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GRAND PRIX SAILING |
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2009 JJ Giltinans
Championship Series Summary - February 2009 |
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The 60th staging of the JJ Giltinan
Championship produced one of the closest finishes on record with the result only
being decided in the final fifty meters of the last race. A fleet of 32 boats
representing Australia, New Zealand, the UK, USA and Canada raced in a
variety of testing conditions on Sydney Harbour. Stodart Wins
Race 1 Hugh Stodart, Daniel
Phillips and Jim Beck (Smeg) were the masters of a light easterly
breeze when they took out Race 1 in rain, overcast skies and an 8-10 knot
easterly breeze. For Stodart it was a great return to the class after
“retiring” at the end of last season. When injured crewman Greg Dixon was
unable to sail the regatta, regular skipper Phillips moved to the sheet and
recruited Stodart to steer Smeg,
which is last year’s winning Gotta
Love It 7 skiff. Smeg crossed the line 31s ahead of Southern Cross Constructions (Euan Mc Nicol, Aaron Links and
Trent Barnabas), with Active
Air-2UE (Matthew Searle,
Dan Wilsdon and Archie Massey) a further 20s back in third place. The British
team Project Racing with Andy Budgen on the helm sailed superbly downwind to
take the lead at one point but disastrously rounded a mark incorrectly and
had to retire. Active Air Flying to Win
Race 2 Matthew Searle, Dan Wilsdon
and Archie Massey dominated the 32-boat fleet when they took out Race 2. The
trio on Active Air-2UE took the lead at the start and
were never threatened over the long South-East course. Their winning margin
was an impressive 1m15s over defending champion Seve Jarvin in Gotta Love It 7. Third
placing went to Rag &
Famish Hotel (John Harris),
which finished 42s behind Gotta
Love It 7. After a disastrous first leg of the course, Southern Cross Constructions (Euan McNicol) finished strongly
to take fourth place. Seve Jarvin, Sam Newton and
Tom Clout had to use all their skills to master a shifty South-East wind in
bringing Gotta Love It 7 home the winner of Race 3. The win moved Gotta Love
It 7 into equal second place with Rag & Famish Hotel (John Harris) on 10
points, behind Race 2 winner Active Air-2UE (Matthew Searle, Dan Wilsdon and
Archie Massey) on 8. Gotta Love It 7’s margin was
27s from Rag & Famish, with British team Project Racing (Andy Budgen,
Matt McGovern and James Barker). Once again, an overcast sky and light wind greeted
the fleet on Sydney Harbour. There was an immediate drama when a Manly Ferry
appeared just after the start and the starter was forced to recall the
fleet. The race became a
merry-go-round for the leading group as the positions were changing constantly
in the difficult conditions. At the final windward mark 7’s lead was just a
couple of boat lengths from Project Racing with Rag & Famish Hotel and
Active Air-2UE close behind. The four teams sailed tack for tack up the final
beat but Gotta Love It 7 was in control and thoroughly deserved her
victory.
Southern Cross scores first
bullet Euan
McNicol, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas had to produce all their skills and
experience to bring Southern
Cross Constructions home a
narrow winner in Race 4 in a shifting southerly breeze which fully tested all
teams as it constantly changed direction and strength throughout . In one of
the closest races seen on the harbour, Southern
Cross Constructions had to
withstand a brilliant finishing burst by appliancesonlin.com.au (John Winning Jr., Dave Ewings and
Tim Austin) to win by just 4s in a thriller. Rag & Famish Hotel (John Harris, Peter Harris and
Scott Babbage) also produced a strong finishing burst to grab third spot
another 19s behind appliancesonline. Appliancesonline
became 5th winner Appliancesonline.com.au became
the fifth winner from as many races when she took out Race 5. Skipper John
Winning Jr., with crew Dave Ewings and Tim Austin, gave an outstanding
performance in an 8-10 knot northeast breeze to bring appliancesonline home a
37s winner and so keep alive their hopes of taking the title.
