Ashes Jokes at the Ready !! – Goacher wins in Perth…!!!

FIFTEEN LEGEND CHALKS UP ANOTHER TITLE WIN

(David Yu and Chris Nelson…)

Great Britain’s triple world champion Steve Goacher teamed up with the winning skipper from last year’s Flying Fifteen nationals, Matt Owen, to secure the Golden Anniversary National championship for the class.  The union resulted in Owen winning an Australian title in successive years, one as helmsman and one as crew!

(Adam Hawkins and Ben Jones… and still finished second!!)

The championship was conducted on Perth’s picturesque Swan River and hosted by the South of Perth Yacht Club. Conditions varied through the week, with fresh south westerlies early, which gave way to some very light easterly breezes later in the week as weather conditions were influenced by a cyclone hovering off the north west of the State, and finished in a reasonably steady 12 to 15 knot easterly on the final day.

Before the start of today’s race, Goacher’s assignment was simple.  To win the title he had to ensure that he did not allow Alan Bax and Simon Childs to finish more than three places ahead of him.  As it happened, both finished worse than seventh, so today’s race did not influence the scoreline for either boat.

The result was a huge triumph for the three visiting British crews, who took out the first three placings in the regatta.  The trio showed remarkable consistency, so much so that the worst placing for any of them was a fifteenth in the 58 boat fleet.  Individual brilliance by several of the Australians from time to time was offset by the odd disaster in their scoreline and even with the benefit of two drops, they could not match the visitors.

Today’s race was a triumph for Adele Jackson and Dean McAullay.  They suffered a horrible day yesterday, starting out with a black flag disqualification in the first race and tenth place in the other two races – their worst scores for the week. Starting sensibly near the centre of the line today, the pair were clearly focused on controlling the centre of the course.  They played the shifty easterly well, ignoring the massive proportion of the fleet which headed off to the north side of the course on the first beat, and led at the top mark, with Adam Hawkins, Mike Hart, Graeme Lillingstone and David Yu in hot pursuit.

(Adele Jackson (huggee) and Dean McAullay (hugging)… )

Positions remained static on the square run, but on the second beat, Jackson/McAullay were very disciplined in sticking to their game plan to open up the gap to the chasing pack, but on the first reach the pack brought some fresher breeze down with them and once again that gap was back to about 30 seconds between first and second.  Goacher and Bax were doing what they had to do, well back from the leaders, and Hart had an uncharacteristic “lose” at the gybe mark, opening the door for David Yu and Chris Nelson.

Positions remained relatively stable during the final windward and return leg, so in a massive turnaround, Jackson/McAullay took the win ahead of Hawkins/Jones and Yu/Nelson, with Mike Hart finishing fourth.

Steve Goacher and Matt Owen therefore take home the Australian Flying Fifteen Championship trophy, with Adele Jackson and Dean McAullay being the best all-Australian crew.

Geraldton’s Adam Semple and Lisa Greeve won the silver fleet trophy with a four point buffer over Hank Heimans and Alan Sharpe, while Ray Ellard and Ken Treharne won the Classic championship without having to sail today.

Final Top 10:

  1. 3988                  17                  Steve Goacher/Matt Owen
  2. 3987                  20                  Alan Bax/Simon Childs
  3. 3775                  22                  Mike Hart/Richard Rigg
  4. 3933                  27                  Adele Jackson/Dean McAullay
  5. 3781                  30                  David Tucker/Matt Summers
  6. 3881                  30                  Adam Hawkins/Ben Jones
  7. 3670                  35                  Graeme Lillingstone/Ed Repsevicius
  8. 3743                  43                  Greg Tonnison/Steve Roberts
  9. 3859                  45                  David Yu/Chris Nelson
  10. 3982                  58                  Chris Paterson/Rupert Leslie

Final Silver Fleet:

  1. 3085                  10                  Adam Semple/Lisa Greeve
  2. 3224                  14                  Hank Heimans/Alan Sharpe
  3. 3312                  15                  Murray Latham/Tony Pugh

Final Classic Fleet:

  1. 2756                  6                  Ray Ellard/Ken Treharne
  2. 2012                  11                  Peter Paton/Narelle Thomas
  3. 2115                  20                  Wayne Hudson/Brianna Hudson

Our thanks both to Gill Browning for her reports from the RIB, and especially to Bernie Kaaks for his sensational photographs and reports!!

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