9:04 AM Thu 18 Jun 2009 GMT
Sean Wallis and his team sailing Wetty Gripper sailed a flawless regatta to win the first J24 Asia - Pacific championship. The Regatta was held at the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia and sailed over three days.
With eight races scheduled day one started in 7 knots from the NW and a tight dual between Sean Wallis W.A. Ben Lamb N.S.W. and Simon Grain Victoria ensured with Sean Wallis holding a tight finishing fleet. Heat 2 Saw David Suda from Victoria leading but Vladimir Borstnar from Singapore sailed deeper angles downwind to take heat 2 from Suda and Wallis.
Day 2 was sailed in 12 kts of steadier breeze and heat 3 saw Ben lamb lead from Alyn Stevenson S.A. with Wallis 3rd. Wallis worked his way to the lead to win the heat from Lamb and Stevenson. Race 4 proved to be costly for David Suda who was OCS and Wallis again sailed extremely fast up the first beat to lead from Lamb with Borstnar third.
Heat 5 saw David Suda from Victoria again mixing it with Wallis and Lamb and the trio led the Singapore team around the first leg. Wallis was just too quick and went on to win another heat from Suda and Borstnar.
Day 3 and the weather looked ominous. The Race committee boat blew a turbo so racing was postponed whilst another committee boat was prepared. The Race committee kept a close eye on the rain bands to the west expecting some turbulent weather. With only five races sailed David Suda was hoping for at least two races so he could drop his OCS. After a 90 minute postponement the fleet made its way to the start in 22knts of breeze.
Heat 6 Wallis was just too quick and bolted to lead the fleet around the course with Suda second and Lamb third.
Heat 7 started ok but a 35 knot rain squall came through half way up the first beat reducing visibility to zero, hence the Race committee abandoned all further racing.
The Regatta has some extremely close racing and all competitors were thrilled the standard of competition vowing to return next year with the fleet expected to swell to 30 entries.
 | J24 logo - 2009 J24 Asia - Pacific Championship - Traci Ayris |
The first five places were filled from different states and countries, full results at www.cycsa.com.au/ANC/index.html
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper State From Sers Score
1 AUS196 WETTY GRIPPER Sean Wallis WA RPYC 8.00
2 AUS160 ARMED & DANGEROUS Ben Lamb NSW MHYC 17.00
3 SIN10 FUN Vladimir Borstnar Singapore SAFYC 29.00
4 AUS171 PACEMAKER David Suda Victoria SYC 38.00
5 AUS205 FUN 2 Alyn Stevenson SA CYCSA 41.00
Traci Ayris managed to catch up with the Wetty Gripper team for some comments.
Weather 'The variety of weather conditions experienced was actually very good. everyone was able to show their talents and in a competition at this high level you really need to be able to sail in all types of conditions'
Crew - 4 from Perth and local sailor David Higgins. The four of us from Perth have been sailing together since 2004
Heading out for day three when it was unsure whether races would proceed 'I was quite keen not to worry about going out today' he laughs 'but in the end we had some great racing'
On competition 'We were keen to pitch ourselves against David Souter from Melbourne so coming into this regatta we thought our main threats would come from both David and Ben Lamb'
On J24's 'They provide such a great competition, there's great depth in this class nowadays, generally at this level you're sailing in a field of champions. The boats themselves, being true One Design and with the same crew weights make for a level playing field, it all comes down to who puts the best race together on the day'
On weather conditions Day 3 'Ha! Pretty sloppy out there actually, the first day when there was less breeze and you'd think it would have been flatter, was sloppy on the water as well, It was definitely a challenge for us because we regularly sail on the (Swan) River'
What's next? Sean Wallis
'We've got the nationals in Melbourne this coming January, we may go to New South Wales for the State Titles but our primary goal is to compete at the worlds in Sweden'
The CYCSA is a fantastic venue for racing and they really know how to run a Regatta, they also provided 7 loan boats and billeted most visiting teams.
Next year will see at three J24 Regattas on the Asia - Pacific circuit with Adelaide, Singapore, Korea and Japan likely hosting events.
by Alyn Stevenson
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