Twinbeach Modellers,
the model yacht division of Chipping Norton Lake Sailing Club, hosted
the EC12 Australian Championship last weekend 28/29th Oct for
NSW.
Held last year in
Queensland and won by one of their own, Graeme Turk, who was down here
to defend his title on very unfamiliar waters.
The competition was
under way pretty much on time as the 13 boat fleet sailed out into
squally SW winds that were about to test the skills and boat setups of
all skippers. Conditions measured at the BOM Weather Station at the
nearby Bankstown Airport were solid 20 – 23 knots with gusts to 30
knots.
Clance # 193 and
Chris Denman # 59 of the hosting club were the only boats with full
sized rigs, the rest sporting smaller 'B' rigs more suited to the
stronger winds.
Clance and Daniel
Grove were the first in trouble in heat 1, pulling out with equipment
problems, suffering the same in heat 2, then settling in for the rest of
the day.
Dave Moloney
suffered severe problems in the 2nd heat and was forced to
retire.
Col Ferguson was a
DNF & DNS for the last 2 heats before lunch but OK for the majority of
the day's heats.
Chris Denman was out
after heat 5 due to a major leak which shorted out his electrics. A
marathon repair effort to 2 am that night had him back in the regatta on
Sunday.
This was after
attending the competitors dinner Saturday evening with 13 heats
completed and 3 hrs of fleet racing ahead on Sunday, then into the match
race finals for the top 4 boats.
Sunday dawned with
light SE winds and a whole new ball game, full rigs for all and Chipping
Norton Lakes unpredictable shifting breezes.
With 20 heats done
and skippers able to drop their worst 3 heat results, we had our
finalists.
1. # 46 Graeme Turk
(Qld)
2. # 94 Malcolm
Kampe (Qld)
3. # 20 Gary
Declauzel (NSW)
4. # 61 Yeoman
Sands (Qld)
Racing off in pairs
for the best of 3 heats, 1 vs 3 and 2 vs 4, down to the wire with 1 win
each for the first pair had Gay knocking Graeme out of the final, his
Champ defense was over.
The 2nd
pair had Malcolm with 2 straight wins over Yeoman.
Now it was Graeme vs
Yeoman for 3 rd and 4th with Gary vs Malcolm for the Championship.
Graeme with 2 over 1
to secure 3 rd place and now all eyes were on the main event.
Down to the wire
again with one win each.
The Championship
deciding race began with a tense duel to the starting gun, with Malcolm
holding cover over Gary at the inner mark, both with their sails off and
stalling for time as the last few seconds ticked away, then opening the
door when he broke off just a little early as he scooted for the
starting line and leaving enough gap for Gary to break out and into a
commanding position.
Malcolm's boat was
just not drawing power efficiently, allowing Gary to control the race
from the front, leading at every mark, though Malcolm was never far
astern.
Malcolm fought back
hard, however his only real option was to find a better wind shift.
A last ditch effort
on the final leg but Gary held a wide windward advantage to score the
final race win and the EC12 Australian Championship, representing
Harrington Park Radio Yacht Club and NSW.
Final Placings -
Fleet Race Heats
1. # 46 Graeme Turk
2. # 94 Malcolm
Kampe
3. # 20 Gary
Declauzel
4. # 61 Yeoman Sands
5. # 88 Daniel Grove
6. # 86 Colin
Ferguson
7. # 101 Ross
Audsley
8. # 74 Chris Craft
9. # 44 Leigh Grove
10. # 193 Clance
Denman
11. # 294 Terry
Wilson
12. # 59 Chris
Denman
13. # 71 Dave
Maloney
Final Placings -
Match Race Finals
1. # 20 Gary
Declauzel (NSW)
2. # 94 Malcolm
Kampe (Qld)
3. # 46 Graeme Turk
(Qld)
4. # 61 Yeoman Sands
(Qld)
Report by Stan
Allen.
Coordinator
CNLSC-Twinbeach
Modellers
