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ACE Etchells Worlds at Mooloolaba, Australia overall

by Peter Campbell 8 Aug 2004 07:47 BST

Peter McNeill new Etchells World Champion

Lake Macquarie yachtsman Peter McNeill today became the seventh Australian to win the prestigious Etchells World Championship when he outsailed a star-studded international fleet of 85 boats off Mooloolaba on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The eight race series ended as it began, on a sparkling winter’s day and light winds, when McNeill and his crew of Greg Torpy and Paul Turner sailed Tom Pepper XVIII into fourth place to comfortable take out the series.

Going into the final heat, after an evening and morning of protests and changing decisions by the International Jury, McNeill and former World Champion Cameron Miles from Pittwater, sailing Pacesetter, were only two points apart.

Miles had a mediocre start in the big fleet and 5-7 knot easterly seabreeze, but climbed back up through the huge fleet from 40th place to finish 17th, sufficient to secure second place.

Third place overall went to Mornington sailor Glenn Collings, skippering Satu, who this evening won a protest against the Race Committee’s ruling that he had been OCS (on course side) as a premature starter in the final race.

He was reinstated to seventh place, displacing the provisional third placegetter, Pittwater sailor, Julian Plante, sailing Odyssey, who finished eighth today.

America’s Cup legend and two-times past Etchells World Champion Dennis Conner from San Diego sailed Menace into fifth place overall despite being penalised as a premature starter in today’s race.

Remarkably, McNeill did not win a race throughout the regatta, his placings being 2-8-11-13-8-5-(37)-4 to finish with 51 points. Nor did Miles, his placings being 11-12-8-5-10-3-(33)-17 for 66 points. Third placegetter Collings had one win to total 79 points from a scorecard of 14-23-16-12-(29)-1-6-7.

Plante had one win in the series to finish with 79 points from placings of 13-1-29-18-(42)-8-3-7. Conner finished fifth overall with 94 points and Squid (Chris Pratt, Adelaide) on 112 points.

A bonus for the winner is that not only did he win the World Championship with sails from his own sail loft, Peter McNeill Sails at Lake Macquarie, but fourth placegetter Julian Plante also used his sails against a fleet in which the majority of sails were North.

“After the Australian Winter Championship here at Mooloolaba, Julian and I thrashed out some ideas about the best sail shapes to win the Worlds,” McNeill said. “We hit the nail on the head.”

McNeill, 42, who lives at Nords Wharf on Lake Macquarie with his wife Leoni and two children Robbie (11) and Elise (9), agreed that he had been under pressure over the final days of the regatta because of protests and claims for redress, but added that the tension eased quickly soon after the start of today’s final race.

“We had a reasonable start in the middle of the line, but quite a few boats crossed our bows before we managed to get out to the left of the course where we picked up some good pressure lines and rounded the first weather mark in third place,” he explained.

“When we saw we were well ahead of our nearest rivals, we knew that if we sailed conservatively in the light breeze we had it (the championship) in the bag.

“We came here to win…second place in the Worlds was no option,” McNeill added.

McNeill has now sailed in a dozen Etchells World Championships, finishing third to Cameron Miles at Pittwater in 1999 and fourth to England’s Stuart Childerley in Auckland in 2002. He began his sailing at the Royal Prince Afred Yacht Club but represented the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club in this regatta.

While Paul Turner, a successful 16-foot skiff sailor from the Gosford Sailing Club, has been sailing with McNeill for five or six seasons, Greg Torpy, joined them only this year. Torpy, who crewed for Colin Beashel in the Star class at the Seoul Olympics, now lives on the Sunshine Coast and is a member of Mooloolaba Yacht Club.

While the winning Etchells sailed as Tom Pepper XVIII, it is actually named Mojo and was loaned to McNeill by Etchells newcomer Ian Knight. The original Tom Pepper XVIII is still owned by retired RPAYC yachtsman Barry Nesbitt.

Today’s race saw a win by prominent Hong Kong yachtsman Mark Thornborrow, skippering HK1269, who led around the course in the 6-7 knot easterly breeze for a comfortable victory from Victorian Noel Drennan sailing A Cat and Two Magpies, a play on his AFL football allegiance and that of his crew.

