Commonwealth Bank Etchells Australian Championship

Commonwealth Bank Etchells Australian Championship - Day 4

by Steve Hall 15 Jan 2009 09:32 GMT 10-16 January 2009

Racing on day four of the Etchells Australian Championship © Steve Hall

Bertrand, Ainslie and Palfrey change gear to win the championships a day early

Another day of pumping sea breeze and sparkling conditions in the Gulf St Vincent for competitors in the Commonwealth Bank 2009 Australian Etchells Championships, hosted by the Royal SA Yacht Squadron.

The results of last night deliberations of the race committee included redress to Gary Smith Tusk, for stopping to assist in yesterday MOB incident awarded points equal to 20th place.

The weather bureau issued a strong wind warning for the Gulf Waters with a forecast sea breeze building to 28knts.

Race 7, started in confused seas with the tide ebbing and the race officer Malcolm Hughes setting a windward leg of 1.8Nm at 190 degrees.

The boats got away under a black flag after two general recalls in 20knots of breeze and a 0.5 metre slop from the south-west, a ferocious tide dragging the fleet over.

Local Shane Duesson Wood Duck, just made the start after emergency repairs to the traveller.

At the start, the fleet split with 7 boats taking the right hand side out to sea, 6 boats choosing to go deep into Largs Bay and the rest of fleet playing minor shifts in the middle of the course.

At the top mark in a repeat of yesterdays performance, Alistair Gair and crew Velsheda emerged from the long lay line of boats on starboard, obviously relishing the conditions with a minutes lead over Rob Brown Steampacket 7, followed by John Bertrand Triad in third. The fleet set off on another surfing competition down wind.

At the top mark, the second time around Gair had a 35 second lead over Bertrand with a boat length over Mark Bradfords Roni.

At the gun another polished win for Gair with Bradford just in front of Bertrand third.

Ben Ainslie commenting, most breeze of the regatta, though with shifty winds, we started middle of the line, not the best and third at the top mark, continuing we tried to catch the Kiwis boat (Velsheda), a close call all of the way, we picked the wrong side of the finish line.

Race 8 was almost a re-run of yesterday with winds to 22knts, the fleet was cleanly away on the first start and with the tide flooding, took a deep dig into Largs Bay. The wind continued to blow from 200 degrees shifting to 210 degrees with the waves now forming at around 2-3 metres with a wavelength of 10 metres.

Bertrand changed gear to emerge on Port with a 35 second lead over Ian Johnson Bananas in Pyjamas, with Brown in third and Gair buried in seventh place.

With big wave sets now rolling in the fleet set off on another screaming run.

The second beat saw the fleet dive into the reduced tide of Largs Bay, with Bertrand holding his lead round first with the improving Gair second and Johnson third. The scene was set for Gair to fire on the surfing leg before his kite tore on the hoist.

Bertrand cruised home to win the race and championship, with Johnson second and Gair third.

Bertrand has a total of 13pts with Gair 20 pts and Mark Bulka Critical Balance 26.00 with one race to drop Gair can only end up with 14pts if he wins tomorrow.

Asked if he was enjoying the series Bertrand said Well yeah, bloody oath, continuing he said tough racing physically, full on

Jeanne-Claude Strong the second was brilliant and it seemed like we surfed for minutes, the fastest I have ever gone downhill, she went on to say its a wonderful venue and the people are really hospitable.

Rob Brown My back is sore, and we are just a little bit off the pace, apart from that everything is just a box full of budgies

Liza Reynolds Barracuda did not have such a good day very frustrating we broke the spinnaker pole again, she went onto say we have learnt a bucket load, and I recommend the venue to anybody wanting to hold a championship.

Sir James Hardy, who is second in the Grand Masters division, said the conditions were a bit too fresh although I do enjoy it, I am the same age as the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and though I think it will see me out. He went onto say Etchells, clearly the most competitive senior class, Bertrand and Gair both class acts with Ainslie unquestionably the best small boat sailor in the world, and pushing the best of all time Paul Elvstrom. As for the Americas cup despite all of the vicissitude, the Americas cup will get through; the very best sailors sail the Americas Cup.

