davidson	Dara Johnston	Scott Cotton	RSYS	19	4	7	[34]	14	44
13	27	AUS868	YANDOO XX	Jeanne‑Claude Strong	Marcus Burke	Seve Jarvin	Tiana Wittey	RSYS	11	8	14	14	[17]	47
14	52	AUS1244	CIAO	Douglas Mc Gain	Michael OBrien	Stuart Clark		CYCA	8	5	8	[36]	28	49
15	38	AUS925	LISA	Martin Hill	David Chapman	James Corrie	Milly Bennett	RSYS	[17]	14	13	10	12	49
16	21	AUS1445	THE CURE	Raymond Smith	Brad Sheridan	Mike Hughes		RPYC	6	[22]	16	13	16	51
17	37	AUS1337	ITCHY	Will Northam	Alice Tarnawski	Joshua Chant	Nick Rosenauers	CYCA	14	9	9	[46U]	19	51
18	31	AUS1318	ADOLESCENCE	Steve Billingham	Jervis Tilly	William Lewis		RSYS	[28]	27	18	16	2	63
19	74	AUS1347	FAIR DINKUM	Grant Hudson	Ben Vercoe	Klaus Lorenz	Tom Siganto	RQYS	22	23	[38]	17	8	70
20	26	AUS1268	SHINDIG	Robert Weir	Ant Elliott	Paul Thackray		RSYS	23	13	[29]	15	20	71
21	64	AUS1377	ROULETTE	Mark Johnson	Andrew Smith	Raffa Trujillo		RQYS	31	7	33	2	[46B]	73
22	24	AUS1292	AUS1292	Matthew Ramaley	Adam Turks	Will Thompson		CYCA	38	15	15	7	[46B]	75
23	65	AUS1343	VINCERO	Peter Gardner	Nick Kingsmill	Will Parker		CYCA	18	18	21	19	[29]	76
24	55	AUS875	WHISPER II	Bruce Ferguson	Cameron Miles	James Meggison		RPAYC	5	19	10	[46U]	46B	80
25	54	AUS1254	ODYSSEY	Jill Connell	Anthony Merrington	Wade Morgan		RPAYC/CYCA	20	21	[34]	26	21	88
26	72	HKG1345	CONSPIRACY	James Polson	Akira Sakai	Rory Godman		RHKYC	21	30	17	[41]	22	90
27	30	AUS1270	WHISPER	Michael Nash	Charlie Manzoni	Elyse Guevara‑Rattay	Willem Van Walt Meij	RSYS	26	24	19	24	[33]	93
28	48	AUS768	PAM	Malcolm Parker	Clare Costanzo	Evelyn Foster	Rachel Bower	RPAYC	[37]	29	36	22	11	98
29	17	AUS1275	TREKKA	Jason Antill	Damian Macey	Mark Griffith		RPAYC	27	[31]	26	20	26	99
30	2	AUS112	ACHILLES	Russell Ford	Darryl Bentley	Rebecca Wiley		RSYS	34	[40]	30	28	10	102
31	46	AUS921	WATERLOO TOO	Noel Paterson	James Chilman	Sarah Board	Simon Paterson	RQYS	32	17	[42]	30	24	103
32	70	UAE1400	AFRICAN QUEEN	Jan Muysken	Matt Fisk	Ryan Fisk		RSYS	[42]	37	24	23	25	109
33	9	AUS892	IVY	John Denton	Graeme Sheldon	Roy Leslie		GSC	25	36	[37]	25	23	109
34	50	AUS511	GRAND V	Gordon Hinds	Adrian Dunphy	Stephen Ingate		RSYS	24	32	23	37	[39]	116
35	41	AUS1141	MENS SHIRTS	Peter Stubbings	Ann Stubbings	Ross Melville		RBYC	36	26	25	[39]	35	122
36	14	AUS1314	KALIKA 3	Ian Audsley	Gordon Otten	Peter Kelly		RPAYC	29	[46F]	31	27	36	123
37	6	AUS1444	FUMANCHU	Mark Roberts	Chad Elsegood	Matthew Johnston		ASC	43	25	27	29	[46C]	124
38	36	AUS1346	AVALON	Michael Bellingham	Harry Bethwaite	Will Canty		RSYS	30	33	[39]	31	31	125
39	23	AUS1237	BLACK KNIGHT	Bruce Dey	Andrew Hamil	Tom Crow		RPAYC	33	[38]	35	33	32	133
40	12	AUS1186	TOUCH PAUSE ENGAGE	Michael Stovn‑Bradfo	Andrew Gordon	Andrew Kennedy		RSYS	[39]	34	32	35	34	135
41	73	AUS1192	ECHO BEACH	Philip Matthews	Peter Turner	Philip Baker		LMYC	[41]	35	40	32	37	144
42	60	AUS1106	SAINTS III	Bruce Hilliard	Marin Rosandic	Rob Hilliard		CYCA	35	39	[41]	38	38	150
43	51	AUS1291	THE DON	Don Wilson	Justin Gurdol	Peter McIntosh		GSC	40	42	[43]	42	30	154
44	75	AUS1336	GO WITH THE FLOW	Robert Griffits	Brian Mansfield	Ian Michie		LMYC	[44]	41	44	40	40	165
45	43	AUS1029	H2O RAT	Geoff Dilworth	Ian Bowie	Rod Pearson		GSC	45	[46F]	46C	43	46F	180