Third place went to New Zealand champion Cameron Appleton, skippering Embers, with Tom Pepper XVIII in fourth place. All three finished well back in the fleet as did another America’s Cup legend and pre-regatta favourite John Bertrand, at the helm of Two Saints and a Magpie.

Bertrand ended a generally disappointing World Championship in 14th place overall, finishing with an OCS (on course side) as a premature starter in Race 8. His past America’s Cup rival Dennis Conner was also over the line at the start, but dipped back to re-start while Bertrand sailed on. However, as Principal Race Officer Arthur Hodge had already hoisted the Z flag, Conner was still penalised 20% of placings.

After an initial general recall, 18 boats were called as OCS on the second start with only three returning and re-starting, leaving 15 boats scored as OCS.

Race 8 did not start until 12.40 hours instead of the scheduled 10.00 because of an announcement by the International Jury that it had reversed its decision to abandon yesterday’s Race 8, which was followed by a several applications for redress, all refused.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 Pts
1st AUS915 P. McNeill 2 8 11 13 9 5 37 4 52
2nd AUS509 C. Miles 11 12 8 5 11 3 33 17 67
3rd AUS1117 G. Collings 14 23 16 12 29 1 6 7 79
4th AUS1254 J. Plante 13 1 29 18 43 8 3 8 80
5th USA1060 D. Conner 23 11 44 8 2 19 4 28 95
6th AUS1143 C. Pratt 9 40 6 25 12 7 36 18 113
7th AUS1160 R. Bird 48 2 51 11 13 9 7 25 115
8th AUS1213 L. Down 29 47 1 31 5 23 8 21 118
9th AUS832 D. King 16 18 26 51 7 25 14 13 119
10th AUS945 M. Manford 19 57 33 1 1 OCS 13 11 135
11th AUS874 J. Muir 6 61 7 6 6 43 48 19 135
12th AUS923 M. Bradford 28 5 14 39 47 10 1 47 144
13th NZL892 G. Turnbull 54 26 18 37 21 12 10 20 144
14th AUS1244 J. Bertrand 37 4 13 20 26 14 32 OCS 146
16th AUS1088 R. Brown 39 6 24 61 41 16 11 10 147
17th AUS865 B. McBriar 12 10 9 9 44 35 28 OCS 147
15th AUS1219 D. Turton 10 49 5 35 20 31 34 12 147
18th AUS1030 N. Drennan 38 34 40 7 4 34 30 2 149
19th AUS1289 A. Hunn 7 7 19 14 51 13 BFD 41 152
20th HKG1269 M. Thornburrow 47 27 10 62 19 36 15 1 155
21st AUS751 S. Gunther 35 14 15 27 75 6 53 5 155
22nd NZL1184 C. Appleton 41 59 35 3 60 2 25 3 168
23rd AUS869 J. Warlow 21 64 60 2 16 58 5 9 171
24th AUS1237 G. Wharington 49 19 17 4 10 4 69 OCS 172
25th AUS1277 M. Bulka 20 13 4 59 17 DNF 24 35 172
26th AUS867 D. Rose 25 20 2 38 22 44 23 59 174
27th AUS864 V. Prentice 31 52 27 55 3 11 19 36 179
28th AUS1121 I. Johnson 17 3 23 40 31 28 38 OCS 180
29th AUS1273 M. Coxon 1 28 42 24 28 OCS 44 29 196
30th AUS1131 D. Clark 24 21 22 10 74 20 26 OCS 197
31st AUS1287 J. Savage 3 15 41 42 61 60 2 38 201
32nd AUS951 M. Soulsby 58 22 21 44 36 42 9 39 213
