Syd. Barnett memorial
Trophy
Sydney Harbour. |
| By Frank Quealey, the Australian 18 Footers League. |
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Photos by the Australian
18 Footers League
Page edited By Joanne Apat. |
| December 12, 2010. |
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| Rookie 18ft Skiff skipper Jack Macartney and his Rag & Famish Hotel crew mates Tom Clout and Drewe Waller continued to impress when they recorded a 1 minute and 47 second victory in the Syd. Barnett Memorial Trophy race on Sydney Harbour today. Rag & Famish Hotel and Red Claw (Matt Searle, Archie Massey and Mike McKenzie) staged a race long battle, before The Rag team gained the upper hand on the final spinnaker leg of the course. |
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Red Claw and Rag & Famish Hotel providing some spinnaker
action on Sydney Harbour.
Photo © The Australian
18 Footers League.
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Third place went to Fisher & Paykel, which was led by another rookie skipper, Andrew Chapman and crewed by Tim Baraclough and Euan Duckworth, which finished a further 26 seconds back.
The race began in a light, patchy east to north-east breeze which created many problems for the fleet on the windward leg to the 3-buoys marks at the Beashel Buoy. In the totally unpredictable conditions, John Winning’s Yandoo sailed brilliantly to lead Fisher & Paykel, Rag & Famish Hotel, Red Claw, Gotta Love It 7 (Seve Jarvin) and Thurlow Fisher Lawyers (Euan McNicol), before the positions changed as the 3-buoys system took effect. |
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The crew on Red Claw on Sydney Harbour.
Photo © The Australian
18 Footers League.
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Fisher & Paykel gained the lead after rounding the ‘red’ buoy, and although Yandoo was second boat to round (white buoy) she actually dropped back behind Red Claw, Rag & Famish Hotel, Gotta Love It 7 and TF Collect (Mark Kennedy), all of which benefitted from the shorter mark roundings.
Fisher & Paykel continued to lead the fleet down the spinnaker legs back to the Clarke Island bottom mark, but Red Claw managed to round inside Fisher & Paykel as the pair turned for the second windward leg. |
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tf Collect within traffic on Sydney Harbour.
Photo © The Australian
18 Footers League.
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Rag & Famish Hotel was in third place, ahead of Yandoo, DeLonghi (Simon Nearn) and Gotta Love It 7 and a bunched fleet, which included TF Collect, Thurlow Fisher Lawyers, Appliancesonline.com.au (Jeremy Wilmot), Smeg (Trevor Barnabas), Project Racing (Andy Budgen), Pure Blonde (James Francis) and Panasonic (Jonathan Whitty).
The breeze was a little fresher and certainly steadier for the windward leg back to the Beashel Buoy marks for the second time. This time, Red Claw had the ‘penalty’ of going to the ‘white’ buoy and although first to round that mark fell behind Rag & Famish Hotel and Fisher & Paykel, which both went to the ‘blue’ mark. Although it may sound complicated, the 3-buoys system was working as intended, as it produced a continual changing at the head of the fleet. |
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The 18 Footer fleet on their first spinnaker run on Sydney Harbour.
Photo © The Australian
18 Footers League.
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Rag & Famish Hotel and Red Claw continued their battle on the spinnaker run down the centre of the course, with The Rag holding a 5 second lead at the bottom mark. Over the final lap of the course, the positions remained relatively unchanged before Rag & Famish Hotel went on for her final victory.
There will be no racing over the Christmas-new year period. The next race will by Race 1 of the Australian Championship on Sunday, January 9, 2011.
More information and photographs can be found at www.flying18s.com and www.18footers.com.au.
Frank Quealey
Australian 18 Footers League
www.flying18s.com. |
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| Outimage and the
Australian 18 Footers League © 2010 |
