Sydney 38 Nationals once again show one design racing at its best
By Bruce Ferguson
The Sydney 38 Nationals kicked off at the Middle Harbour Yacht Club on March, 8, with at least four boats in with a chance to win.
‘Old School’, sailed by Mark Griffith from the RPAYC was the ‘boat to beat’, having come off the NSW State Championship the winner. Mark was assisted by Steve McConaghy as tactician with most of his largely RPAYC regular crew on board.
In the running was ‘The Goat’ driven by Bruce Foye, the first boat in the fleet to have a new 3DI main and jib suite. Bruce was supported by a strong crew, with tactical support from Bob Wilmot.
‘Zen’ was also in contention, although chartering Next, due to damage to the original Zen. Gordon Ketelbey was definitely on a charge with his crew and ready to sail.
Whisper, Bruce Fergusons’ boat from the RPAYC, was also in contention, with a strong crew from Trax Gordons’ training program at the RPYAC, including Murray Gordon and Billy Sykes from North’s.
Thirlmere was to become a contender as well, as Sally Warnerfords’ team demonstrated spectacular improvement in the boats performance, and was a challenge throughout the series.
Stalwart Conspiracy and Rush also were to show promise. A number of boats were not able to make the regatta due to weddings and injuries (you know who you are).
Day 1
The first day of the championship was sailed inside Sydney Harbour, with four races scheduled. Initially the race was run from off Middle head towards Manly in relatively light and shifty E-NE winds.
As the wind built, it sifted more easterly, and the headland created substantial challenges for the tacticians, until the course was moved further south, allowing the top mark to be in the harbour entry in cleaner wind.
At the end of the first day, consistency paid off for Whisper, who never won a race but was always in the top three. Old Schools was three points behind, with the Goat one point further back. The tight racing that the 38’s are known for was demonstrated in race three, when the top three boats finished within six seconds of each other.
Day 2
Middle Harbour Yacht Club’s Sydney 38 One-Design Nationals Regatta started day two when overcast skies cleared and the predicted ‘sickly easterly’ turned into a perfect breeze of up to 15 knots on the Harbour and offshore courses
By the end of day two, Bruce Ferguson’s Whisper (RPAYC) was proving too good for fellow club member and ‘the boat to beat’, Mark Griffith’s Old School, three points separating the two after some extremely close racing.
Despite the help of multiple 18 foot skiff JJ Giltinan champion, Steve Jarvin, Bruce Foye’s The Goat was third, a further point behind after two days racing. Foye was to be minus Jarvin the following day, when he returned to his Gotta Love It 7 skiff.
Day 3
The final day of racing forecast northerly winds at 10-15 knots, tending north-easterly later in the afternoon and up to 20 knots, meaning a possible change up in results and more action sailing than that of previous days lighter airs.
The final day was going to be the decider, with three points between Whisper in the lead and Old School, with The Goat only one point further back.
Coming into the final race, Whisper led Old School by three points with The Goat only one point further back. To win Whisper just needed to finish in the top three, while Old School needed to win with Whisper fourth to win on a count back.
The fleet was tightly packed on the first windward, with Zen leading narrowly, Old School coming in on port was able to just clear Whisper to round second with The Goat on Whispers tail. Down the run Old School closed on Zen while Whisper fought off the Goat. The second windward saw Old School pass Zen for the lead and a chance at the title, The Goat hadn’t given in and a tense gybing battle to the finish saw Whisper hold The Goat out at the pin to claim third by two seconds and take the title.
The 10-race Sydney 38 National title started out in the hands of Bruce Ferguson’s Whisper, and finished up there as well, nothing Mark Griffith and his much touted Old School crew could do changed the end result, the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club pair fighting it out to the finish to end with just a point separating them. Conspiracy also from RPAYC, was first in the corintian division.
The race results for the Sydney 38 Nationals shows how close the racing was.
1 Whisper 3849 Bruce Ferguson RPAYC 22 3.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 2.0
2 Old School 3865 Mark Griffith RPAYC 23 1.0 4.0 1.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 4.0
3 The Goat 3861 The Goat Syndicate CYCA 27 4.0 2.0 3.0 1.0 4.0 4.0 3.0 1.0 4.0 1.0
4 Zen 3822 Gordon Ketelbey MHYC 39 2.0 1.0 5.0 5.0 3.0 8.0Q 5.0 4.0 1.0 5.0
5 Thirlmere 3857 S. Warneford/L Jamie MHYC / CYC 43 5.0 5.0 4.0 4.0 5.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 5.0 3.0
6 Conspiracy 3829 David Hudson RPAYC 60 6.0 6.0 7.0 6.0 7.0 5.0 6.0 5.0 6.0 6.0
7 Rush 3819 Neil Sutton RPAYC 67 7.0 7.0 6.0 7.0 6.0 6.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0