Australian International A Division Catamaran Association

NOR for QLD State Chamionships

AndrewC — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:28:01 +0000

NOR A Class Qld States 2012

Another Lake Mac A Cat regatt.

Robert — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:54:33 +0000

Lake Macqarie Summer of Sailing continues

THE LAKE MACQUARIE SUMMER OF A CLASS SAILING CONTINUES.

After a very successful Australian A Class National Championship held earlier this month at Wangi, , another high quality fleet of A Cats assembled for the Mannering Park Catamaran Regatta on the southern extremity of Lake Macquarie on the Jan 28/29 weekend.

12 A Cat sailors competed. Whilst this number was considerably smaller than the 69 boats in attendance at Wangi, the fleet included six of the top ten National Championship placegetters ( Nathan Outteridge, James Spittall, Steve Brewin, Darren Bundock, Steve Brayshaw, Andrew Williams) ,all of whom were eager for another close and determinedly fought contest. These six sailor consistently fought for top postions during the regatta, with Grant Pellow and Mark Johnson often also joining the mix.

After weeks of heavy rain, the weather gods once again granted the lake a small reprieve from the inclement weather, with the final heavy rain shower completed 2 hours before the first start .

Six races were competed over the two days, with the three races on day 1 separated by a lunch break , whilst the final three races on day 2 completed in a prompt “back to back” fashion, in a style that certainly tested physical fitness and endurance.

The racing was held up for approximately one hour on the first day until a north east breeze of between 8 to 10 knots settled in for the first race, later increasing up to 12 knots for the remainnder of the day. The north east wind direction allowed optimal utilisation of the bay, permitting 1 nautical mile length legs, which the A Cats promptly devoured in ideal low drag flat wter, and moderate wind propulsion.

Upwind/downwind trapezing is now standard procedure for the top sailors, although some of we older sailers fell more content to sat it out of the back beam in a more conservative, safer, if slower style. Downwing trapezing is not without its down side, and impressive wipe outs have now also become a standard expections in A Cat regattas

.Day 2 once again dawned with little wind, but the north east breeze had returned by the time of the 10:00am start, and the three races were reeled off in quick succession. By the time of the final race, the breeze had built to around 16 knots, and the bows were now starting to bury when pushed hard downwind. Nathan Outteridge pitch poled his boat in spectacular style whilst he was approaching the finish to lose an almost certain 1st place in that race (See the amazing photo).

The overall honours for the regatta went to Darren Bundock , with Nathan Outteridge once again finishing 2nd, edging out Steve Brewin into third place.

Whilst the number of NSW A Cat cat sailors remain smaller than those of Victoria and Queensland, the quality of the fleet and sense of comradary is high, with the top sailors free in providing coaching tips to other fleet members.

The Mannering Park Amateur Sailing Club conducted thhe series in a competent and very friendly manner, and were all look forward to returning to this fine venue for the NSW State A Cat Titles in March.

Unfortunately James Spittall, Tom Slingsby, and Darren Bundock will not be able to compete, as they will shortly be resuming their overseas America’s Cup or Olympic commitments . The Bundock and Spittal boats will shortly be resuming their overseas container voyage, this time to San Fransico. Sadly the Slingsby DNA will not be making the voyage. Tom lent his boat out for the Mannering Park regatta, but unfortunately it crossed paths with a very solidly built Maricat during the regatta which severed off the port bow of the A Cat with almost surgical expertise.

We hope to see Nathan Outeridge compete in further Australian A Class events until his departure overseas in April for his 49ner Olympic campaign.

We wish Nathan and Tom every success for the London Olympics, and there will be many A Cat sailors following their progress, and in spirit sailing with them in their quest for Olympic gold.

Bob Griffits.

Lake Macquarie Summer of Sailing continue

Robert — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:42:48 +0000

Fresh after the Australian National Championships, we announce another regatta, this time a little further south down the lake, at the Mannering Park Sailing Club on the weekend of 28/29 January.
See NOR below:

John Cootes Furniture
Warehouse
Open Catamaran Regatta
&
The 2012 NSW
Nacra State Titles

28th – 29th January 2012

The John Cootes Furniture Warehouse Open Catamaran Regatta 2012 in conjunction
with the New South Wales Nacra Association State Titles will be conducted on the
waters of Southern Lake Macquarie on the 28th – 29th January 2012. Owners and
charterers of eligible boats are invited to enter the regatta on the conditions of this
Notice of Race. The races are organised and conducted by the Mannering Park
Amateur Sailing Club in conjunction with the New South Wales Nacra Association.MPASC Open Cat Regatta 2012 NOR final

