Weekly Sailing News Summary - Jan 10, 2006

The sailing focus shifts from Sydney and Hobart to Melbourne this week with Sail Melbourne in full swing, Mariner Boating opening a new office and the Volvo Ocean Race boats battling to get there.

SAIL MELBOURNE
The Hon. John Pandazopoulos, the State Minister for Tourism had a go on the trapeze when he sailed with five time Tornado world champion and Olympic medallist Darren Bundock and his new crew, Glenn Ashby. Ashby successfully defended his 2005 A Class Australian title at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron.

Sail Melbourne's Olympic & Invited Classes Regatta, Sandringham Yacht Club. Nine of the 13 classes faced extremely light and shifty conditions as they sailed their first races.

J24 National Championship, Sandringham Yacht Club - On day one Sakamoto and his crew sailing Siesta JPN did not win a race but their pair of second places gave them the lead.

RS:X Oceanic Championship - the first ISAF Grade One regatta for the new Olympic class windsurfer. On day one Melbourne showed that it truly is the city of four seasons in one day; rain this morning and 80 per cent humidity and sunny spells in the afternoon, finishing off with 30+ rainy bullets.

VOLVO OCEAN RACE

ABN AMRO ONE was the only yacht to catch the front of a system giving them strong north westerly winds. Despite the lead of over 300 miles, Mike Sanderson last night admitted he was more than a little concerned about the pace he was achieving. Brazil 1 (Torben Grael) is currently being repaired in preparation to restart on Tuesday.

Ericsson experienced a failure to her hydraulic keel movement system on January 4, and was forced to head into port. The broken titanium ram was replaced with a spare steel ram but the team decided this was not an adequate solution as the replacement steel ram was made to the same specification as the broken ram. The boat is to be shipped to Melbourne.

The Southern Ocean breaks people, even strong people and every sailor heading south knows this. No one is immune and each crewmember is different. Those who have been there before cannot be completely certain how they will cope as their situations are forever changing, both physically and emotionally. Our bodies get older and our lives change. Some of the crews are now husbands and fathers since they were last turning their minds towards the south. At heart, all young single men look for action, adventure and a taste of danger. Australian Nick Moloney previews leg 2 of the Volvo Ocean Race.

KEEL BOATS

Four Swedes and one Finnish yachtsman were plucked from their stricken yacht about 7am on Wednesday and arrived in Eden aboard the NSW water police launch Fearless. The Sydney 38, Savcor, turned over about 90nm south-east of Eden in 6m seas on Tuesday night while returning to the mainland after the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Police Sergeant James Hinkley praised the crew for staying with their crippled yacht, a decision he said may have saved their lives. Savcor was raced by a Swedish sailing team and skippered by Peter Westerlund.

Pittwater & Coffs Harbour Offshore Series - Steven David's Wild Joe won the Pittwater to Coffs race and the seven race series on IRC handicap. Bob Oatley's Wild Oats X won line honours by nine minutes from Wild Joe in the race to Coffs.

Sailing South Race Week - At the helm of his Beneteau 44.7, Sirromet Life Style Wine, Michael Spies clinched victory with four wins on the final day of racing.

The South Atlantic Race - Cape Town to Salvador. On day five the yachts at the front of the fleet have hit the trade winds and have approximately 2000nm to go. Hi-Fidelity, rated as the fastest monohull in the fleet, retired with rudder problems.

Mar 9 - 12 -- The Tahiti Pearl Regatta is a Polynesian event with racing and onshore festivities every evening.

OFF THE BEACH & OLYMPIC CLASSES

2005/6 Laser Australian Championship, Waterloo Bay, Brisbane. Southport's Brendan Casey survived a tactical dog-fight with Gosford's Tom Slingsby to win the event by 7 points. Mathieu Frei won the Radial class by 16 points ahead of Sarah Blanck who scored a 3-2 on the final day, beating Krystal Weir by 1 point for the Silver.

Hugh Stodart and his crew of Niall Kinch and Paul Schulz totally dominated the fleet in Asko Appliances to easily take out Race 1 of the SP Systems Australian 18ft Skiff Championship on Sydney Harbour.

2006 Hogs Breath Cafe Hobie Cat Nationals, Nedlands Yacht Club, Perth. Former World Champion Steve Fields and Peter Dubbelaar won the Hobie Tiger class by the narrowest of margins.

Contender World Championship, January 7 - 14, Fremantle Sailing Club. The event was preceded by the Australia Championships which were won by Marcus Hamilton AUS with a day to spare.

B14 Australian Championship, Woollahara Sailing Club, Sydney. Matt Searle and Andy Ramus GBR are the Open Champions and Clive Watts and Chris Dixon the Aussie Champions. The Worlds start on the January 9.

Australian Optimist Dinghy Championship - Nicholas Poree sailing under the French national flag helmed his Noumea registered boat into a 2 point lead on the first day of racing.

Juniper 2006 Australian Youth Championship - The competition is hotting up for tomorrow's final races. While for some classes the champions appear decided, for many it will all come down to performing under pressure. A record 193 competitors entered the event across six classes – International 420, Laser, Laser Radial, Hobie 16, 29er and sailboard.

AROUND THE WORLD

Clipper 05-06 Round the World Yacht Race - There's not a lot of wind out there, and even the whales are not taking much notice of things. Jeff Bailey, New York's skipper, said that it was extremely difficult to keep his helm and trimmers concentrated on the job in hand. Durban leads the fleet followed by Western Australia and New York.

Solo yachtswoman Dee Caffari rounded Cape Horn on January 4. She recently overcome problems with her autopilot which had threatened to halt her challenge to become the first woman to sail single handed non stop westward round the world.

MARINER BOATING'S NEW MELBOURNE OFFICE

Sydney based sailing holiday specialist Mariner Boating Holidays has opened a marketing office to be operated by Scott Eccleston and Jenni Morris in the Docklands precinct in Melbourne. Over the last five years, Mariner Boating Holidays has successfully developed a series of yacht rallies in some of the most exotic cruising grounds in the world, but the core business is bareboat or crewed yacht charter holidays tailored to suit individual needs. Phone: 613 9670 4030

NEWS BRIEFS

Jan 12 - Australia Day Captains Briefing for skippers on Sydney Harbour, 5 – 6pm, Level 41, Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney. RSVP: Maree Louise Evans, Ph: 9513 2023. Refreshments provided.

Nominations are now open for the annual Sydney Harbour Awards to be presented on Friday night, March 3, aboard the Tall Ship James Craig at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay.

POSITIONS VACANT
Latest free listings on Boating OZ
- Engineering graduate in the sail textile industry, NSW Central Coast
- Coxswain or Master V, Gold Coast
- Skipper Master V Med III, Whitsundays
- Master 4 skipper, Kimberley
- Med II engineer, Kimberley
- Coxswain, Kimberley
- Cook / boathand, Kimberley
- General Manager Yachting NSW
- Skipper / Engineer, Sydney

More information at www.boatingoz.com.au

Weekly Sailing News Summary - Jan 10, 2006

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