Tasmanian disabled sailors Matthew Bugg and Chris Symonds have made impressive starts to the 2018 Para World Sailing Championships being sailed from the US town of Sheboyan on Lake Michigan.
Symonds, from Wynyard Yacht Club, scored two wins, a second and a fifth place in the Hansa 303 class and is just one point the lead in third place overall.
Bugg, a member of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and the Derwent Sailing Squadron, began with a sixth in the 2.4mR class, but fell back to finish 14th in the second race. The Rio Paralympic silver medallist is ninth overall after day one.
Matt Bugg at Para World Sailing today.
A record 98 sailors from 39 nations are contesting the world championships, despite the announcement last week that there will be no sailing at either the Tokyo 2020 or the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
Bugg won the silver medal in the 2.4mR One Design class at the 2017 Para World Sailing Championships but has done little sailing since successfully defending his Australian title last summer.
In the highly competitive fleet of 38 boats on a chilly Lake Michigan, the Hobartian began well with a fifth place to Frenchman Damien Seguin, but finished mid fleet as the wind eased for race two.
Melbourne-based Tasmanian Neil Patterson is 11th overall after a 9-15 start in the 2.4mR class.
The men’s Hansa 303 fleet is split into six groups of six sailors. On the opening day, the competitors sailed two group and completed 12 races in total.
In his group, Chris Symonds finished the day with a 2-1-1-4 score, to be fourth overall but just one point behind the three equal leading sailors from Germany, Poland and Noumea.
Symonds earlier this year was named Tasmanian Disabled Sailor of the Year while Bugg is a former Tasmanian Male Sailor of the Year.
Words: Peter Campbell
Photos: World Sailing/Peter Campbell
19 September 2018
Hobart yacht owners are quickly embracing the international
rating rule, IRC, as the major handicap system for Combined
Clubs racing this coming season.
At least a dozen owners have already signed up to get an IRC
rating with the Combined Clubs working group anticipating
there will be between 40 and 50 boats racing under IRC this
summer.
Last season there were 14 boats entered in the IRC Category
of Group 1 of the Combined Clubs summer pennant series.
The Combined Clubs sailing programme for the River Derwent
and offshore for the summer of 2018-19 has clear objectives:
to encourage more owners to have their boats IRC rated and to
introduce IRC style courses.
The major objective is to prepare Tasmanian boat owners and
race officers for the Australian Yachting Championships to be
conducted by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in January
2020.
The prestigious National event will follow next year’s 75 th
Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and other offshore races finishing in
Hobart, and is expected to attract a significant fleet, including a
large local IRC fleet.
The Combined Clubs summer pennant series gets under way
on Saturday, 13 October with the first of nine race days, with
other major events being the new Combined Clubs Inshore
Series and the inaugural Tasmanian IRC Championships.
The Combined Clubs Offshore Trophy has been expanded to
include the DSS’ Pipe Opener Series night race on Friday
week, 21 September and the BYC’s Ise of Caves Race on 24
October in addition to the RYCT’s Maria Island Race in
November and the Bruny Island Race next February.
“In particular, we are encouraging Group 2 and 3 boat owners
to get an IRC certificate,” Combined Clubs spokesman, Vice
Commodore Nick Connor from the DSS said this week. “At
present, some 20 additional owners have confirmed they will
get an IRC certificate for the coming season.
“The Derwent Sailing Squadron, the Royal Yacht Club of
Tasmania and the Bellerive Yacht Club have agreed to jointly
assist owners obtain an IRC rating.
“We are planning to give IRC rated boats value for their money
by adding IRC scoring to the DSS/RYCT twilight racing using
the IRC non-spinnaker rating, and will explore other
opportunities to use the IRC rating.
“The overall winner of the Launceston to Hobart Race will also
be decided on IRC scoring,” added Vice Commodore Connor.
The traditional Combined Clubs Opening Day of the Yachting
Season 2018-19 will be held on Saturday, 6 October, organised
by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.
Leading this year’s Parade of Sail will be DSS Commodore
Steve Chau aboard his Young 88, Young Lion.
The Combined Clubs Summer Pennant remains as a nine-race
series but this season there will be four long race days and five
river race days, as opposed to five and four last summer.
Races will be scheduled approximately every second Saturday,
with the first race of the season scheduled for 13 October.
The new Combined Clubs Inshore Series will be held over four
race days with a 12:55 hours start and a target of two races
each day and a maximum of three.
IRC style courses will be a mix of ‘all points of sail’ in order to
ensure all IRC certificate holders ‘get value for their nominal
investment.’
Dates for the Combined Clubs Inshore Series will be: Saturday,
20 October (RYCT), Saturday, 8 December (DSS), Saturday, 2
March (BYC), Saturday, 23 March (jointly conducted by all
clubs). All will have mid-river starts.
The inaugural Tasmanian IRC Championship, conducted under
the auspices of Australian Sailing and hosted by the Derwent Sailing Squadron, will be held on 8-9 December and will decide the Tasmanian Keelboat IRC and PHS champions across divisions.
Words: Peter Campbell
Photos: Peter Watson, Peter Campbell, Michelle Denney
14 September 2018
Australian Sailing – Tasmania have organised a online web conference next Tuesday with Jason Smithwick Technical Director from the RORC Rating Office appearing from the UK, Jeff Cordell and Fred Barrett discussing: (more…)
Michael Pritchard’s canting keel Cookson 50 Oskana today gave a classic display of downwind power sailing under spinnaker in the final race of the Derwent Sailing Squadron/Battery World Winter Series.