Final Report Australian Championships

Robert — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 06:26:24 +0000

THE JOHN COOTES FURNITURE 2012 A CLASS CATAMARAN CHAMPIONSHIPS: Final Review
The Championships ended the same way that they started five days ago- under clear blue summer skies and with a moderate, building northeasterly sea breeze.
Championship had already been decided in Glenn Ashby’s favour at the end of the previous day. Glenn’s dominance of the event was such that he was able to sit out the final day’s racing.
Before the start of the ninth and final race, Steve Brewin held place second overall, holding a narrow lead from Nathan Outteridge. The final race would be the battle of the World Champions. Brewin is the 2011 A Class World Champ, whilst Outteridge is a dual 2011 World Champ having captured both the Moth and 49ners crowns
The dual Olympic silver medallist Darren Bundock inherited the 9th race lead soon after the first windward mark rounding, and thereafter was never challenged, winning by a clear margin. Andrew Landenberger had his best race of the series to finish 2nd,earning him 7th place overall.
The battle between Outteridge and Brewin was decided soon after the final windward mark rounding, when Brewin lost his footing whilst trapezing downwind. Precariously dangling from his trapeze wire out from rear windward corner of the boat, the laws of physics applied, and the boat was pulled over on top of him.
Nathan crossed the finish line in third place to secure 2nd overall, whilst Brewin’s recovery to a 14th position secured the overall 3rd spot
The arrival of Nathan Outteridge and Tom Slingsby in the class, together with the return of Ashby has lifted the standard of athleticism as well as the boat handling skills required to compete at the top level of the fleet. The top skippers push their boats extremely hard on the downwind legs, to the point that capsizing is now de rigour in the pursuit of ultimate speed downwind. Amazingly, these skippers have the strength and skill to quickly right their boats and lose just a few places. The benefit of trapezing downwind, outweighs the risk of the occasional capsize; at least for the immortals at the top of the fleet. Righting a capsized boat quickly is now an essential racing skill.
The varying conditions encountered during the regatta provided a test of sailing skills across the wind spectrum, and Glenn Ashby was the undeniable and worthy winner. Racing on Days 1 and 2 was held in moderate northeast sea breezes. Day 3 meant that the two races were sailed in light easterly wind, with a gusty moderate and latter freshening southerly on Day 4 testing the ability to constantly change gear and read the shifts.
Ashby, a seven time World A Class Champion described the fleet as the best and most competitive that he has encountered at any level of A Class competition.
Class President was similarly effusive at the presentation, labelling the event the best Nationals that he has attended over the past 30 years.
Wangi Amateur Sailing Club did a superb effort both on and off the water, and earned high praise from competitors and their supporting partners and families. The racetrack is one of the best in the world, and the grassy foreshore of the expansive boat park virtually unsurpassable.
The media interest in our event was huge, with the resulting publicity for the class immense. It is up to the NSW A Class Association build on the renewed interest in the class with backsides in trapeze harnesses.
The stand out boat design for the regatta was the Dutch designed and built DNA, which dominated the results, and with 23 representatives present, was the most numerically common boat.
The Kostecki and Ashby boats have already been unsold within Australian, whilst the de Ridder, Spit hill, and Slingsby DNA’s will soon be making their way to San Francisco Bay.
Boat design for this development class will not stand still. Glenn stated that he has learned many new skills from his involvement in the AC, and that there are some important new catamaran design innovations, which will trickle down to the A Class after their showcase in the next America’s Cup.
James Spithill, John Kostecki, Dirk de Ridder, and Darren Bundock will soon be resuming their responsibilities with the Oracle AC syndicate in San Francisco, and Glenn Ashby will be heading back across the Tasman to Team Zealand.
Nathan Outteridge has flown to Melbourne for the Australian Moth Championships, and will then focus on his 49ner sailing with a view to an Olympic Medal in London.
Tom Slingsby has multiple commitments. Number one goal is a Laser class Olympic medal in London, but along the way there is the Oracle AC 45 involvement, as well as a calling from John Bertrand to help win a second Etchells World Championship in February.
The rest of us will resume our day jobs.
Bob Griffits.

First Race Results now Posted

admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:10:48 +0000

The Results of the first two races of the 2012 John Cootes Furniture Australian A Class Championships have been posted on the Wangi RSL Amateur Sailing Club. (The invitation race can be found here).

