Kingston Beach Sailing Club teenage girls Jessie Atherton and Katherine Maher sailed their International Mirror 'Kamikaze' to their third consecutive Tasmanian State Championships win in the series sailed from their home club, which featured a bizarre final heat.
The series was marked by constant wind shifts and changes of course over the two days, with wind strengths varying from 0 to 10 knots.
For the series which had six heats, four heats featured a change of course, with the only two heats not changed being shortened! The race team for once really did have it worse than the sailors, with numerous attempts at setting courses foiled by yet another wind shift before they even got into the start sequence.
18 starters set off for the sixth heat but 'Kamikaze' who was leading the series by a single point at that stage was the only boat to finish the race.
After Kamikaze had rounded the windward mark for the second time and set their spinnaker for the run, those following found that their breeze had dried up leaving them stranded just short of the windward mark. Victorians Anita Scott-Murphy and son Ben Cruse in 'Stealth' had earlier grabbed the series lead from 'Kamikaze' after winning heat 4 but surrendered the series lead back to 'Kamikaze' who came from behind to win heat 5. 'Stealth' was probably less than 30 seconds behinds Kamikaze as Kamikaze rounded the mark, but managed to park (if not go backwards away from the mark) for probably 15 minutes. Meanwhile 'Kamikaze' continued on the run and was able to carry their spinnaker for most of the 'windward' leg to cross the finish line of the shortened course almost two legs of the course ahead. Many of the fleet eventually managed to get around the 'windward' mark but found that they were then still going upwind, and no other boat was able to finish within the required 20 minutes of the first boat.
As the Sailing Instructions provided only a single drop if only five or six heats were completed, this meant that 17 out of 18 in the fleet dropped this last race.
The series was a real wake up call for the male sailors, with female skippers winning every heat, and twice achieving a clean sweep of the podium positions, with Kingston Mirror legend Jenny Graney with Daniel McAully in 'Carpe Diem' taking third in heats one and five.
The visiting 'Stealth' crew would have to feel disappointed having won two heats and counting no worse than a second in their score, but he 'Kamikaze' girls were able to drop a third and counted four first and a second to win by a mere two points. 'Stealth' had recently also contested the NSW International Mirror State Championships where they were also second, finishing ahead of the recently crowned National Champions Lachlan & Finn Gilbert.
Anita and Ben are members of the Australian Team, having finished fifth in the last National Championships, to contest the 2009 World Mirror Championships to be sailed in Wales later this year, and have been travelling around to hone their skills before heading off to Europe. The following World Mirror Championships are to be held in 2010-11 at the Princess Royal Sailing Club in Albany Western Australia.
Veteran Mark Barrington with Molly Hulton in 'Kamikaze II' sailed consistently to claim third place overall, three points clear of 'Carpe Diem.' Robbie Hunt, who splits his sailing between a Mirror and a Sabot, with his dad Quentin up forward sailed well in the light breeze to claim fifth overall.
Robbie and Quentin were giving Anita and Ben an almost 40kg crew weight advantage. Robbie’s brother Alex Hunt with David McAully, the former National Junior Champions in 'Foxy Lady III' took the Junior title and had a great tussle with Tasmanian Class Association President Roger Orr who co-opted local Earle Westbury into 'All Fired Up'. These two had a dead heat in heat four and also ended up equal on overall points, with 'All Fired Up' claiming sixth on a count back from the juniors.
Matt Schofield and Jonathon Cooper in 'Pukeko' won the sub-junior division and impressed all with their performances, especially their fourth over the line in heat two.
The Rookie’s trophy went to Michelle and Lincoln Haines in 'Shadowfax.'
by Grant Atherton
- Yachting Austrlia Boat Registration Reminder
Yachting Australia have issued a reminder to all Mirror sailors that it is necessary for International Mirror Class Dinghies to be not only the holders of a measurement form but that that form should also be lodged with the YA. (accompanied with a small fee of $35.)
When an International boat changes hands the new owner needs to lodge a change of ownership form with YA. A copy of this form is then returned to the Association.
The forms are available on the YA website http://www.yachting.org.au Member Service>Download Standard forms> Recognised Class Transfer of Ownership Form
While the Australian Class constitution allows boats measured under Australian rules to compete in National regattas only International boats can compete in World titles. Please note that the YA reviews results posted on the websites for National and State regattas
To quote from the constitution:
The Class Rules of Measurement of the IMCAA shall be the current International Mirror Class Rules issued under the authority of the ISAF with the exception that for racing at National level or below boats shall comply with the current Class Rules or the Class Rules in effect at the time they were built.
Notwithstanding, boats constructed before 1 March 1990 (and not re-built or substantially modified after that date) may race at National level or below without a measurement certificate provided the hull was constructed from a kit supplied by a registered supplier and has not undergone substantial modification or replacement of the original construction material.
Results of 43rd Mirror Nationals - Balmoral Sailing Club NSW
A group of five Mirrors from Kingston Beach Sailing Club represented Tasmania and competed in the 43rd Mirror National Titles held at Balmoral Sailing Club, NSW.
New South Welsh Men Lachlan and Finn Gilbert sailing Stanley Crocodile won the title this year. While defending title holders Jessie Atherton and Catherine Maher from Kingston Beach Sailing Club finished a creditable second and took out the Junior Championship. The Norm Deane Masters Championship was also won by our very own Mirror Class and KBSC stalwart Jenny Graney with Daniel McAully sailing Carpe Diem.
A fleet of 32 boats competed in this year's national regatta with boats representing all states and territories with the exception of South Australia and The Northern Territory.
Our local contingent of sailors should be pleased with their results with all boats completing the series in the first half of the fleet, and all achieving at least one top 10 position in any one heat.
If you would like to read more about the Nationals at Balmoral and general observations about the Mirror Class and Mirror Sailors, the links below will take you to the Sail World website where a number of articles written by Grant Atherton have been published.
Lachlan Gilbert reclaims Australian Mirror Championship Title
Is the Mirror Dinghy the ultimate family class? Consider this....
Is it the boat or the sailors? A look at the top ten Aussie Mirrors
PLEASE: email this season's pics to the Mirror.Tas!
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