BRISBANE BLOG 13:
Bye Bye Brisbane.
After 5 days of glorious weather, when South Queensland delivered up the very best in dinghy sailing conditions, the International Contender Class have a new champion and now it is time for everyone to return home. The competing nation flags have all been taken down and already the first container to leave the site (the Italian) has been collected for shipment home.
It seemed than no sooner had it arrived, than it was time to start repacking the GBR container. Even at 0730 hours the interior of the box was like a sauna, which helped spur the team on to get the task completed before the sun really started to shine! Chris 'Boish' has just been sent outside for smoking in the container!!
From a sailing journalism viewpoint, I picked up on a number of themes from the event, some very good, others less so.
But first a précis of what the ten days of competition at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron was all about. The opening day of the Australian Nationals must have had a number of the lighter or less proficient sailors more than a little worried, as a brisk south easterly breeze met a strong weather going tide and churned the race course out on Moreton Bay into what resembled a large washing machine. In a ruthless application of Darwinian ‘survival of the fittest’ theory, those who had failed to fully prepare either themselves or their boats found the going hard, with rudders and pintle fittings being responsible for a large number of the boats that were towed back into harbour. As only 50% of the fleet made it to the finish line, the excellent Race Team under the watchful eye of PRO Alan Curtis decided to send the fleet ashore, rather than run a second race. By then however local sailor Matt Mulder had already stamped his authority on the fleet, a position he consolidated the following day with two more wins. The final day the breeze eased, yet Matt was still able to hang on, in conditions that favoured him less, for the fourth place that gave him the Australian Championships for the third time.
Although beaten by Matt Mulder to the title of best local boat during the Australian Nationals, Geoff Fisher in AUS2468 turned the tables on Matt when it came to the Worlds. A very classy sailor, Geoff raced with a hint of aggression to score a very good result that will mark him out as a name to watch in the future.
Photo courtesy Corfield/Hogg
Behind Matt, Jono Neate and Andrea Bonezzi had done enough to show that should the forecast windy conditions not materialise, that they would be a real force to reckon with. The leading Brit, Simon Mussell, again showed real class, despite Simon complaining of a lack of ‘race practice’ and a general feeling that he had yet to get to grips with the Moreton Bay conditions. The night of the Australian prize giving gave the fleet an early indication of the strength of the local ‘Contender Cocktail’, a bilious green rocket fuel that helped the night develop into a late night/early morning party on a yacht in the Marina. The high spot of the party ended up when Brett Holly was joined by Simon and Jono for some ‘au naturel’ swimming.
Brett Holly on one of the occasions when he still has his kit on! Brett sailed fast and proved that the class is now very much a place where the more generous of build can propser. Locals say that 'Great Whites' have not been seen before in Moreton Bay - they have now!
Photo courtesy Corfield/Hogg
Things really looked up when they were joined in the water by Carrie; with activities like this maybe it was just as well that the following day was a lay day.
After a day of recovery activities, the Worlds started in fabulous sunshine and just enough wind to keep the majority of the fleet happy. Andrea Bonezzi showed from the outset that his search for an 8th title was once again on track as he left most of his rivals trailing in his wake. By day 3 however, Andrea was facing a stiff challenge from an unexpected quarter, as Christoph Homeier came through to edge his way to the top of the leader board.
Andrea Bonezzi and Christoph Homeier, between races, wondering just how they are going to manage to rein in the flying Jono Neate. Worlds Master winner Chris Sutherland summed up the situation really well at the prize giving, when he made the observation that to see the three sailors going all out for the top prize was a moment for the class to savour.
Photo courtesy Corfield/Hogg
Day 4 and conditions eased further, with Jono Neate showing a new mastery of the lighter airs. Despite an uncharacteristic capsize 90 seconds before the start; Jono broke out from the line early and sailed away to do a ‘horizon job’. By the end of the day he now held a narrow advantage over his nearest rivals, with everything looking as if it would go to the wire at the end of Race 10.
In a peerless display of big fleet Championship sailing, on the last day Jono held things together up the final beat of the event to get the place he needed to become the new – and a very popular, Contender World Champion.
A worthy and very popular Champion, Jono celebrates ahead of his enforced swim in the harbour! Russell McCart, the RQYS Commodore, is looking behind him at a table top still full of classes of the dreaded Contender Cocktail!!!
As usual, Andrea perfectly displayed real generosity in defeat, Christoph in third must surely know that his time will come whilst for Simon Mussell, in fourth, is surely the knowledge that in 18 months time, the next Championship will be held in the very different conditions of Weymouth Bay – is this where he will mount his challenge? Catching the eye behind Simon was Ed Presley who looked very quick, he too must be looking forwards to August 2011 and thinking about what would have to be done if a serious title challenge were to be mounted. Meanwhile, Jono Neate has injected a sense of ‘youthfulness’ back into a fleet that was in serious danger of looking a tad more than geriatric, with a high percentage of the sailors in the ‘Veteran’ division, not to mention a goodly handful that now class as ‘Grand Masters/Over 60). His win was popular, not so much in that competitors wanted an ‘anyone but a past Champion’, but more from the fact that the new Champion is openly frank about his preparations for the event and on how he sails.