These results will be updated throughout the series.

Wangi RSL Amateur Sailing Club

A Class 2012 Australian Championship – an Amazing Field

Robert — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:13:55 +0000

Until late this past week, it was touch and go with regards to whether or not the shipping container transporting six DNA A Class Catamarans from the Netherlands, would arrive in sufficient time for the 2012 John Cootes Furniture Australian A Class Championships which get underway January 3 at the Wangi Amateur Sailing Club.

Fortunately, the container has safely arrived at Lake Macquarie. Glenn Ashby, James Spithill, John Kosteki, Dirk de Ridder, Tom Slingsby and Nathan Outteridge are now busy preparing their boats for the event. They should have the next four days to familiarise themselves with the attributes of their boats.

These Championships will be a unique event on the Australian Sailing Calendar, bringing together three current World Champions: Tom Slingsby (Lasers), Nathan Outteridge (49ners), and Steve Brewin, sailing on these high performance, efficient 18 foot catamarans.

Added to the mix are the four sailors from Oracle America’s Cup Syndicate (Spithill, Kosteki, de Riddder, Darren Bundock), Ashby from Team New Zealand, as well as the three former Olympic medallists Andrew Landenberger, Chris Cairns and Scott Anderson.

The form guide suggests that this will be a very tightly fought series, and the top ten places should be quite a battle. Ashby, with seven A Class World Championships to his resume, remains the favourite for the event.

Bob Bier, the current European champion, will be competing on a chartered DNA, adding his name to the Northern Hemisphere contingent.

Simon McKeon, who is the current Australian of the Year, will be taking a break from his official duties to compete.

The practice race will be held late in the afternoon on January 2, with the nine race series commencing the following day under the watchful eye of PRO Tony Outteridge.

Sail Sydney Regatta

Julian — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:06:19 +0000

Twelve A’s took part in Sail Sydney last weekend, joining many boats of other classes, sailing a course from Georges River Sailing Club on the south western corner of Botany Bay. This was the final regatta leading up to the Nationals for the NSW fleet, joined by Jack Benson from the NT, here to warm up for the Nationals.

After a short delay waiting for wind, racing started in a patchy south easterly that filled in as the afternoon progressed. Steve Brewin showed his form by winning three of the four races, although he did let Jack Benson and Grant Pellew through in the second.

Kudos to the race committee for recognizing the speed of the A Class in the first race and extending our course by a lap to align the elapsed time more closely with the other fleets.

On Sunday the racing was again postponed due to lack of wind for the Juniors who were using the same course. By the time the A classes were starting the wind was 18knts from the North East and continued to build past 22knts.

Steve Brewin showed how it was done in the bumpy conditions and winning all three races with Darren Bundock (racing only on Sunday) close behind.

Final standings gave the win to Steve Brewin, followed by Jack Benson and Andrew Williams.

1	91	AUS 4	Brewin Sails	Steven Brewin	1	1	3	1	2	1	1	10	7
2	93	AUS 13	P.D.Q	Jack Benson	2	4	1	3	DNC	3	4	29	17
3	95	AUS 321	Wet Willy	Andrew Williams	DNC	2	4	2	3	4	3	30	18
4	99	AUS 969	Harken Australia	Grant Pellew	3	3	2	4	4	5	5	26	21
5	94	AUS 22	Spunspar	Mark Johnston	4	5	5	5	DNC	6	6	43	31
6	98	AUS 941	Firefly Dance Club	Julian Jenkins	5	7	6	6	6	7	7	44	37
7	238	TBA	TBA	Daren Bundock	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	1	2	2	53	41
8	97	AUS 914	Pistool	Bradley Wicht	6	6	7	7	DNC	DNC	DNC	62	50
9	237	AUS 945	TBA	Tom Spithill	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	5	8	8	69	57
10	96	AUS 74	Fox	Dario Valenza	7	8	8	DNF	DNC	DNC	DNC	71	59
11	92	AUS 007		Simon Nelson	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNF	DNC	DNC	84	72

Entrants 2012 Nationals

Robert — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:37:37 +0000

As at 21/12/2011, the following have entered:

