10:48 PM Tue 20 Apr 2010 GMT
British skipper Jono Shelley survived an intense battle of one-design class sailing tactics with Mooloolaba's Rod Jones to win the Audi SB3 Australian championship at Port Stephens last Sunday.
This classic battle of tactics contested over eight races in tricky light and variable winds, was ultimately decided on consistency where Jono Shelley and his English crew mates James Walker and Jonnie Harrison finished all races in the top seven, while Rod Jones reluctantly handed a marginal title winning advantage to his rival with a ninth in race three.
Shelley helming Club Marine White in light conditions to share the lead on 15 points with multiple Australian title winning Sail-boarder Dennis Winstanley mid regatta.
Winstanley competing in his first SB3 Dart regatta proved his skill to adapt to the light and variable breeze.
He overcame a lack of class experience to steer the recently purchased Cruising Yacht Club of Hamilton Island registered Jump to win four of the eight races but a 12th in race one followed by 13th in race five and eighth in race eight jeopardised his chance to claim a top three finish.
But he has placed all the top three skippers Shelley (Club Marine White) Jones (Club Marine Blue) and Jan Scholten (Selden for Sailing) on notice that he will be a front line contender when the National title medals are decided at Port Stephens in April 2011.
Consistent all angle sailing in winds which rarely gusted above seven knots over all eight races ultimately allowed the English crew with their 6-1-3-5-1-7-5-3 score to claim a three point win over Mooloolaba's dual Audi Australian IRC ocean racing champion Rod Jones 3-5-9-4-3-6-2-1.
Naturally Shelley was happy with his win 'Port Stephens is an absolutely magic venue I'd come back and sail here anytime, although a bit more wind would be nice,' he said.
However he managed the conditions better than his rivals to finish the eight races with a faster 14.75 second per race average over Jones in spite of the Sunshine Coast skipper and his tactician Sean O'Rourke finishing ahead of the English crew in five races.
The competition for the 2011 Audi National title Medals promises to heat up over the next 12 months after Dennis Winstanley gains further valuable fleet racing experience when he contests the major winter regattas on familiar sailing waters in the Whitsunday Islands in August.
Winstanley and his crew with their impressive four race wins at Port Stephens promise to be a front runner when the sails are tensioned for the Meridien Marinas Airlie Beach Race Week and Audi Hamilton Island Race Week SB3 championships in four months time.
by Ian Grant
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