For the Southern Cross crew
of Euan McNicol, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas it was enough to give them a
narrow lead in the championship with two more races still to be sailed. After
discarding their worst performances to date, Southern Cross had a total of 10
points, followed by Active Air-2UE (Matthew Searle) on 12, Gotta Love It 7
(Seve Jarvin) and Rag & Famish Hotel (John Harris) both on 13 and
appliancesonline on 16. Project Racing sixth on 24 points. 4
Boats to fight for the title Another win by appliancesonline.com.au and
a dramatic last minute manoeuvre by the Gotta Love It 7 team set the scene
for the closest finish in the 70-year history of the Giltinan 18ft Skiff
Championship. With only one race left to be sailed in the championship, the
leading five teams were separated by just five points and it was almost a
case of whoever wins the last race wins the title. After a slow start to the
regatta when appliancesonline recorded only one sixth and two seventh
placings, their last three results had been two wins and one second. A continuation of this form would
see them seriously challenge the three teams ahead of them on
points. While the light breeze and
overcast sky made for a less than exciting image, the battle for every point
amongst the leading teams was enthralling. Little
separated Gotta Love It 7 and Southern Cross for most of the course and it
was only on the final spinnaker run from Rose Bay to Robertson Point where 7
edged ahead. With only 200 metres left to
sail on the windward leg, Gotta Love It 7 was secure in second place and it
appeared certain that Southern Cross would finish third. Yandoo was fourth and closing fast
on the leaders when Gotta Love It 7’s crew sailed away from the wind towards
Southern Cross and Panasonic, which were vying for third place. With Southern Cross beneath Gotta
Love It 7, Yandoo came fast on a starboard tack and gained the all-important
third placing behind 7.
Last leg drama decides
championship The Southern Cross
Constructions crew of Euan Mc Nicol, Aaron Links and Trent Barnabas became
the 2009 Giltinan 18ft Skiff champions after one of the craziest races seen
on Sydney Harbour. Although the
talented trio could do no better than fourth placing, their overall
pointscore of 18 points was just enough to defeat Active Air-2UE (Matthew
Searle, Dan Wilsdon, Archie Massey) by one point, with Gotta Love It 7 (Seve
Jarvin, Sam Newton, Tom Clout) three more points back in third place. A lack of wind at the
scheduled start time saw the start delayed for more than 20 minutes before he
elected to go with the four-lap windward-and-return course. The final
outcome was almost unbelievable as Southern Cross Constructions looked to
have absolutely no hope for more than three-quarters of the race. Trailing the leader by four minutes
and ten seconds at the first windward mark (and almost totally at the back of
the fleet) Southern Cross’ crew could only watch as most of their main
opponents were vying for the lead. Victory in the final race
went to the 2000 Giltinan winner John Winning with crew of Andrew Hay and
David Gibson in Yandoo. They
defeated the young Panasonic crew of Jonathan Whitty, Dan Higlett and Tom
Anderson by 1m12s with Active Air-2UE a further 15s back in third
place. Just when it looked as
though the ‘7’ team would win the race and take the title, everything went
180-degrees and the championship again became wide open. Yandoo, Active Air-2UE and Panasonic
made gains on Gotta Love It 7 while Southern Cross was also starting to move
closer to this leading group. As bows were turned towards
the finish and spinnakers set for the final run any one of Active Air-2UE,
Southern Cross or Gotta Love It 7 could become the champion – depending on
the final placings of each. It
was critical that Active Air-2UE could finish no worse than second, but the
young Panasonic crew was sailing beautifully and relegated Active Air-2UE to
third place. In the meantime, Southern
Cross had sailed through Gotta Love It 7 and the championship suddenly
belonged to McNicol and his team as they finished in fourth place. The finish line was an incredible
sight as skiffs were approaching from all directions. Only 6s separated the next four
skiffs as Gotta Love It 7 was relegated back to eighth place. Overall Points Score Southern Cross Constructions 2,4,(6),1,3,4,4 18pts 1st Active Air-2UE 3,1,4,4,4,(16),3
19pts 2nd Gotta Love It 7 7,2,1,5,5,2,
(8) 22pts 3rd Appliancesonline.com.au 6,7, Rag & Famish Hotel 5,3,2,3,6,(12),6 Yandoo 12,10,9,
(21),7,3,1 42pts 6th Project Racing (33),9,3,10,2,9,14
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