10:27 PM Sun 10 Jan 2010 GMT
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'The Winners - Ian McCrossin and James Cook (Class President Matthew Mitchell in the background - Flying Dutchman Australian Titles'
Michael Nolan
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The Flying Dutchman Australian Nationals have finished one day early with three races on the final day - Ian McCrossin and James Cook won with one race to spare...but there were less than three points in it, and the next two boats were on equal points.
Having sat under the postponement flag for most of the morning, no one was very hopeful of completing the wo races scheduled for the day, let alone getting the final one completed on Sunday, with hot windless weather being the general forecast.
Once there was evidence of wind, everyone headed off for what was assumed to be a drifter like Race 6. Again Sorrento put on a great breeze, which ended up with a number of, gusts over 25 knots..perfect weather for an FD.
Having elected a new President of the class over night, Matthew Mitchell instantly stamped his authority on the class by dragging a decent starboard bias into the start line, by towing the mark around his rudder. Once that had been fixed it was again Ian McCrossin / James Cook who shot off the line, showing everyone how to make an FD literally fly upwind. He was closely pursued (as throughout the series) by Ed Cox / Peter Bevis, the younger ex-skiffies showing off to the FD class how to fly a kite on a tight reach in a good blow, when very few others attempted it, or swam when they did. All to no avail - the older, wiser team took the race, and so nearly had the series wrapped up with two to go.
The second race was a very tight affair at most marks across the fleet, but again the front tw broke away for a fight amongst themselves, with Cox / Bevis taking first with some awesome off-wind speed, and a quick last beat edging out McCrossin / Cook. McCrossin / Cook had already done enough for them to take the series, and they gladly headed for the beach when the Race Officer suggested a third race could be run to finish the regatta early, with the full complement of nine races.
Again the racing across the whole fleet was intense and close, with little between most of the boats, except of course by the end Cox / Bevis had managed to stretch away to finish with another first, leaving them only 2.8 pts behind McCrossin / Cook for the series. Robert Douglass / Douglas Rawson-Harris finished third on a count back from Peter Bartels / Charles Hawes. Mark Thorpe / Roddy Johnson were then only a further 3 points behind in 5th - a closely fought top group.
Thanks go to the club for organising the sailing and to the travellers who made their way down to Victoria for a great fun regatta - the social scene was nearly as good as the racing, thanks to Il Presidente's ability to find excellent regatta accommodation that can host fantastic parties for the whole class.
www.fd.net.au
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Lupercus 60 - Flying Dutchman Australian Titles - Michael Nolan
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Freight Train - Flying Dutchman Australian Titles Michael Nolan
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by Michael Nolan
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Manly, QLD
