Weekly Sailing Summary

AUDI VICTORIA WEEK

Four hundred and forty one yachts with over 4,400 sailors competed in 19 classes and divisions at Audi Victoria Week at the Docklands and in Geelong. The three cruising divisions accounted for a record 200 plus yachts that made for a truly spectacular sight on Corio Bay in Geelong.

A relatively unknown yachtsman, Peter Horn, brought his brand new Mills designed King 40 ‘Canute’ to the regatta from Sydney and won Division 2 from two other pedigree yachts; Two True, Andrew Saies' 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner, and Just a Minor Hickup, Peter Coleman’s Hick 39 from Melbourne.

Ian Murray and his crew aboard defending champion Cinquante won the Sydney 38 One Design series with Another Challenge (Chris Lewin) second and yachting legend Lou Abrahams third with Challenge.

The Geelong Taxi Network Multihull Series was won by Geoff Floyd’s Corsair Sprint 750 Chilli from Victoria, just beating two Farrier designs, Peter Boyd’s Goldfinger from South Australia and Tim Pepperell’s E-Marineworld Skips from Victoria.

Roger That from NSW, steered by world champion sailor Cameron Miles and owned by another world champion James Mayjor and John Bacon, won six of the eight races of the Bundaberg Rum Sports Boat division. The Melges 24 won the series by 16 points from Cameron Rae’s Thompson 8, Laminar Flow, with Paul Heyes’ Foamfast third on countback. VictoriaWeek.com.au.

AUSTRALIA DAY SYDNEY

The 174th Australia Day Regatta on Sydney Harbour and offshore was sailed in an easterly seabreeze reaching 10-12 knots. The regatta followed the colourful Ferrython and Tall Ships Race, with more than a hundred yachts and modern and historical 18-footers racing through hundreds of spectator craft celebrating Australia Day afloat.

Ian Kortlang’s Antara won the Classic Yacht division with the restored International 8-metre class yacht Erica J owned by Les Goodridge second and Nigel Stoke’s Fidelis third.

The Gaff Riggers division was won by Gary Ferres’ Intrepid from Reverie (John Barclay and Nigel Berlyn), with third place going to Hoana (Martin Van Der Wall) which had the fastest time.

The division with the largest fleet, Division 1 non-spinnaker, was won by Heaven (Harold Shim).

Ludde Ingvall’s 90-footer YuuZoo won line honours in the traditional Australia Day ocean race from Sydney Harbour south to Botany Bay and return. The City of Sydney Sesquicentenary Cup, for the lowest PHS corrected time among yachts entered for the 174th Australia Day Regatta, was won by Leslie Green’s Swan 55 Ginger which finished third in the fleet. More details.

AROUND THE WORLD

Jessica Watson is 2000 nautical miles from the Cape of Good Hope. A book of the sixteen year old’s adventure sailing around the world alone will be published by Hachette Australia in August 2010. JessicaWatson.com.au.

Abby Sunderland, who set sail in January from California, in an attempt to be the youngest person to circumnavigate the world, is heading to Cabo san Lucas. She has not been able to generate enough power with solar panels and wind generators to keep up with all her energy needs and has had trouble with the wind speed gauge. When all is fixed she plans to restart from Cabo. AbbySunderland.com.

Groupama 3, a 105-foot trimaran, crossed the start line of the Jules Verne Trophy off the Créac'h lighthouse in Ushant on January 31. Franck Cammas and his nine crew must circumnavigate the world, completing a course spanning more than 21,600 miles, in less than 50 days 16 hours 20 minutes to win the trophy. Cammas-Groupama.com.

The Clipper 09-10 race six from Singapore to Qingdao, China, will begin on 2 February. Check out ClipperRoundTheWorld.com.

18 FOOTERS

Defending champions Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and Tom Clout retained their 18 Footer Australian Champions crown despite finishing second in Gotta Love It 7 in Race 5 of the SP HighModulus-sponsored regatta on Sydney Harbour. NSW champions Michael Coxon, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas won Race 5 by 54 seconds in Thurlow Fisher Lawyers and tied the pointscore with Gotta Love It 7, but had to be content with second placing overall after a countback. 18footers.com.au.

ROLEX MIAMI OCR

The Australian Sailing Team’s 470 Men’s crew of Mathew Belcher and Malcolm Page won the silver medal at round two of the ISAF Sailing World Cup, the Rolex Miami OCR.

