South Australian State Titles

The first three races of the 2007/08 South Australian 505 state championships were finally completed at Henley Sailing Club on the 17^th and 18^th of November after racing had to be abandoned at Brighton & Seacliff two weekends before. A storm front decimated the fleet in race one of the series, resulting in the racing being abandoned and a resail being scheduled at Henley.

Saturday saw two races in a gentle but building SW breeze. Race 1 was a 10-12kn breeze with a few 5-10 degree shifts and race two saw a small increase in strength with gusts to 15kn and a continuation of the shifts.

The first race was won by the Commonwealth Bank team with a gap of nearly two minutes. A good start saw the boys with room to tack straight of the line, which they did, stepping into the first shift and gaining on the fleet straight away. Second was Sandy and Marshy in their new Hawaii 5 0, they were third around the top mark the first time after Damian Carey and new crew Tom Trewatha hit the right corner up the first beat. Also up there was Damian’s old crew Marcus Cooper now sailing with his beloved Sarah Withall on Lucy Furr. Both these crews passed Damian and Tom during the race, though Sarah and Marcus did drop from third up the last beat as a hard charging Pete Woolman and Phil Webb – several years into their two minute noodle tour came through to third.

The second race was again won by the Commonwealth Bank team, but this time it was a much closer affair. After a bit of start line chaos, (Pikey, Dan – you do know you should be going forward when the race starts???) Commonwealth Bank and Hawaii 5 0 emerged at the front of the pack with the Noodle Tour boys. At the top mark, the lead two boats were millimetres apart, but Higgins and Marsh had the inside running. From there, they controlled the race, though there were never more than a couple of boat lengths in it. Into the last run the Hawaii 5 0 elected to bear away set. Immediately the Commonwealth Bank team went for the gybe set. Higgins and Marsh gybed back to cover, but had some problems in their boat. At the same time Commonwealth Bank grabbed some pressure ran lower and managed to cross in front on the last gybe. From there, it was around the bottom mark then into the finish. Woolman and Webb had held their third throughout the race, but this time they were under pressure from the fangin hoons – Jono and Burnsey.

Race three on Sunday was very light. An initial postponement delayed the start an hour, but it finally got underway in a shifty 3 – 5kn. Starting in a SW Mal Higgins and Chis got the best start in the middle of the line and Higgins and Marsh at the pin got away well too. The first beat was shifty but paid to the left. Higgins and Marsh gained the most and rounded first next around was Commonwealth Bank and Groove Train side by side right with them though were Ian Burford and Wayne Boyd on SS Cardsharks and Robin Cross and Mark Paparella on their new toy Plan B. The first run saw most elect for a bear away set, but groove train and cardsharks gybed away from a big left hand shift. However, the shift moved so much, that when they gybed back, they were shy reaching into the mark at twice the speed of everyone else and set themselves up with a race winning lead. Mal and Chis lead around followed by Boydy and Burf and these two held these positions through very difficult and shifty conditions with the wind dying out and the course being shortened. Sandy and Marshy rounded third followed by Commonwealth Bank and Plan B. The Commonwealth Bank boys decided to sail the long way up the beat and soon dropped back to fifth. Up the final beat though, they pursued pressure after Sandy and Marshy chose the long route this time and Plan B gave up a place as well.

So after three races Commonwealth Bank leads from Hawaii 5 0 and 2 minute Noodle Tour. The next heat is set for Sunday December 9 at the Adelaide Sailing Club.