Audi IRC Series at Skandia Geelong Week - Overall
by Di Pearson 26 Jan 2009 08:16 GMT
22-25 January 2009
Alegria comes up trumps in Audi Series
The inaugural Audi IRC Australian Championship winner, Rod Jones, got what he prayed for today to take out Division 2 of the Audi IRC Series at Skandia Geelong Week this afternoon.
All week long Jones and his Archambault 40 Alegria crew went head to
head with Ruth Magic (Peter Hill) and Reverie (Alan Woodward) and while
Jones saw Ruth Magic (NSW) as the main threat, it was Reverie that came
home to finish the six-race series in second place.
Queenslander, Jones, who won the Audi IRC Australian Championship and a
drove away in a brand new Audi Q7 SUV from Hamilton Island in 2007,
thought that Ruth Magic, with 2008 Audi Championship winner Peter
Sorensen at the helm and Beijing gold medallist Nathan Wilmot calling
tactics, would be his downfall.
Thankfully, though, Jones prayers came to fruition when a 10-12 sea
breeze kicked in on outer Corio Bay. “We knew if it was light we’d have
our best chance of beating Ruth Magic,” Jones said this afternoon.
While the Alegria crew did not win the final race, they did come home
second, while Hill and his crew from Sydney scored their worst race
result, a 13th place, and used it as their drop.
“It was a great race, really,” a happy Jones said. “We got off the line
attached to them and got ahead of them half way up the beat – the
conditions didn’t suit them, they go better in windy conditions,” Jones
said, adding: “we’ll be in Sydney for the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta –
I want to be the first person to win a second Audi car – they’re great
cars,” he said.
While Alegria and Ruth Magic duked it out, Alan Woodward and his Royal
Brighton Yacht Club crew did their own thing and came home to win the
final race and claim second place overall.
Surprise grabs Division 3 win and claims Round 1 of Audi IRC Championship
A thrilled David Ellis and crew (Surprise) got the surprise of their
lives to discover not had they only won Division 3 of the Audi Series;
they had been announced winners of the first round of the 2009 Audi IRC
Australian Championship, now in its third year.
Ellis left the regatta immediately after the final Race 6 and headed
home to the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria where he is the Club Captain,
so while he knew they had taken out Division 3, Ellis thought the winner
of the Championship would come from Division 1.
“That’s great – how good is that,” he said when told. “It’s a team
effort and I have to mention my crew Troy Croft, Alex Gilbert, Paul
Larcher and Jane Richards. They did a superb job, they always do.
Ellis also said a big thank you to Robert Hampshire from host, Royal
Geelong Yacht Club and Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson. “They were
great – very helpful and pleasant.”
An interesting character with an even more interesting background, Ellis
is a former ship’s captain who has worked with the Port Melbourne Sea
Pilots for the past six years which has given him more time for sailing.
“We’re not ocean racers or world beaters, but we have a classic boat (A
Borresen BB10) that’s well sailed and I can commit to sailing more often
these days.”
In an all-Victorian assault, the Surprise crew came up with an
impressive five wins from six races for standout victory over second and
third placed Arabelle (Grant Hailes) and Peter Jackson’s Stitched Up,
both of which finished 12 points behind the winner.
Overall Results:
Division 2 (provisional top five)
1 ALEGRIA, Rod Jones (RQYS) 11pts
2 REVERIE, Alan Woodward (RBYC) 14pts
3 RUTH MAGIC, Peter Hill33a (MHYC) 16pts
4 TRUE NORTH, Andrew Saies (CYCSA) 22pts
5 JUST A MINOR HICKUP, Peter Coleman (RBYC) 30pts
Division 3 (provisional top five)
1 SURPRISE, David Ellis (RYCV) 5pts
2 2.0S ARABELLE, Grant Hailes (MYC) 17pts
3 STITCHED UP, Peter Jackson (SYC) 17pts
4 DR UNC, John Lindholm (SYC) 19pts
5 2.0S FLYING FOX, Paul Woodman (RBYC) 30pts
More information at www.geelongweek.com.au