AUS 1 Glenn Ashby

AUS4 Steve Brewin

AUS 5 Horst Kopp

AUS7 Hamish Sinclair

AUS 8 Graeme Harbour

AUS 9 John Dowling

AUS10 Brad Collett

AUS13 Jack Benson

AUS 25 Stephen Brayshaw

AUS unknown Graeme Parker

AUS 48 Ian Johnson

AUS 88 Darren Bundock

AUS 308 Andrew Landenberger

AUS 668 Brian Cole

AUS739 William Pringle

AUS747 A Duff

AUS 765 Mark Griffits

AUS 802 Konrad Schultz

AUS827 Neil Caldwell

AUS 844 Richie Howells

AUS880 Ian Michie

AUS 883 Kasey Warr

AUS 898 Chris Cairns

AUS902 Scott Anderson

AUS 911 Michael Kopp

AUS 912 Alex Duff

AUS914 Brad Wicht

AUS 932 Pat Drover

AUS933 Chris Parker

AUS 939 Miller Campbell

AUS 944 Steve Wright

AUS 947 Lucas McDonald

AUS 948 Russ McDonald

AUS 949 David Brewer

AUS 950 Robert Griffits

AUS 956 Grant Pellew

AUS 957 David Loutit

AUS 958 Simon McKeon

AUS960 Chris Batenberg

AUS 962 Wayne Mercer

AUS 966 Andrew Williams

USA TBA John Kosteki

AUS TBA Nathan Outteridge

AUS TBA James Spithill

AUS TBA Tom Slingsby

USA TBA Dirk de Ridder

GER 14 Bob Baier.

NED 888 Jeroen Van Leeuwen

2012 A-Class Nationals NOR
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Date:	February 23, 2012

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44 entries and counting

Robert — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:58:20 +0000

One month out from the 2012 Australian Titles, we already have 44 firm entries for the regatta. Should be another great turn out both in quality and quantity.

Round 4 – SE QLD Travellers Series

AndrewC — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 07:30:53 +0000

The forth regatta in our Travellers series saw many competitors cross into cockroach country to compete on the Clarence river at Grafton. The schedule had a twilight ‘practice’ race on Friday night with serious racing on Saturday and Sunday.

Unfortunately a significant weather system influenced the normally reliable North Easters that prevail this time of year. Whilst most of the rain fell to the west and south, the river was up slightly and combined with a big tide (over 2m at the coast) there was plenty of tide to push heading up the river.

On Friday evening Landy led Lou, Julian and myself around the river in a reasonable 7-9Knts and light rainfall – a good tune up. Up to the pub for country steak where choice was rare or dead – Julian still working out how you describe a ‘blue’ steak in Grafton!

Saturday’s forecast was for some breeze out of north west or north east. We got on the water around 1.00pm and started in a weak southerly – where did that come from? A long course was set upwind against the tide for a challenging upwind but a quick slide downhill. We felt the wind was swinging to the north so re-set the coarse but to no avail. Only one race today but the location is great and the extended Landenberger family looked after us with a great BBQ and sweets for the night – thanks Martina, Chris, Andy, Don and Jan. Thanks also to Paul Dougherty for helping out as starter.

With all of us ready for some action on Sunday the sun was out and the conditions heating up quickly we all expected the NE to fill in nicely. Again we ended up with a light, hot westerly which is not easy to set a coarse for. We managed to complete three racers however and occasional bursts on the trap were followed by watching the locals sail around us in their own private breeze – I am sure I heard some locals request next Aussie titles to be sailed at Grafton!

As you can see by the results despite all this the cream risers to the top with Landy scoring a perfect series, Brad coming home second and Dave is proving to be a flyer in the light airs. Haven’t finalised the next regatta in FEB/MAR next year but hope to see you all at the nationals in Wangi and back on local waters in 2012.

	Clarence River Yacht Club A-Cat Regatta 26/27th NOV 2011 – 10 Entries
						After 1 Drop
		Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Total	Place
AUS 308	Andrew Landenberger	1	1	1	1	3	1
AUS 10	Brad Collett	3	3	7	2	8	2
AUS 857	Dave Merrett	2	4	4	5	10	3
AUS 30	Frek Cahill	8	2	6	3	11	4
AUS919	Lou Zylstra	5	5	3	8	13	5
AUS 754	Bob Eggins	7	6	2	6	14	6
AUS952	Andrew Chaney	4	7	5	7	16	7
AUS 941	Julian Jenkins	10	8	9	4	21	8
AUS 9	John Dowling	6	10	8	9	23	9
AUS 956	Vic Collett	9	9	10	10	28	10

Best Regards Andrew Chaney