Sail damage reported by three boats including two torn spinnakers and a quickly recovered MOB.

Sponsors have been quick to jump aboard, recognising the contribution sailing makes to the local community and keen to associate with a healthy outdoor sport. Sponsors include; The Commonwealth Bank, MUSTO, Club Marine Insurance, Coopers Brewery, Jacobs Creek Wines, Kaesler Wines and Aircommand Australia and the Royal SA Yacht Squadron.

Daily race updates and news including video clips will be posted on the website during the Championship, the website includes full details of the event, including Notice of Race (NOR) and a local guide Daily race updates and news including video clips will be posted on the website during the Championship, the website includes full details of the event, including Notice of Race (NOR) and a local guide - www.09etchellsaustchamps.org.au

Results after Day 4: (7 races, 1 discard)

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Crew	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1	AUS1383	TRIAD (M)	John Bertrand	Andrew Palfrey	Ben Ainslie		1	[7]	1	4	3	3	1	13
2	950	VELSHEDA	Alastair Gair	Dave Ridley	Rhys Johnston	Derek Scott	[7]	4	4	7	1	1	3	20
3	AUS1338	CRITICAL BALANCE	Mark Bulka	James Ryssenbeek	Steve Young		6	2	2	1	11	4	[14]	26
4	AUS1318	BANANAS IN PYJAMAS	Ian Johnson	Tim Ede	Mark Tonner-Joyce		5	13	3	[19]	2	7	2	32
5	AUS1270	LA VIE DANSANTE	Chris Pratt	Simon Estella	Caillin Howard		8	5	7	3	5	5	[12]	33
6	AUS870	RONI	Mark Bradford	Peter Merrington	Anthony Nositer		[19]	3	18	10	4	2	4	41
7	AUS1374	STEAMPACKET 7 (M)	Rob Brown	Bruce Wookey	Garry Gudmunson		[18]	6	12	2	10	6	6	42
8	AUS1346	AVALON	Peter McNeill	Michael Bellingham	James Mayjor		10	8	8	[11]	9	11	11	57
9	AUS1131	THE MOE SZYSLAK EXPE	Brendan Garner	Tim Clark	Michael ScHilt		11	[19]	9	5	12	18	9	64
10	AUS1244	DR. EVIL (M)	Jake Gunther	Tony Mc Phail	Russel Tyson		16	16	6	12	8	12	[17]	70
11	AUS868	YANDOO XX (M)	Jeanne-Claude Strong	Neville Wittey	Will Canty	Kieran Searle	4	29	5	[30]	7	20	7	72
12	AUS1367	CHILL PILL (M)	Rob Bird	Graeme Johnson	Nic Gray		9	14	16	8	[18]	17	8	72
13	AUS891	BANDWAGON (M)	Skip Lissiman	Andy Fethers	Keith Swinton	Tyson Lamond	[45Q]	1	11	45B	6	9	5	77
14	AUS1276	OVER ENGINEERED	Garrath James	Andrew Colliver	Blair Coventry		13	17	13	6	13	16	[22]	78
15	AUS1366	PEDRO	Kirwan Robb	Jamie Thompson	Breeahn McCraken	Rodney Muller	3	23	[30]	14	17	8	15	80
16	AUS1022	SCREAMING PLUM (M)	Doug Kerr	Greg Kerr	Luke Paterson		2	[45Q]	28	9	15	19	13	86
17	AUS1160	LIQUIDITY	Dirk Van Der Struyf	Nigel Nattrass	Adam Martin		12	11	20	13	[45O]	23	10	89