33rd AUS1134 R. Weir 33 72 45 43 35 30 31 14 231
34th AUS1136 D. Royle 42 29 48 45 27 50 16 27 234
35th AUS940 P. Dash 45 62 39 50 34 18 45 6 237
36th AUS1186 P. Gardner 50 46 3 17 18 49 72 OCS 255
37th AUS1275 R. Antill 4 30 12 52 83 57 43 57 255
38th AUS1274 R. Jones 26 25 20 65 8 66 52 OCS 262
39th USA1212 J. Nye 30 33 66 56 50 51 20 26 266
40th BER1249 T. Patton 70 58 55 15 68 22 17 33 268
41st NZL814 L. Kennedy 18 24 DSQ 16 57 40 74 43 272
42nd AUS1257 D. Lawrance 44 17 30 69 56 27 29 OCS 272
43rd AUS1084 R. Coxon 5 60 38 48 53 47 68 22 273
44th AUS1253 M. Doyle 8 63 57 60 38 41 41 31 276
45th NZL1240 J. St. Clair Brown 36 36 43 63 23 15 64 OCS 280
46th AUS1270 S. Estella 32 31 73 72 77 37 21 16 282
47th AUS850 A. Drummond 43 38 25 66 37 21 79 54 284
48th AUS1102 S. O'Rourke 34 16 62 41 24 OCS 75 37 289
49th AUS1026 B. Fairley 69 75 46 19 52 24 55 24 289
50th AUS963 R. Maxwell 40 9 70 81 62 32 51 30 294
51st AUS1025 G. Mellody 51 39 59 21 59 17 63 55 301
52nd AUS1144 D. Bull 27 42 69 22 14 DNF BFD 42 302
53rd NZL1127 G. Gerrard 81 74 34 28 15 46 76 32 305
54th AUS943 B. Melia 52 44 50 33 58 33 35 OCS 305
55th NZL1083 R. Croft 68 37 53 54 49 53 18 44 308
56th AUS893 M. Bellingham 64 51 28 29 32 69 73 49 322
57th NZL809 B. Jones 65 45 47 34 40 29 66 OCS 326
58th AUS868 B. Hollis 53 69 54 23 33 45 57 DNF 334
59th AUS885 R. Stone 63 67 49 32 39 63 22 DNC 335
60th AUS1272 S. Hardy 77 43 68 46 55 48 12 67 339
61st AUS1129 S. Devssen 22 77 77 57 42 55 47 46 346
62nd AUS916 D. Roberts 78 70 31 26 48 RAF 54 45 352
63rd AUS1082 A. Colliver 71 54 61 68 46 38 27 60 354
64th IAUS1142 G. Smith 62 55 58 53 73 26 61 40 355
65th AUS766 B. Sheridan 60 48 52 64 64 54 67 15 357
66th AUS1022 D. Kerr 75 68 67 47 66 39 39 51 377
67th AUS852 T. Martin 59 73 32 71 45 56 70 50 383
69th GBR1110 M. Till 56 65 37 30 80 64 71 DSQ 403
70th AUS1150 B. Steele 73 35 63 36 81 65 50 OCS 403
68th USA1234 K. Clausen 74 32 72 76 25 71 77 53 403
71st AUS813 I. Crisp 57 71 65 74 67 52 42 52 406
72nd AUS410 D. Nichols 61 78 74 82 30 59 BFD 23 407
73rd AUS921 B. Butler 72 56 71 70 76 70 40 34 413
74th AUS936 J. Dunn 67 66 36 78 78 61 65 48 421
75th AUS720 M. Sanders 55 81 56 58 54 OCS 46 ZFP 430
76th ITA836 M. Cimarosti 76 41 64 73 65 61 61 66 431
77th AUS1255 W. Mercer 46 50 79 49 84 OCS 58 DNC 452
78th GBR1175 T. Fort 15 53 DNF DNC DNC DNC BFD 56 468
79th NZL961 N. Forrester 66 80 76 79 72 67 56 65 481
80th NZ746 I. Smith DNS OCS 78 77 69 68 49 64 491
81st AUS1291 D. Wilson 80 83 81 80 63 74 60 61 499
82nd AUS767 J. Harris 82 76 80 83 71 75 78 58 520
83rd AUS738 S. Ingate 83 OCS 82 67 70 DNF 59 DNC 533
84th NZL779 P. Delaney 84 82 75 84 79 73 BFD 62 539
85th NZL729 P. Verry 79 79 DNF 75 82 72 BFD OCS 559

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