1:50 AM Tue 17 Mar 2009 GMT
 | | 'Ladies show the way - Stealth (yellow Kite), Carpe Diem (blue/yellow), and Kamikaze (red/yellow/green) show the men how it’s done - 2009 International Mirror Tasmanian Championships'
Jessie Westbury
Click Here to view large photo
|
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.
 | What’s the new Mark Room Rule again? Close racing was a common feature of the titles - 2009 International Mirror Tasmanian Championships - Jessie Westbury Click Here to view large photo |
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.'
 | Tasmanian Championships winner Kamikaze leads runner up Stealth to the leeward mark - 2009 International Mirror Tasmanian Championships - Jessie Westbury Click Here to view large photo |
by Grant Atherton
Click on thumbnails to enlarge and find more photos:
   |
