Australian Etchells: Tough battle ahead for Bertrand, Ainslie,Palfrey

7:33 PM Sun 11 Jan 2009 GMT

'Ainslie and Palfrey working hard - Commonwealth Bank 2009 Etchells Australian Championship' Steve Hall

Exciting conditions and racing at the Commonwealth Bank 2009 Australian Etchells Championships.
With winds increasing to over 22knts the 44 strong fleet of 'practice' race participants enjoyed stunning conditions on the Gulf of St Vincent, with warm sea and winds the conditions were perfect for Etchells with many surfing for long periods on the downwind legs; 34 boats finished.

After one general recall in a one-way course the three boats that started at the pin lead throughout the day. John Bertrand - Triad, Skip Lissiman - Bandwagon and Rob Brown - Steampacket 7 started from the pin, headed to the left lay line and one tacked it, rounding the top mark in that order. Whilst racing was tight throughout the fleet, these three were the standout boats for the day.

The start - Commonwealth Bank 2009 Etchells Australian Championship - Steve Hall

Bertrand and Lissiman exchanged the lead several times. Lissiman eventually won from Brown after Bertrand pulled out on the last beat having regained the lead on the final run.

However, Bertrand and Brown were OCS.

Provisional winners: Skip Lissiman - Bandwagon, Alastair Gair - Velsheda (NZL) and Brendan Garner - The Moe Szyslak Experience.

Ben Ainslie looking very relaxed and clearly enjoying himself said: 'what great waters to sail in! Today we fell off the pressure a bit with Lissiman a bit higher, he took off in plenty of breeze.'

As for his team mates 'John is just fantastic, and 'Doggy' (Andrew Palfrey) is super,' continuing he said 'I'm the weakest link they carried me around the course!'

Skipp Lissiman’s Bandwagon - Commonwealth Bank 2009 Etchells Australian Championship - Steve Hall

New Zealander Alistair Gair - Velsheda came storming through the fleet to finish third after a poor start saw them buried deep at the top mark.

Lissiman, who crewed with Bertrand (on Australia II in 1983) relishes the racing conditions, and is very clearly one of the 7 or 8 boats that could win the championship, 'We very much enjoy racing against Rob and John, whilst there is heaps of rivalry we are all mates' he said.

Rob Brown also clearly enjoyed both the bumpy and up to 22knt breeze, 'we just don't get conditions like these on the east coast, and today we were just about getting our technique right.' He went on to say 'whilst surfing we opened out 100m on the second run.'

Racing starts in earnest tomorrow with winds expecting to moderate and the championships will heat up in many ways!

Triad - Commonwealth Bank 2009 Etchells Australian Championship - Steve Hall

Sponsors have been quick to jump aboard, recognising the contribution sailing makes to the local community and keen to associate with a healthy outdoor sport. Sponsors include; The Commonwealth Bank, MUSTO, Club Marine Insurance, Coopers Brewery, Jacobs Creek Wines, Kaesler Wines and Aircommand Australia and the Royal SA Yacht Squadron.

Daily race updates and news including video clips will be posted on the website during the Championship, the website includes full details of the event, including Notice of Race (NOR) and a local guide

