Lou Abrahams’ Challenge successfully defended the Quantum Sydney 38 Victorian Championship hosted by Sandringham Yacht Club on the 20th and 21st April. Whilst the final points may suggest it was an easy win for Challenge, this was far from the case. Two of the races won by Challenge were by a mere 2 seconds and a 6th in race 5 opened the door for a close series. Chutzpah38 skippered by Bruce Taylor from RYCV started the series with a runaway win in Heat 1 and sailed well to finish second from Ian Murray’s Cinquante from RGYC which also won a heat.
The Corinthian Division was won by Clockwork owned by SYC members Frank McDermott and Gordon Mathers from the RBYC’s Audacious owned by Greg Clinnick and Paul Holden. In spite of winning two races, the class rule of not allowing a drop race and inconsistency penalized Audacious from a better overall result. Playground owned by Andrew Robinson also demonstrated good form to be placed 3rd in the Corinthian Division.
Racing on Saturday was sailed in a south easterly wind varying in strength from 12 to 20 knots which generally favoured the left hand side of the course. Interestingly, the elapsed times for the windward /leeward course ranged from 57 minutes to 1 hour 2 minutes. Given the target was a 1 hour race the Race Officer, Bruce Humphries did a great job.
Race 1 :- Chutzpah38 led from start to finish and whilst the crew had a scare on the final run to the finish with a spinnaker problem, they held on to comfortably win from Clockwork. Challenge and 38 Degrees South were over anxious at the start and were both recalled as premature starters but Challenge recovered to finish 3rd.
Race 2 :- Audacious, with excellent downwind speed held off a fast finishing Challenge to record a well deserved win. Clockwork threatened throughout the race to finish 3rd.
Race 3 :- This was a very close race which was won at the weather mark when Challenge was able force both Chutzpah38 and Clockwork to underlay the mark and cross the finish 2 seconds ahead of Clockwork which continued her great form.
Race 4 :- Clockwork aiming for the pin at the start, misjudged her run and was forced to restart and never recovered to finish 7th , spoiling what otherwise would have been a great day’s result. On the other hand, Challenge was able to catch the last wave of the day to beat Chutzpah38 across the line to win by the narrowest of margins after see saw battle run to the finish. Third was Cinquinte which had improved each race.
Conditions on Sunday were very different. An unusual shifting north easterly wind, variable in strength from 10 to 15 knots, played havoc with the fleet. Again the RO did a great job with the elapsed time of all three each race varying by only 2 minutes. On this occasion it was the right side of the course which was generally favoured, although positioning in the pressure was just as important.
Race 5 :- This time it was Cinquante that was the bolter and sailed extremely well to win convincingly. Those that went left including Challenge and Sierra Chainsaw suffered badly and never recovered. Chutzpah38, with Noel Drennan calling the shots and Playground also did well. Given Challenge’s poor result, the series was now wide open with any one of the four leading boats having a chance to win the regatta.
Race 6 :- What a race! This was the closest result of the regatta. At “the gate” at end of the first lap it was four abreast and very close. At the weather mark it was equally as close and it was only a lift at the very last moment and a crash jibe to port by Challenge that had her on a port jibe in clear air that gave her the jump on the fleet. 38 Degrees South skippered by John Chatham and Sierra Chainsaw sailed by the Mollison family, the early leaders, had their best races to fill the minor places.
Race 7 :- Unfortunately for Chutzpah38, going left was a disaster! She sailed out of wind on the first beat and was never a threat. Given the results of race 6, Challenge was now in a position where it had to protect its lead and conservative tactics actually paid dividends particularly downwind when it paid to jibe early to port. The conditions suited Audacious and whilst Challenge threatened on the final run to the finish, she was able to cross the line a clear winner by 5 seconds.
FINAL RESULTS
1. Challenge Lou Abrahams 3,2,1,1,6,1,2 16 points
2. Chutzpah38 Bruce Taylor 1,4,3,2,2,5,7 24 points
3. Cinquante Ian Murray 6,5,4,3,1,4,4 27 points
4. Clockwork Gordon Mathers/Frank McDermott 2,3,2,7,5,6,3 28 pts
5. Audacious Greg Clinnick/Paul Holden 5,1,7,6,4,8,1 32 points
6. Playground Andrew Robinson 4,6,9,4,3,7,5 38 points
7. Sierra Chainsaw Mollison Family 7,8,5,5,7,3,8 43 points
8. 38 Degrees South John Chatham 8,7,6,8,8,2,6 45 points
9. Adrenalin Ian Beer/Andrew Molnar 10,9,8,9,9,9,9 63 points
Ben Solly organized a very enjoyable function on Saturday night in the library at SYC. The same venue was also used for the presentation after the regatta and was well attended.
The regatta was very well run by Bruce Humphries and his on water team. John Chatham and Peter Cole attended to the conformance issues whilst Noel Allen and Darren Eger ensured the fleet behaved themselves with a jury presence on the water.
The Sailing Office in particular Monica and Sulis also did a great job organizing the event.
In summary, the Challenge crew, lead by Mark Bulka used their considerable experience to win another State Title for Lou. However, the competition has improved to the extent that any number of boats have the potential to win in the future. Rumour has it that another Sydney 38 is about to join the fleet in June, leaving the Southern Chapter Sydney 38 fleet in very good shape.
Rowan Simpson
Secretary,
Sydney 38 Class Southern Chapter