Sydney Harbour Regatta: Conspiracy in form at Sydney 38 Australian Championship
March 1st, 2019
Peter Byford and David Hudson have come out the cream of the crop on Day 1 of the Yoti Sydney 38 Championship at the Sydney Harbour Regatta, hosted by Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC), sailing Conspiracy to two wins from three races for an early lead this afternoon.
The reigning NSW champions and third placegetters at the 2018 Australian Championship, Byford and Hudson are making no bones about their desire to ramp it up a notch this year, despite a larger field than last time around.
However, the Pittwater pair by no means had it all their own way, they lead by one point from Alan and Tom Quick, recently crowned Farr 40 NSW champions. The CYCA father and son may have switched one-design classes, but they arrived fully cocked and loaded with The Goat, scoring a pair of third places and a win for second place overall.
Conspiracy though, also won Boat of the Day, and proudly flew that flag, co-owner, David Hudson said.
The day of racing, Hudson said, “Wasn’t too bad. We had from 8-12 knots. It was good constant racing on a reasonably flat sea. It was close and competitive. We’ll have to stay on our toes, as we’ve got The Goat on our tails. We haven’t raced against them before; they did a good job today.”
Hudson said they were pleased with their starts and crew performance: “It all went well. No stuff ups, no accidents, good competitive racing. And I have to say that the new people in the class acquitted themselves well.”
Conspiracy and Challenge toe to toe - Andrea Francolini photo, Sydney 38 AUS Champs 2019
Tom Quick agreed: “It’s a great fleet of amateur and professional sailors, like the Farr 40 class.”
With guru David Chapman calling the shots “and he’s doing main as well,” Quick said, The Goat crew went in with heads down and tails up, as some got their heads out of the Farr 40 and into the Sydney 38 – very different boats.
”It’s been five years since we sailed a Sydney 38 - so it was a bit different coming back – but it was good. We’re enjoying the boat. It was a nice range of wind – perfect really. We had only one problem; getting a jib up in Race 3 when we were leading. But we got around mark and got it up and still won - no other dramas.
“We chartered The Goat. We have a mix of crew; one from The Goat and some youth sailors from France, the CYCA and one from Lightspeed (the MC38), Zak Quinlan. He’ll go back to them for the rest of the regatta, so today was good practice for him.”
Quick added, “Seems Conspiracy is the boat to beat, but consistency is the key and will be the decider, as it always is in one-design racing. We still have six races to go.”
Sailing windward/leeward courses on the Manly Circle, Conspiracy pipped Challenge (second at the NSW Championship), Greg Croak’s NSW Central Coast entry, by 27 seconds in the opening race. The Goat took third place, a further 15 seconds in arrears.
Downhill in the moderate breeze - Andrea Francolini photo, Sydney 38 AUS Champs 2019
You could feel class newcomer Peter Sorensen’s frustration, when his recent purchase ‘Advanced Philosophy’ (the former Phoenix, winner of the 2015, ’16 and ‘18 Australian Championships), with Ron Jacobs calling tactics, scored OCS in Race 1. First time jitters, I’m sure, from this local skiff and yacht champion.
In Race 2, it was Conspiracy getting the gun again, this time from Phil Tomkins’ Adrenalin (CYCA) and The Goat in third.
But in Race 3, The Goat was too ‘Quick’ for the rest, and the CYCA entry took the bullet from Richard Williams’ Calibre, (also CYCA and third at the NSW Championship) by a six second split, with Conspiracy 25 seconds adrift of Calibre.
Day 1 of the Yoti 2019 Sydney 38 Australian Championship was in limbo before the midday start time, when a wafting 2-3 knots was all that could be mustered - a moderate north/easterly breeze filtered in just in time.
A General Recall started the day, as is sometimes the case in a first race on Day 1 in a high-stakes championship where competitors take the ‘no prisoners’ approach.
Competitors in this popular class know how to celebrate and wind down in style after a day of racing, taking in Norths Happy Hour drinks at MHYC on docking, before a dinner for all crews.
A fleet of 11 Sydney 38 One-Designs are taking part in the three-day Australian Championship, starting off this weekend’s 14th running of the Sydney Harbour Regatta. It is one of the largest class events for many years, with some new owners and return players from around NSW joining the circuit regulars.
Windward/leeward racing continues on the Manly Circle tomorrow, when officials will aim to put three more races to bed.
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Tight round with Conspiracy leading - Andrea Francolini photo, Sydney 38 AUS Champs 2019
Full results and all information: www.shr.mhyc.com.au
By Di Pearson, MHYC media
Sydney Harbour Regatta: Winners declared after stunning weekend of racing
March 3rd, 2019
Winners were crowned on the final day of the Sydney Harbour Regatta, conducted by Middle Harbour Yacht (MHYC), over three days for the Sydney 38s and the weekend for all other classes.
This is the 14th running of the regatta for MHYC, which is in the throes of celebrating 80 years. All competitors were flying Clean Up Australia flags from the backstays in support of the 30th Clean Up Sydney Harbour today. The late Ian Kiernan AO, who would be thrilled to see his legacy continuing to grow.
The Jackal new J70 NSW champion
Jervis Tilly has won his first sailing title as a skipper, sailing The Jackal to a four-point win over the ever-competitive Juno, owned by Reg Lord.
