Bruising beeze finale to Etchells Aust Winters

A bruising flesh, fabric and hull tormenting strong wind warning sorted the players from the stayers during the final day of the 2008 Musto Etchells Australian Winter championship off Mooloolaba Beach today.

Torn sails, bent spars and crew fatigue caused a long list of retirements while the heavy wind specialists were forced to hike hard upwind then hang on during the wild spinnaker runs to salvage their reputations.

As expected the coastal strong wind warning presented some apprehension when the fleet sailed onto the course and this clearly emerged during the physically demanding up wind slog in race five when title leader Magpie (Graeme Taylor) and his nearest rival Mark Bulka's Critical Balance were buried in the pack with no escape route.

The Magpie crew of skipper Taylor, Grant Wharington and Simon Gorman who handed the International standard fleet a sailing lesson to claim a 1-7-1-2 in the lighter winds on Friday and Saturday could only manage to finish 18th while Mark Bulka finished 24th in a physically tough race won by former Winter champion Ian Johnson in Bananas in Pyjamas.

These results compacted the points table allowing former World champion Cameron Miles, Phil Smidmore and David Sampson to become the new leader with Blake Snake.

Miles Black Snake combination expressed the benefit of consistentcy and was in the position to become a serious trophy challenger with their 5-3-6-7-4 score to lead the Magpie crew by four penalty points after they added an 18th to their 1-7-1-2.

This set the stage for an exciting final when the fleet lined up for another supreme test of fresh wind sailing.

As expected both the highly experienced Magpie and Black Snake crews became interested in their own private match race with Cameron Miles needing to force the Magpie crew to race back in the pack.

But Taylor had done his maths and remained committed to sail with a protective strategy while the Audi Australian Summer Champion Jason Muir and his Racer XY crew power sailed to a runaway win with unmatched speed.

Muir's Racer XY was easily the start performer when his crew of Matthew Chew, Darren Jones and Paul White left their rivals to follow their white water wake to settle the minor heat and overall championship places.

Racer XY finished over a minute in advance of the Mark Bulka skippered Critical Balance while the Magpie crew completed the bruising final in fourth place to win the title by four points from Critical Balance and Racer XY.

Results: 2008 Musto Australian Winter Etchells C'ship final:

Magpie (Graeme Taylor, Vic) 1-7-1-2-(18)-4 15pts 1.
Critical Balance (Mark Bulka, Vic) 6-2-8-1-(24)-2 19pts 2.
Racer XY (Jason Muir, Qld) (20)-5-5-6-2-1 19pts 3.
Black Snake (Cameron Miles, NSW) 5-3-6-(7)-4-5 23pts 4.
Bananas in Pyjamas (Ian Johnson, Vic) (21)-17-10-5-1-6 39pts 5.
870 (Mark Bradford, Qld) 11-10-3-4-(26)-11 39pts 6.
Racer X (Mike O'Brien, Qld) 3-1-2-13-(36)-22 41pts 7.
Triad (John Bertrand, Vic) 7-16-4-10-10- (17) 47pts 8.
Fifteen (David Clark, NSW) 4-11-(23)-11-12-14 52pts 9.
La Ve Desante (Chris Pratt, SA) 9-9-22-16- (37)-8 64pts 10.

by Ian Grant