Gear wise, there were moments when the event looked in danger of becoming a Bonezzi benefit, as the beautiful dark wood hulls seemed to be everywhere you looked in the dinghy park. But as Matt Mulder showed in the Australian Nationals, his all GRP boat lacked nothing in boatspeed, whilst the new Schappi boats looked light, strong and just in need of that extra push on the helm to be right there at the front. However, the winning boat was a Bonezzi, one with more than a touch of pedigree about it. The boat that Marcus Hamilton won his first worlds in has been left essentially ‘as was’ by Jono, this has to be good testament to the strength and longevity of the boats in the class.
Jono's boat and set up are pretty much as per standard Bonezzi thinking. The boat has already won a Worlds title, out in Canada in the hands of Marcus Hamilton. The package is completed with a CST mast and Wavelength sail.
Photo courtesy Corfield/Hogg
Rig wise, CST carbon masts, including the newer high modulus versions were well placed (including on the new Champion’s boat), also looking interesting were a cheaper option in the C-Tech spars from New Zealand. The rest of the fleet showing that mast choice is still an open book, with everything from Avant Garde to old alloy Goldspars being used for the event. For Selden though the Contender class is still a desert, there can be few major World Championships competed for where there they fail to have any presence in the dinghy park. Rumour has it that Selden may be looking to make inroads into the class, with Ben McGrane considering a campaign aimed at success at Weymouth. One can but hope that there is some substance in this, for another active supplier can but help move the rig further forward in development.
Wavelength sails are still dominant, though there was an increasing number of new gear being used. Matt Mulder found that his new North sail gave him huge amounts of power off wind, though when it really whistled he found it harder to de-power the rig. Chris Boshier was seen sailing with a very smart sail from Hyde, for the more local sailors John Cassidy had made a number of very quick sails – we can but wish John a speedy recovery as he battles a long term illness.
As the host club, the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron hardly put a foot wrong. The event was not cheap, nor was the food and drink on sale, but set against that most of what was done represented excellent value for money. Out afloat the Race Team were slick and well practiced, with very rapid turn arounds between races and following the significant number of General Recalls the fleet now seems to demand. With the exception of Day 1 of the Australian Nationals, when events almost seemed to take the organisers by surprise, the rescue cover was well managed and more than up to the task of dealing with single handed dinghies being sailed in shallow waters. Many of the fleet will be bringing home a souvenir of Moreton Bay in the form of a muddy top to the sail (the fabled Moreton Bay Choc-Top) but overall the support facilities afloat have to be praised for their number and efficiency.
It was on shore though that the RQYS really showed its control of the situation. The Race Officer was tightly run by Event Organiser Suellen Hurling, whilst ‘Jennie’ (question 4 in the Sunday Trivia Quiz) ensured that the results were posted before the majority of the fleet had hit the slipway – where they were met by another cheerful band of local volunteers who would stand waist deep (no great hardship given the heat!) whilst fixed rudders were removed. Suellen deserves another mention for her skills as an ‘MC’.
Suellen had a major task on hand during the Prize Giving - to correctly pronounce Shappi's full name! Schappi (l) then joined Jan Mulder in cutting the celebratory 40th Birthday Cake for the class.
When fulfilling the role of ‘Master of Ceremonies’ she may have lacked Tony Whites inexhaustible supply of jokes, but she kept the events moving along at the correct pace and handled well any interruptions from the increasingly rowdy elements of the fleet (the Contender cocktail by now making it’s brain destroying presence felt) – the 2010 Worlds have to go down as a well organised and superbly run event.
Another one enjoying the evening entertainment was Carrie, who provided some interesting moves of her own whilst wearing Simon Mussell's prize lifejacket!
In the final analysis, despite the issues with the delayed arrival of the UK container, the event has to be seen as a great success, built on a foundation of Royal Queensland organisation and Matt Mulder’s ‘hands on’ driving of the Championships – for this Matt must take the credit, with the gift that he was presented with from his friends in the fleet being nothing less than fully deserved.
Never before in the history of the Contender have so many brain cells been lost by so few people in such a short space of time. From left to right, Matt Mulder, Simon Mussell, Ed Presley, Garry Langdown and David Davies all wait on the 'morning after the night before' for some charitable soul to tell them who they all are!
Maybe Matt was lucky, for with different conditions the story might have had a less than happy ending. But it didn’t, with Moreton Bay delivering just what the website had promised, warm seas, sun and great breezes. Weymouth 2011 may be a great location but the Sailing Academy and organisers will have to work very hard indeed to provide the relaxed and cheerful ambience that made this event such a success.
The question now has to be asked – how to end the long GBR drought of success at the top of the Contender fleet.
Few classes could muster a group like this - from 3 times Worlds winner Barry Watson (in black and orange on left), to Class Honorary Life Vice President Mike Beggs (in yellow) through to some very dodgy customers indeed! In this one group there are literally hundreds of years of sailing experiences, much of which has been spent in Contenders.
Photo courtesy Corfield/Hogg
Dougal Henshall
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