The Deckhardware 72nd Australian Titles
Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron 6th - 9th April 2007
The Norman Booth Trophy
Report
The 72nd 12ft Skiff National Championships was sailed from Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. Sponsored by Deckharware and held over the Easter long weekend it will be remembered as one of the windiest regattas in recent memory with every race 20 knots or more.
I heard some skiffies prayed for four days of big Southerlies. If so, they have a lot to answer for. The repair bills for one. There were two sailors having to visit the hospital, broken rudders, masts, centreboard cases, spinnaker poles and a couple of nasty cases of chapped lips.
The Squadron itself was an excellent venue. Heaps of room for rigging, a beautiful bar and change rooms that were almost palatial.
Day 1.
A relatively “light” 20 something knot Sou-Easter was there for race 1 of the series. The breeze whipped up waves that were a stern reminder of what it was like to sail in Brisbane for those who had come from South of the boarder.
Garde with Brett Hobson and Alex Johnson charged out of the blocks with a solid win. Nick Press and Brad Yabsley hadn’t sailed the Yabba Dabba together regularly this season due to commitments with a blonde. They had great speed in race 1 but maybe a little rustiness cost them a chance of a win.
The other news was the damage incurred by heavy weather specialists on Gizmo. Their rudder box failure was one of two rudder boxes that went on the day.
Day 2.
Windy.
The breeze from the day before was back and with a little bit of interest. Fourth rigs were out early. We had made the rig call over breakfast.
Two short races were scheduled for the day and they turned out to be epic. Race 1 began at 1pm and it was the heavy-air genius of Michael Bochner that charged around the course the fastest. Yabba Dabba took second on a race that looked a little bit like a graveyard at times.
Garde took it down the mine memorably, Peter Bevis needed stiches, Brad Greenrod needed physio (or at least more beer,) the crew of the Pink B needed a smoke and a radox bath and skiff.org.au and Pennyliss needed surgery but at least the starters had an easier job to do when counting the starters of Race 3.
Race 3 had even more breeze. Gusts hit thirty knots and I think everyone wished that they had a Yabsley on their boat. Luckily for Nick Press, he did have the one and only and they won the race. You know it’s windy when the winner keeps the kite in the bag.
Day 3.
Windy.
Maybe even a bit windier.
If you were reading this and weren’t there, it sounds wonderful, three days of fresh breeze and big waves but it was about day three that we were feeling a little bit spent.
Gizmo the hull was also struggling. Wind and waves were causing damage to the back tank that was being repaired nightly at Paul O’Malley-Jones’ house. Luckily for Bochner and Barraclough, the repairs were holding during the race. In the breeze, Bochner and Barraclough were fast. They won both races on a day were more than one crew watched from the safety of the clubhouse.
Yabba Dabba, Garde and Gobsmacked Dwarves pushed them hard but were unable to stop Michael taking the lead in the regatta.
Day 4.
Gizmo’s DNF in race 1 and constant good results by Yabba Dabba and Garde meant that the regatta was still well and truly on. Strangely enough, it was windy. Fourth rig again!
There were some other constants too. A couple of breakages and a win for Bochner and Barraclough in Gizmo.
“Tim and I are very happy with the result but it was not easy.” says Michael Bochner on his victory, “We have had a difficult weekend. The rudder box exploded into 5 pieces during heat one. That used up our discard race so had to make sure we got good places in the rest of the races. It was a punishing weekend with hard racing each day and boat repairs every night, but by the last day we had solved all the structural problems and could just focus on racing…”
“This is our first season together and although we are sailing well there’s plenty we can improve on. The next big challenge is the 2008 Inter-Dominions in Wellington NZ where we are likely to also see strong winds and destructive waves. ”
Michael went on to say “This was an epic regatta, 4 days in a row of fantastic breezes. The club ran a great regatta, RQYS is a very good venue”.
Nick Press in Yabba Dabba took second in the race and that was enough for second overall. Brett Hobson and Alex Johnson were squeezed out to third.
Handicap honours went to Geotherm (Scott Hobson and Brad Phillip), which capped off a great year for this crew, who also relish in the windy conditions. They finished 6th overall. Second on handicap was Foxy Lady 2 sailed by Peter Polec and Jamie McCrudden with Gizmo 3rd.
The regatta also showed the speed of the 12’s with several boats carrying Velocitek GPS units, which recorded speeds of well over 20 knots on the downhill legs. The record was 24.2 knots. Speeds and tracklogs can be viewed on the Deckhardware website. Deckhardware also donated a GPS unit for the QLD association to raffle, which was won by QLD class stalwart Paul O’Malley Jones, to great suspicion of the crowd. Thanks to Deckhardware all competitors received lengths of Liros ropes for either trapeze lines or kitesheets.
The Awards
Miners: Grandma Hobson and AJ were one of many who disappeared into a Moreton Bay Mineshaft. They won Miners though on the strength of Nick Press’s recollection of the event. Fresh 4th rig and Nick and Yabs were one-stringing downhill when the Garde charges past them with “a bit on” – two on the wire and right down the back of the bus. Nick looks and Yabs and says “We better two-string then.” Nick grabs his hook, says a silent prayer when the Garde suddenly disappears from the radar.
Skiff.org.au were a little lucky in this respect. They just want to reiterate that you can’t win Miners if the mine wasn’t in the race AND they put that mud on the end of the pole themselves … … as a joke.
Unluckiest Regatta … … Eva: Pete Bevis. There is some stiff competition here from the boys on Pennyliss who broke the same part of their boat twice in two days and called it quits. Pete wins because on day 2 he broke his face (12 stiches above his eye.) This was the same day that they broke their fourth mast. Ed and the Road Kill decided that enough was enough.
Best Hair in the face of gale force winds: Brad Phillips. Is he the new Jonathan Temple? Long, rock star hair, no matter how big the Sou-Easter. This must have been something he picked up in Europe. The ladies were talking.
Spinners: Lucky that Will Oxby on Pennyliss didn’t win the Unlucky award, they were possibly too busy focusing on Spinners. Will simply asked the question “What is the best way to get carbon to go off in a pokey Manly Hotel room when all you have is a hair drier?” The answer is simple right. The only problem is explaining that to every person you woke up when the fire alarm went off.
Skiff-Ed.