Practice Race Results- Etchells One Design

***One Design Pos results Wind 22 knots at 210 deg. Waves 0m.***
Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	CREW	CREW.	Crew3	From	Score
1	AUS891	BANDWAGON	Skip Lissiman	Andy Fethers	Keith Swinton	Tyson Lamond	RPYC	1.0
2	950	VELSHEDA	Alastair Gair	Dave Ridley	Rhys Johnston	Derek ScOtt	GHEF	2.0
3	AUS1131	THE MOE SZYSLAK EXPE	Brendan Garner	Tim Clark	Michael ScHilt		RGYC	3.0
4	AUS870	RONI	Mark Bradford	Peter Merrington	Anthony Nositer		RQYS	4.0
5	AUS1244	DR. EVIL	Jake Gunther	Tony Mc Phail	Russel Tyson		RBYC	5.0
6	AUS1338	CRITICAL BALANCE	Mark Bulka	James Ryssenbeek	Steve Young		RBYC	6.0
7	AUS736	WOOD DUCK	Shane Deusson	Stephen Dunn	Myles Kohler		RSAYS	7.0
8	AUS1367	CHILL PILL	Rob Bird	Graeme Johnson	Nic Gray		RFBYC	8.0
9	NZL1314	ADDICTION	Lindsay Kennedy	Mark Kennedy			GHYC	9.0
10	AUS1270	LA VIE DANSANTE	Chris Pratt	Simon Estella	Caillin Howard		RSYSRSAYSMYCCYCSA	10.0
11	AUS1288	MAGIC BUZZ	Steve Gunther	Adrian Hayes	Brad Jones		RBYC	11.0
12	AUS1276	OVER ENGINEERED	Garrath James	Andrew Colliver	Blair Coventry		BYS	12.0
13	AUS1366	PEDRO	Kirwan Robb	Jamie Thompson	Breeahn McCraken	Rodney Muller	RBYC	13.0
14	AUS1160	LIQUIDITY	Dirk Van Der Struyf	Nigel Nattrass	Adam Martin		RFBYC	14.0
15	AUS883	TUSK	Gary Smith	Michail McAullay	Brett Shoebridge		RPYC	15.0
16	AUS1022	SCREAMING PLUM	Doug Kerr	Greg Kerr	Luke Paterson		RFBYC	16.0
17	AUS1141	MENS SHIRTS	Peter Stubbings	Ann Stubbings	Ross Melville		RBYC	17.0
18	AUS1311	MYSTERY TAXI	Paul Henshall	Bruce Henshall	Jeremy Tustin		RSAYS	18.0
19	AUS1117	7PS	Ian Anderson	Stuart Emery	Malcolm Pearson	Ashleigh Emery	PFS	19.0
20	AUS1136	DAYLIGHT COME	Alastair McMichael	Andrew McAullay	Richard Edinger		RPYC	20.0
21	AUS1223	TANGO	Chris Hampton	Tim Godbert	Tom Connell		RBYC	21.0
22	AUS1129	MURPHYS LAW	Geoff Boettcher	Geoff Boettcher			RSAYS	22.0
23	AUS1258	RUBY	Jason Ward	Damien McCaughey	Tim Cawley		RSAYS	23.0
24	AUS1158	NEW WAVE	Peter La Fontaine	Peter Cox	Sam Dryden		RGYC	24.0
25	AUS1360	ETCH	Jan Muysken	Ian Audsley	Peter Alexander		RSYS	25.0
26	AUS1317	UNA MAS	Mark Dagge	Matthew Hansen	Josh Willis		RQYS	26.0
27	AUS1272	FOOLHARDY	James Hardy	Tom Hardy	Alan Bessell		RSYS	27.0
28	AUS608	MEDIUM RARE	Wayne Knill	Russell Jones	Noel Paterson		RSAYS	28.0
29	AUS1218	SUPERHEAT	David Henshall	Steve Jenkins	Dean Furniss		RSAYS	29.0
30	AUS951	FISH FACTORY	Michael Bradley	Guy Maegraith	Malcolm Larsen-Smith		RSAYS	30.0
31	AUS609	GOMAS	Richard Colebatch	David Biven	Ian Andrews		RSAYS	31.0
32	AUS775	BANZAI	Robert Holyoak	Bruce Roberts	Robin Braendler		RSAYS	32.0
33	AUS833	MAXEN WLEDIG	Donald Halley	Dennis Fearnley	Richard Hunter		RSAYS	33.0
DNC	AUS892	SECOND WIND	Jeff Rose	Craig McCullam	Cam Gribble		METUNG	45.0
DNF	AUS215	BARRACUDA	Liza Reynolds	Chris Heritage	Aaron Heritage		RSAYS	45.0
DNF	AUS714	FRENCH STICK	Andrew Waterman	Steve Fletcher	Robert Howatt		RSAYS	45.0
DNF	AUS868	YANDOO XX	Jeanne-Claude Strong	Neville Wittey	Will Canty	Kieran Searle	RSYS	45.0
DNS	AUS1291	THE DON	Don Wilson	Eric Findlay	Tba Tba		GSC	45.0
OCS	AUS832	BAD SQUIRREL	Andrew Short	Phil Webb	Brett Yardley		RFBYC/RSAYS	45.0
OCS	AUS1318	BANANAS IN PYJAMAS	Ian Johnson	Tim Ede	Mark Tonner-Joyce		RBYC	45.0
OCS	AUS1321	CHOICES	Ian Dixon	Mark O Brien	Nick Paterson		RSAYS	45.0
OCS	AUS1346	AVALON	Peter McNeill	Michael Bellingham	James Mayjor		LMYC	45.0
OCS	AUS1374	STEAMPACKET 7	Rob Brown	Bruce Wookey	Garry Gudmunson		RPAYC	45.0
OCS	AUS1383	TRIAD	John Bertrand	Andrew Palfrey	Ben Ainslie		RBYC	45.0