Weekly Sailing Summary

KEEL BOATS

Nicky Souter and her crew of Nina Curtis and Nicole Douglass, representing Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and the Australian Sailing Development Squad, won the compasscard Australian Women’s Match Racing Championship, after the countback rule was used to break the tie between first and second. More details.

Michael Dunstan and Seve Jarvin are in the finals of the Australian Match Racing Championship on Pittwater. More info.

Looking back at the best ever Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - It started with a bang when spectacular fireworks arced through the night sky in celebration of the opening by the Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, of the extraordinarily impressive Hamilton Island Yacht Club. More details.

With the release of the Notice of Race, entries have opened for the 29th Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race and associated series hosted by The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in Newport, Sydney. More information.

Expressions of interest have been distributed to the top IRC racers worldwide to extend an invitation for them to compete in the 2010 Docklands Invitational. More details.

-- INTERNATIONAL

Mirsky Racing Team from Western Australia finished second in the St Moritz Match Race event, putting them in second place on the World Match Racing Tour, behind BlackMatch Racing’s Adam Minoprio, who took out the “King of the Mountain” title 2-1. More details.

The British team of Craig Burlton, Adam Healley and Stephen White, sailing Gill Race Team, took out the 2009 Laser SB3 World Championship in Cascais, Portugal by a five point margin from the South African crew of Roger Hudson/Taariq Jacobs, Ashton Sampson and Marlon Jones sailing Spirit of Cape Town. More information.

It was a testing first day for all competitors at the 2009 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, but not everyone was overawed, as ocean ace Torben Grael and Olympic maestro Robert Scheidt, both outstanding Olympic medallists, conspired to bring Luna Rossa (ITA) home first amongst the Racing Mini Maxis, although not without their moments. More details.

Medemblik was a little bit like the Caribbean with 12 to 16 knots of wind, high temperatures and lots of sunshine for the 67 competing teams at the Dragon Worlds. Three Australian crews are competing, including veteran sailor Gordon Ingate. More details.

MULTIHULLS

Even though an early start was scheduled for the last day of the 2009 Tornado World Championship on Lake Garda in Italy the wind did not arrive, so racing was not possible, leaving Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby from Australia as the new World Champions after winning all but one race. More details.

An action packed three days comes to an end with a nail biting finish as both Oman Sail boats tie for first place in the iShares Cup in Germany. More information.

After spending ten months in one of the technical sheds of the racing stable created by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild back in 2000, Gitana 11 slunk out of the shadows late Monday morning, but it was necessary to wait until late afternoon when the tide permitted to see the 77 foot trimaran afloat. More details.

OLYMPIC CLASSES

Neither wind, nor lack of it, deterred the 2009 Nautel Laser Worlds and Master Worlds Championships. After 18 days of competition the Laser Worlds came to an end on St. Margaret’s Bay, Canada, with races abandoned because of shifty and light winds. Aussie Masters were on the podium in most classes. More details.

The Australian Sailing Team’s Jessica Crisp is currently in 11th position after three days of racing at the RS:X World Championship in Weymouth, England. More information.

AROUND THE WORLD

Ten stripped-down 68 foot ocean racing yachts sailed past The Deep, the iconic ‘submarium’ visitor attraction in Hull, North Yorkshire, UK, in readiness for the Clipper 09-10 Round the World Yacht Race which starts 13 September. More details.

NEWS BRIEFS

Yachting Australia announces the finalists for the 2009 Australian Yachting Awards with the winners to be announced at a gala event at the new Sandringham Yacht Club on Friday, 16 October, 2009. More information.

The Whitsunday Sailing Club will host the 2009 Great Whitsunday Fun race over their Pioneer Bay course on Saturday, and this traditional race will again attract another solid fleet, including fast lane sailing catamarans and the majestic square rigger Solway Lass. More details.

Keen boaters are setting a steady course for Port Phillip Bay next February to raise money for special needs and disadvantaged children as part of the third annual Variety Splash. More details.

Shark Smart - The NSW Government will introduce a range of measures, including the first public education campaign, to help keep swimmers safe this summer. The changes will supplement the Government’s highly successful annual shark meshing program which began 1 September. More information.

MARINE INDUSTRY

The Western Coastal Board has released a Draft Boating Coastal Action Plan (CAP) for public comment and is inviting coastal communities to participate by providing submissions and attending a series of workshops in September. More details.

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. More 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. More details.

Sep 12 - Great Whitsunday Fun Race Whitsunday Sailing Club.

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

Nov 21 – 23 -- Club Marine Boating Extravaganza, Goolwa, SA - 150 on-water sites, more than 200 hard stand sites and a number of hands-on exhibitions and demonstrations. More information. 

Photograph courtesy of Renzo Domini: Glenn Ashby and Darren Bundock - 2009 TornadoWorld Champions