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Formula 18 Australian Championship - Successful first day for new cat



10:16 AM Sat 23 Jan 2010 GMT
'Six F18s in a row - Audi Victoria Week 2010, Melbourne (AUS)' Andrea Francolini / Audi &copy

A brand new boat finished its first day of racing as the overall leader of the Club Marine Formula 18 Australian Championship at Audi Victoria Week today.

BO, a Capricorn C2 skippered by Steven Brewin and crewed by Jack Benson, finished third in the first race in spite of being late for the start, and then decisively won the next two races to finish the day on 4.6 points. Conditions were testing with the 15-20 knot southerly wind gusting higher at times and a short but choppy seaway.


Second overall after three races is the Hobie Tiger Scott Lovig Holden, sailed by Robbie Lovig and Lachlan Gibson, with a 1-2-4 scorecard for 6.8pts, followed on 7pts by Scrunch or Fold, a Capricorn F18 sailed by Matt Homan and Lucas McDonald.

The leading boat is one of two new C2s which arrived in Australia only four days before the start of this series being hosted by the Royal Geelong Yacht Club.

The F18 catamaran class permits innovation in design and technology within overall parameters, and the C2 is a new development of the established Capricorn design produced by Victorian company AHPC, one of the world leaders in the high octane racing class, and launched at the Paris Boat Show in December. Company head, Greg Goodall, is racing the second C2 at these nationals with his son Brett.

'The new boat has got more volume in the front of the hulls than the Capricorn, it didn't nosedive downwind today and it feels pretty quick,' said Steve Brewin, a Sydney sailmaker who is the current national champion and a top ranked international competitor and former world champ in the single-handed A-Class catamaran.

Brewin's crew, Jack Benson, is an A-Class sailor from Darwin, and this is the first time the two have sailed together as a crew. 'We had a communication error on our last gybe in the first race that maybe cost us second place, just because we've never sailed together before,' Brewin said.

'But that will improve and we're planning to do the F18 worlds together, because they are straight after this year's A Class worlds in France.'

Brewin and Benson missed the first start today by about 40 seconds because they were testing some of the new systems on the C2. 'Because the boat's only just arrived in the country they have been thrown together in a hurry for this series and they need a few tune-ups,' Brewin said. That's probably what cost Greg and Brett Goodall a better placing today.

'Robbie (Lovig) and Lachlan (Gibson) sailed well, they had the best teamwork and boat handling today,' Brewin said.

The series continues tomorrow with four races scheduled on Corio Bay from midday.

Club Marine Formula 18 Australian Championship

PROVISIONAL RESULTS

Series Results [Fleet] up to Race 3 (Drops = 0)
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper Crew From Sers Score Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 AUS4 BO Steven Brewin DSC 4.6 0.8 0.8 3.0
2 2602 SCOTT LOVIG HOBIE Robbie Lovig WPYC 6.8 4.0 2.0 0.8
3 AUS41 SCRUNCH OR FOLD Matt Homan HYC 7.0 2.0 3.0 2.0
4 500 EGDE BY WINDRUSHz Brett Burvill Luke McMullen NYC 14.0 3.0 4.0 7.0
5 826 DUTCH RUDDER Michael Guinea TSC 17.0 5.0 7.0 5.0
6 1 ICE Mal Richardson AUS 21.0 7.0 10.0 4.0
7 5.0S AUS101 KRANK THE NOODLE Greg Wyers KCC 26.0 10.0 5.0 11.0
8 501 ON EDGE Cara Lithgo NYC 26.0 6.0 14.0 6.0
9 AUS111 DUREPOX James Ogilvie NCYC 27.0 9.0 9.0 9.0
10 751 DARKHORSE YACHTING Katie Pellew RPAYC 36.0 15.0 11.0 10.0
11 619 CRUEL AND HEARTLESS Ian Simpson SPASC 40.0 13.0 13.0 14.0
12 14 BLOW ME AWAY Leigh Thorne FYC 41.0 14.0 15.0 12.0
13 1244 TBA Adam Beattie CYC 42.0 8.0 8.0 26.0C
14 1082 WAZ AND CO Warren Guinea RQYS 45.0 26.0C 6.0 13.0
15 AUS46 CAPRICIOUS Dave Parker MCYC 46.0 12.0 26.0C 8.0
16 1023 FLYING FISH Leanne Gould SFS 47.0 18.0 12.0 17.0
17 NED007 THE ROSE Maggie Nissen SPASC 48.0 16.0 17.0 15.0
18 1730 FOR SALE Michael Broise PMYC 49.0 17.0 16.0 16.0
19 1983 FRISKY CAT Kyle Amadio PBSC 63.0 11.0 26.0F 26.0C
20 1502 COLONIC IRRIGATION Andrew Pritchard MCYC 71.0 19.0 26.0C 26.0C
21 AUS203 C2 Greg Goodall PMYC 78.0 26.0C 26.0C 26.0C
21 752 SNEAKNIT Leigh McNally CYC 78.0 26.0C 26.0C 26.0C
21 700 SALLY Gary Gornall CYC 78.0 26.0C 26.0C 26.0C
21 2018 BLACK PEARL Geoff Fiske lochie neal ROYC 78.0 26.0C 26.0C 26.0S
21 TBA1 TOP GEAR Luke McMullen DSC 78.0 26.0C 26.0C 26.0C




by Vanessa Dudley



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