Tilly commented: This is my first title in this class – or any class – and my first year in the J70. This is the boat you want to have for this type of racing. It’s strictly one-design, it leaves you to concentrate on the sailing aspect.
“The boat is lots of fun and technical to sail. We had six great races in tricky conditions and close competition. The fleet has improved a lot. The back end is finishing within one and one and a half minutes of the front end these days. “Reg Lord is heading off to the Worlds at Torquay in the UK at the end of August, and that will be good for bringing the rest of us up to standard when he gets back.”
Chris Way all the way in last race to claim Super 12s spoils
Chris Way, renowned for his various boats named ‘Easy Tiger’, won the Super 12s on countback with his MC38, Easy Tiger VI. It was Way all the way in the final race, which nailed the top spot for him after three boats came into the final day within a point of each other.
Adrian Walters’ Rob Shaw 11 Meter, Little Nico, finished second overall on equal points with Easy Tiger VI, finishing ahead of three other MC38s.
“It all came down to the last race – four boats could have won. Three were within a point of each other coming into today – us winning the final race was crucial. Dark Star (John Bacon) didn’t have such a good day in the last two races, which cut her out of the running,” Way said.
“It was very close racing and a good tune up for the MC38 Nationals in two weeks on Pittwater. We’ve been on a steep sail development program and we will have to keep it up for the Nationals, but the new combination seems to be working.
“Steve McConaghy was on tactics – he was with me in Pattaya (Thailand) last weekend when we won the Platu class at the Trans Worlds,” ended Way, who is obviously on a roll.
Little Nico gets a move on - Andrea Francolini photo - Sydney Harbour Regatta, 2019.
Adams 10 NSW Championship goes to Powderhulk
Despite not being able to maintain a top performance in the past, according to Powderhulk’s owner, Patrick Delany, he has defied his own statement and sailed Powderhulk to a NSW Championship win in the Adam’s 10. Delany beat nearest rival, Backchat (sailed by gun offshore racer Tom Braidwood) by two points. Delany and Braidwood won two races apiece, but Delany, from MHYC, was the more consistent of the two.
“Rocky Balboa won by trying hard against the big fellas,” a laughing Delany said. “It was a good day, but a day of two stories. The left side of the course had less wind, but great lifts. Downwind was a challenge as well; the lead swapped a lot.
“Backchat did very well today, it’s sailed by the King of the North (Tom Braidwood) who brought his diamond glass down from the Lake (Macquarie) to fight to the dead. The Aussie champ (Delaney) overdosed on massages and green juice. I’m pleased to say we didn’t choke – the little Aussie Battler from MHYC came through!”
NSW Cavalier 28 Championship goes to Scuttlebutt
Greg Purcell has won the Cavalier Championship over John MacLeod’s Quambi by three points. Purcell said the racing was, as always, competitive.
“And both days the weather has been fabulous. It was a special event on the Harbour. It’s always good to be out there. Could the weather have been any better – I don’t think so – it was warm and sunny and the fleet sailed in great north-easterlies throughout.
“We had fun – the officials did a really good job, they always do.”
Olympian wins Yngling NSW title
Triple Olympian Karyn Gojnich and her Evie crew have won the NSW Yngling title from Hamish Jarrett and his Miss Pibb. Jarrett has been the benchmark in the class in recent years, and Gojnich, who has represented Australia at the Games in the 470 and Yngling classes, did well to finish a clear six points ahead, counting a trio of wins and second places in her tally.
The 2019 Sydney Harbour Regatta included five Championship events - the Yoti Sydney 38 Australian Championship and NSW championships for the Adams 10, J70, Cavalier 28 and Yngling classes – not to mention all the other usual classes.
Ophir tops the Super 30 class by one and a half points
Sailing his Flying Tiger Ophir with wife, Sonia, and two daughters (21 year-old Dana a 470 sailor) and Jessica (an 18 year-old match racing sailor) Bruce Tavener has skated home to claim the Super 30 class by just 1.5 points from Matt Wilkinson’s fast finishing Farr 30, Foreign Affair.
“It normally comes down to that,” Tavener said. “We had a really good day yesterday - we knew we had to get our boat speed up and minimise the errors. We had good starts in first two races and picked the shifts nicely.
“Today we were OCS in one race, but went back and managed to recover, but we were on the back foot of course. We knew the handicap was going to start biting us, so we just put our heads down and sailed. It became a drag race in the end, plus we had a ship to navigate our way around. We are improving, despite our eight year-old main.”
So many classes, we are unable to cover all, but it was evident that everyone who sailed enjoyed the regatta.
Volunteers numbered 85 from eight supporting clubs that conducted 94 races on two offshore and six inshore race areas over three sunny days of light to moderate north-easterly breezes. Entries comprised 160, taking in 950 competitors across 18 divisions.
The Sydney Harbour Regatta would not be possible without the continued assistance of: the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Manly Yacht Club, RANSA, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club, Sydney Amateur Sailing Club and the Sydney Flying Squadron.
Thanks go to key sponsors Helly Hansen, Air New Zealand, Robert Oatley Wines and Abell Point Marina, along with supporting sponsors Mercure Resort Hunter Valley Gardens, Smooth FM, Club Marine, Vittoria Coffee and KeySun.
Full results and all information: www.shr.mhyc.com.au
By Di Pearson, MHYC media