18	NZL1314	ADDICTION (M)	Lindsay Kennedy	Mark Kennedy	Magnus Doole		14	10	10	27	[30]	10	21	92
19	AUS1288	MAGIC BUZZ (M)	Steve Gunther	Adrian Hayes	Brad Jones		[30]	15	17	16	16	22	18	104
20	AUS1317	UNA MAS (M)	Mark Dagge	Matthew Hansen	Josh Willis		[32]	9	19	15	24	13	26	106
21	AUS892	SECOND WIND	Jeff Rose	Craig McCullam	Cam Gribble		[23]	21	21	23	19	14	16	114
22	AUS883	TUSK	Gary Smith	Michail McAullay	Brett Shoebridge		26	22	[35]	18	20G	15	20	121
23	AUS1321	CHOICES (M,GM)	Ian Dixon	Mark O Brien	Nick Paterson		17	24	14	24	22	21	[28]	122
24	AUS1136	DAYLIGHT COME (M)	Alastair McMichael	Andrew McAullay	Richard Edinger		24	20	15	20	21	25	[34]	125
25	AUS736	WOOD DUCK (M)	Shane Deusson	Stephen Dunn	Myles Kohler		[37]	18	23	26	14	35	19	135
26	AUS1141	MENS SHIRTS (M)	Peter Stubbings	Ann Stubbings	Ross Melville		[29]	28	25	25	20	24	24	146
27	AUS1311	MYSTERY TAXI	Paul Henshall	Bruce Henshall	Jeremy Tustin		22	[35]	27	17	23	28	35	152
28	AUS1129	MURPHYS LAW (M)	Geoff Boettcher	Tim Cowen	Jason Clark		35	12	26	[36]	25	33	27	158
29	AUS1272	FOOLHARDY (M, GM)	James Hardy	Tom Hardy	Alan Bessell		25	31	24	21	34	27	[36]	162
30	AUS832	BAD SQUIRREL (M, GM)	Andrew Short	Phil Webb	Brett Yardley		27	26	[36]	29	29	31	23	165
31	AUS1223	TANGO (M)	Chris Hampton	Tim Godbert	Tom Connell		15	[45F]	38	28	27	29	29	166
32	AUS1117	7PS (M)	Ian Anderson	Stuart Emery	Malcolm Pearson	Ashleigh Emery	39	25	29	[45B]	26	26	25	170
33	AUS1360	ETCH (M,GM)	Jan Muysken	Ian Audsley	Peter Alexander		31	27	22	33	31	34	[45F]	178
34	AUS1258	RUBY	Jason Ward	Damien McCaughey	Tim Cawley		20	34	[41]	31	37	32	30	184
35	AUS714	FRENCH STICK (M)	Andrew Waterman	Andrew Ellison	Robert Howatt		21	30	34	35	35	[45F]	31	186
36	AUS608	MEDIUM RARE	Wayne Knill	Russell Jones	Noel Paterson		28	34G	32	22	[45F]	30	45F	191
37	AUS1158	NEW WAVE	Peter La Fontaine	Peter Cox	Sam Dryden		36	33	37	[45B]	28	39	32	205
38	AUS1218	SUPERHEAT (M, GM)	David Henshall	Steve Jenkins	Dean Furniss		34	32	[39]	32	38	37	33	206
39	AUS1291	THE DON (M)	Don Wilson	Eric Findlay	Dave Allinson		33	39	33	[45B]	33	38	39	215
40	AUS951	FISH FACTORY (M, GM)	Michael Bradley	Guy Maegraith	Malcolm Larsen-Smith		38	36	31	34	32	[45F]	45F	216
41	AUS775	BANZAI (M, GM)	Robert Holyoak	Bruce Roberts	Robin Braendler		41	37	[43]	37	39	36	38	228
42	AUS609	GOMAS (M, GM)	Richard Colebatch	David Biven	Ian Andrews		[43]	41	40	38	36	41	37	233
43	AUS215	BARRACUDA	Liza Reynolds	Chris Heritage	Aaron Heritage		40	38	42	39	40	40	[45F]	239
44	AUS833	MAXEN WLEDIG (M, GM)	Donald Halley	Dennis Fearnley	Richard Hunter		42	40	44	40	41	42	[45F]	249