On the first spinnaker run Oskana was hitting 20 knots-plus as she surfed across Sandy Bay, gybing downwind towards the leeward mark off the John Garrow Light.
Pritchard has been using the Winter Series to begin the preparation of Oskana and her crew for this year’s Melbourne to Hobart West Coaster ocean race.
Oskana and David Aplin’s Mbd35 Whistler are the only Tasmanian yachts so far entered for the West Coaster Race which starts from Port Phillip on 27 December.
Unfortunately, only four of the scheduled five DSS Winter Series races have been completed this year with bad weather leaving Oskana, Kindred Spirit, skippered by Alistair Douglas, and the Latham Syndicate’s J24 Another Toy the only three yachts to have sailed in at least three races.
Oskana missed the first race, but won Division 1 overall while Kindred Spirit, a Mottle 33, completed all four with three wins to take out Division 4. Another Toy won today’s final race to clinch an overall victory in Division 2 with a series score of 1-2-1.
The final day of the DSS Winter Series was sailed in a 20 knot WSW wind with westerly gusts roaring down from Mount Wellington at up to 34 knots.
The squalls provided challenging conditions for the reduced fleet of a dozen boats with the two classic 8-metres, Juanita and Juana, relishing the strong breeze although forced to feather their big mainsails when hit by 30 knots and more off Maning Reef.
Although Oskana scored a comfortable line honours win, handicap honours in the final race went to Juanita, with Jock Young on the helm.
Juanita won Division 1 today by four seconds on corrected time from Peter Haros’ Northshore 38 Wings Three, third place going to Juana, helmed by Andrew Blakney. Oskana placed fourth.
The Latham Syndicate’s J24, Another Toy, skilfully handled the strong breeze to win Division 2 from another J24, Zest (Matt Westland). Hot August Night (T Swann/J Pearson) placed third.
Only two boats started in Division 3 with Kindred Spirit winning a close fought match race from Cool Change (Chris Bobbi), 29 seconds across the line and 44 seconds on corrected time.
Today’s DSS/Battery World Winter Series wound up winter racing for 2018 conducted by the DSS, RYCT and BYC on the Derwent.
The first of Hobart’s spring/summer yacht racing will be the 50th Pipe Opener Series, starting with a night race from Hobart to Garden Island down the D’Entrecasteaux Channel on starting at 7.00pm on Friday week, 21 September.
Words: Peter Campbell
Photos: Peter Watson, Peter Campbell
9 September 2018
Derwent Sailing Squadron and Huon Yacht Club’s opening event of the yachting season, the Pipe Opener Series, is celebrating its 50th this month, with an added status.
The Combined Clubs have included the popular Friday night race as part of this summer’s Offshore Trophy, with the finish of the race down the Derwent and the Channel extended to Garden Island near the mouth of the Huon River.
The Pipe Opener night race starts at 7.00pm on Friday, 21 September, and on Saturday afternoon the fleet from Hobart will join local boats in the traditional Cock of the Huon at Shipwrights Point. Rounding off the weekend is a race from Port Huon to Gordon.
In past years the Offshore Trophy winner has been decided on just the Maria Island and Bruny Island long offshore races, but this season the Pipe Opener and Bellerive Yacht Club’s Isle of Caves Overnight Race have been added to the series.
Significantly, this means that yachts competing in the long ocean races at Christmas will have three night races as part of their preparations: The Pipe Opener next Friday, 21 September, the Isle of Caves Race on Wednesday, 24 October and the Maria Island Race starting on Friday, 16 November.
The fourth race in the Combined Clubs Offshore Trophy series will be the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania’s Bruny Island Race on Saturday, 9 February 2019.
Although entries for the Ronald Young & Co Builders Pipe Opener Series do not close until Wednesday week, 19 September, more than a dozen boats have already been nominated which DSS manager Shaun Tiedemann describes as “unprecedented, so far ahead of the event.”
Boats already entered include past Pipe Opener Series and Cock of the Huon winner Emotional Rescue, Michael Hutchinson’s Hobie 33.
Also on the early list are Launceston to Hobart winner Off-Piste, Paul Einoder’s Beneteau 34, Shaun Tiedemann’s Australian Yachting champion, the Sydney 36cr Philosopher which won the Offshore Trophy IRC and PHS pennants last season, and Combined Clubs summer Group 1 PHS series winner Tas Paints, Ian Stewart’s Mumm 36.
Two former Sydney Hobart winners, Filepro, the Tim Gadsby-helmed Lyons 40 and Ultimate Challenge, Peter Jenkins’ Dubois 40 are also among early entries, along with last summer’s Combined Clubs pennant winner Wings Three, Peter Haros’ Northshore 38, Tim Gadsby’s Filepro and Brent McKay’s Radford 35 Rad.
Entries are expected from Mike Pritchard’s Cookson 50 Oskana and David Aplin’s MBD35 Whistler, both of which are expected to contest the Melbourne to Hobart West Coaster this year.
Rolex Sydney Hobart entrant, Black Sheep, Rob Gourlay and Matthew Pilkington’s Beneteau 45 is also expected to contest the night race of the Pipe Opener.
Today will see the last of the club winter racing on the Derwent with the DSS scheduled to run the final race to decide winter pennants.
Words: Peter Campbell
Photos: Peter Watson, Peter Campbell
8 September 2018
