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State Championships and Interclub Races 2008-09

Parramatta River Championship - 2nd November 2008

A very light North Easter trickled down the harbour to greet the fleet for the Parramatta River Championship. Hosted by Abbostford 12ft Flying Squadron the season’s second championship race may have not been blessed by the wind god’s but crews where thanking they’re lucky stars for the run out tide, helping with the long work to the top mark.

The local boys in S (Jakub Ronoswick and Chris Urquhart) got the best of the start and lead the fleet up the first part of the river along with Kiroshi (Ben Austin and David Cleworth).

The fleet were challenged as they made the pass through the dog leg at Henley (aptly dubbed the “toilet bowl”), again the crews would have been thanking that outgoing tide, especially with the knowledge that 3 more passes of the toilet bowl would be required during the race.

At the top mark the first time 3 boats rounded simultaneously, Kiroshi, Andrew Short Marine (Michael Spies) and Garde (Brett Hobson), with a tightly bunched pack of S, Gemmell Sails (Murray Press) and Yabba Dabba - Dimension Polyant (Nick Press) following.

Through the toilet bowl again….this small section of the river would provide the story of the day, each pass was always a gamble, and with the breeze swinging to the north on a frequent basis, spinnakers were almost impossible..... Garde had to drop her spinnaker to squeeze thru which saw Kiroshi extend her lead. Gemmell and Yabba closed the gap to Garde dramatically.

Garde picked up a northerly puff right out front of the club and carried it half way to the bottom mark, and would take the lead from Kiroshi.

Up the next work it was the Yabba Dabba boy’s time to shine. With boat speed to burn they tore through the fleet and by the top mark were only 15seconds behind Garde. Next was Gemmell Sails closely followed by Andrew Short Marine and a resurgent O (Jono Temple).

Thistle Hill Wines (Matt Killoran) sporting some off season renovations was leading the next group hotly contested between Kiroshi, Gizmo (Michael Bochner) and Foxy Lady Too (Peter Poloc). Kiroshi coming unstuck trying to sneak past Abbotsford point having to capsize to avoid ended up in someone’s front yard.        

Rounding the top mark and the run down wind towards the dog leg Garde jumped away again, but the Yabba Dabba were relentless, closing the gap once more mid way down the run.

Nick Press from Yabba Dabba, summarised the days racing  - “it was like a slinky effect between ourselves and Garde, we would catch right up to them, then they would get away again. This was the story all day.”

Garde held their lead up the next work but things closed up again on the final downwind leg through the toilet bowl, Yabba Dabba holding their kite for longer than Garde, who had to drop early closing the gap to within seconds.

When Garde reset it appeared they may have done so too early, picking up another northerly shift which almost blew them back onto the shore. This gust, however, would see them jump away again.

With the leading two boats getting a jump on the fleet it was a fast a furious fight for 3rd with O and Andrew short Marine cutting things a little too fine around the various points of the river. Both boat’s now sporting slightly shorter centre boards.

Garde almost handed Yabba a get out of jail free card at the bottom mark the final time, making a mess of the kite drop and almost capsizing. But they held on to take the win.

Andrew Short Marine grabbed 3rd place after a tough battle for minor placings 3rd though to 7th. 4th went to Gemmell sails with O 5th and Thistle Hill 6th.

Andrew Short Marine were rewarded for their performance by picking up the handicap honours.

A quick congratulations to the skipper of Dipolar Software (missing from the score sheet today), and association president Ed Blackman who was married saturday night.

Next month will see all Sydney clubs hosting a heat of the State Championships. Heats 1-3 will be on the first weekend of December and heats 4-6 will be the weekend after. Check the Calendar for more details. The event promises to be a big one, doubling as the selection series for the Australian interdominion team, and is also a great lead up event to the interdomions.

Skiff-Ed