Nicky Souter, Stacey Jackson and Rayshele Martin were defeated by Claire Leroy (FRA) in the petit-final of the women’s match racing, finishing fourth, a point ahead of fellow Australians Lucinda Whitty, Jessica Eastwell and Amanda Scrivenor.

Australians Will and Sam Phillips finished sixth overall in the 49ers, Brendan Casey finished 13th in the Finns, Megan de Lange was 34th in the Laser Radials and Paul McKenzie and Philip Toth finished 14th in the Star class. Yachting.org.au.

YOUTH MATCH RACING

The 2009 winner, Phil Robertson of New Zealand, is back to defend the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta trophy starting in Perth on 1 February. Kyle Langford, tactician for Perth skipper Torvar Mirsky, is hot having won the qualifying series last week. Intra-Kiwi rivalry will be as strong as trans-Tasman competition, with William Tiller, a member of Robertson’s winning crew last year, now skippering his own team. Check out WarrenJonesRegatta.org.au for more information.

NEWS BRIEFS

Commodore Mike Stringer ESM OAM of Narrabeen, a member of the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol for 37 years and now one of the nine original directors of the unified Marine Rescue NSW, has been honoured as a Member (AM) in the Order of Australia in the 2010 Australia Day honours list. Commodore Peter Campton of the Australian Volunteer Coast Guard North NSW Squadron and Commodore Kevin Hill, deputy Officer Commanding RVCP and member of Marine Rescue Jervis Bay, were both awarded the Emergency Services Medal (ESM) - MarineRescueNSW.com.au.

The Phoenician Ship Expedition launched from Arwad, Syria, in August 2008 aims to re-create the first circumnavigation of Africa, believed to have been achieved by Phoenician mariners in 600 BC. The replica 70-foot Phoenician ship sailed through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea and reached the Hodeidah in the Republic of Yemen in January 2009. In September the Phoenicia rounded the Horn of Africa and sailed down the east coast, stopping at Aden (Yemen), Salalah (Oman), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Beira (Mozambique). The vessel is now in Richards Bay, South Africa, before sailing on to Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope. Phoenicia.org.uk.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Feb 5 - 7 -- Melbourne International Boat & Lifestyle Show, Docklands. MIBLF.com.au

Feb 8 - 33rd America’s Cup Match is scheduled to start in Valencia, Spain. The defender is the Swiss team Alinghi Alinghi and the challenger is BMW Oracle Racing from the USA. The event website is AmerciasCup.com.

Feb 13 – 21 -- JJ Giltinan International Championship, Sydney Harbour, sometimes referred to as the 18 Footer Worlds. See 18footers.com for more.

Feb 16 - The next CYCA Medical Management for Mariners Course (MMM) starts in Sydney. Designed specifically for sailors by sailors, the course consists of seven three-hour nights at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney followed by a three hour practical session taught by Helicopter Rescue Paramedics on board a yacht at the CYCA. CYCA.com.au.

Feb 19 – 21 -- The Melbourne Wooden Boat Festival will be held at the Docklands precinct on Victoria Harbour. Woodenboat.com.au.

Feb 25 - 27 -- Variety Splash - Participants will travel a round trip from Docklands’ Melbourne Yacht Club Hotel, with nightly stopovers at Sandringham Yacht Club and Royal Geelong Yacht Club. VarietySplash.org.au.

Mar 6 - 7 -- The fourth Whyte, Just and Moore Lawyers Wooden Boat Festival of Geelong will be held at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club. RGYC.com.au.

Mar 6 – 7 -- Rosehill Trailerboat Show, Rosehill Racecourse, Sydney. BIA.org.au.

Mar 6 – 7 -- Audi Sydney Regatta, Middle Harbour Yacht Club. MHYC.com.au.

Mar 9 – 21 -- Louis Vuitton Trophy series - Ten countries are expected to compete in event-supplied 85-foot long AC Class yachts from the last two America’s Cups. These yachts require a crew of 17 top sailors. LouisVuittonTrophy.com.

Mar 11 - 14 -- Auckland International Boat Show is being held in conjunction with The Louis Vuitton Trophy series to push up attendance at both events.

April 2 - 61st Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race starts. Queensland’s most famous blue water yachting event sets sail in the waters off Brisbane every year on Good Friday. BrisbaneToGladstone.com.au.

April 2 – Hydro Tasmania Three Peaks Race starts at Beauty Point on the Tamar River just north of Launceston and finishes in Hobart on the River Derwent. Threepeaks.org.au.