Weekly Sailing Summary

AUDI HAMILTON ISLAND RACE WEEK

Melbourne 55-footer Living Doll, launched ten months ago by Michael Hiatt and sailing for the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, was the top scoring boat in the IRC grand prix division one at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week. Rod Jones from Queensland, the inaugural winner of the Audi IRC Australian Championship in 2006, was announced the winner of the coveted title for a second time.

Bruce Griffiths, owner/skipper of Silhoette, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40, won the Audi A4 Avant after winning the Cruising Division 2. To win the luxury vehicle a division winner also had to claim honours in the Audi Drive Challenge, which test sailors’ driving skills.

The Audi Longest Drive Challenge was held on the new Dent Island 18-hole golf course, designed by Peter Thomson. It is the only championship island golf course in Australia with 360 degree water views from every hole. All the news from this event can be found at Boating Oz.

KEEL BOATS

Four Australian Sailing Development Squad crews are in the final stage of preparation for the compasscard Australian Women's Match Racing Championship, with racing set to begin on Monday 31 August on Sydney Harbour. More information.

The new Sandringham Yacht Club will play host to the Australian Youth Match Racing Championship from September 18–20. More details.

Three of Australia's most famous older ocean racing yachts, Sanyo Maris, Pacha and Ray White Spirit of Koomooloo (the original Ragamuffin) are among a strong fleet of 16 boats nominated for this year's Hempel Paints Gosford to Lord Howe Island Race. More information.

-- INTERNATIONAL

Mirsky Racing Team’s Kinley Fowler spoke with the Team’s bowman, 27 year old Graeme Spence, about his aspirations and why he likes being on the bow of boats. More details.

Hyeres in France played host to a fleet of 90 boats, all fighting for one of the most competitive titles in fleet racing, the Melges 24 European Championship. More information.

St. Moritz Match Race will take place from 1-6 September in the Swiss Alps as part of the Match Racing World Championship, which will give 12 teams the opportunity to race for the coveted title of "King of the Mountain". More details.

Fifty six entries representing eight countries will take part in the 2009 Laser SB3 World Championship from 31 August to September 4 in Cascais, Portugal. More information.

The mightiest contest in the 20th edition of the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is expected to be in the Mini Maxi division when eight of the latest exponents of this growing class will compete. More details.

Thirty plus yachts will gather in Newport from 8-12 September, 2009, for the Six Metre World Cup. The genesis of the class, in 1906, coincides with the establishment of the International Rule, a mathematical formula used to design a number of sailboat classes. From 1906 to 1914, over 300 'Sixes' were built as they appealed to consumers with, and without, deep pockets. More details.

AROUND THE WORLD

Finland has been confirmed as an entry in the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race, competing against nine identical stripped down 68-foot racing yachts in the 35,000 mile race around the world. The race starts from the Humber on the east coast of England on 13 September 2009, returning on 17 July 2010. More information.

OLYMPIC CLASSES

Olympic gold medalist Paul Goodison from Great Britain has claimed his long-awaited first Laser World Championship victory, in Halifax, Canada. Tom Slingsby was the top placed Australian at 17th. More details.

Almost three hundred athletes from around the world are competing in the 2009 Nautel Laser Masters World Championships. Australians were in the top three on day two in most classes. More info.

The Australian Sailing Team crews of Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page, and Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson both finished fifth at the 470 World Championship in Rungsted, Denmark. More details.

Ivan Kljakovic Gaspic from Croatia won the AGB Finance 2009 Finn European Championship on day five, one day before the Medal Race was sailed in Varna, Bulgaria. More information.

NEWS BRIEFS

The Melbourne Wooden Boat Festival 2010 will be held at Waterfront City Marina and Piazza, Docklands on 19-21 February, 2001. The event will bring together all major wooden boat and classic yacht groups in and around Melbourne and is designed to promote wooden boat heritage and connect a broader public with the spirit of timber boating. To register your boat or volunteer your services see the Wooden Boat website.

More than 1000 people have signed up to join the new volunteer marine rescue organisation, Marine Rescue NSW. More details.

Celebrating 125 years of sailing in Brisbane, the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron will open for the 2009/10 sailing season on Saturday September 5. More information.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Sept 11 - Quiet Little Drink cocktail party –This famous annual affair will be bigger and better this year with Syd Fisher and Col Wildman receiving their '40' Sydney Hobart plaques, while Graeme Ainley, Robert Green and John Walker will receive their '25' plaques. Details.

Sep 11-13 -- The Great Tropical Jazz Party on Magnetic Island follows on from Sunferries Magnetic Island Race Week, with many crews lingering on to relax after a week of competitive sailing. Details.

Sep 12 - Great Whitsunday Fun Race Whitsunday Sailing Club.

Nov 14 – 15 - Club Marine Sail Boat Show, Sandringham Yacht Club. Details.

Photograph courtesy of Andrea Francolini/Audi: Colourful last start in Dent Passage with new Hamilton Island Yacht Club in the foreground