NSW ORC Championship at the Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta - Day 1
by Di Pearson / RPAYC media 7 Feb 22:27 NZDT
7-9 February 2025
Toybox 2 in the box seat - NSW ORC Championship at Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta - Day 1 © Andrea Francolini / RPAYC
Day 1 of the NSW ORC Championship, supported by Sydney Marine Brokerage at the Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta could not have been better, a perfect summer day when the wind gods smiled down on the fleet, flattering them with a building ideal nor' easter that Toybox 2 and Georgia Lee took full advantage of.
Organised by Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC), the Championship comes under the banner of the Pantaenius Pittwater Regatta and today the two division sailed a passage race. Division 1's course was 27 nautical miles and Division 2 sailed 23nms.
Ian Box's XP44Toybox 2 won Division 1 from Mercury, a modified Farr 40 (Mark Tinworth/Mark Waterhouse/Josh Paulson and the ID 35, Organised Chaos (Garry Gudmunson).
Box said it was a good day to win, "Because you get 1.5 points for today and tomorrow reverts back to single points."
The Middle Harbour Yacht Club yachtsman said of Toybox 2's race, "We didn't have particularly good start, but tacked off early to get a good lane and went off to the left and worked that side with the lead boats, including Bushranger and Pretty Woman.
"Some, including Bushranger, didn't go around the right mark. We checked and went to the right mark with Pretty Woman, so that handed us a big advantage. We were feeling pretty good. We managed to sail on the heels of Pretty Woman from there," Box said.
Box said the first half of the work was in 12-15 knots, getting up to 17-18 downwind and on the reach it hit 21 knots. "On the final run in we were in 20-23 knots."
Michael Fountain who skippers Bushranger for his father-in-law, Gerry Hatton, admitted, "We went round the wrong mark - we went round the Division 2 mark that happened to be the same colour as Division 1 mark. We checked with our navigator, Clare Costanzo and she said the distance wasn't right, but we rounded it anyway, thinking it had drifted.
"We've done massive modifications to the boat. We've changed from a fin keel to a T keel and took a thousand kilos out of the boat. It still goes upwind really well and we still have positive stability. Off the breeze today our top speed was 18.5 knots.
"It's the first time we've done so well with the boat. Gerry re-invested to make it right. He didn't get angry after buying a new boat that wasn't doing that well, he said 'fix it'.
"Gerry won the 88-year-old division. I'm proud of him. He was on deck all day and did his job. We had a great day - apart from our mistake," Fountain said.
Division 2 went to Craig Suggit's Hick 35, Georgia Lee (Royal Motor Yacht Club). Peter Farrugia's Bull 9000, Bullwinkle, was second and Dave Davies' BH36, Local Hero was third.
"Today was amazing," Suggit commented. "The start was perfect and sailing in 20 knots was too. We put the big A2 up and ended up reaching low between two ships coming along the foreshore. It was a fun day - lots of pressure and a two-sail reach coming back. We had a good race with Bullwinkle, Local Hero and Veloce.
"What a wonderful way to start the regatta - it was a beautiful day," Suggit ended.
Tomorrow, the fleet will be tested on offshore windward/leewards.
Like Oxygen cranks up early in Australian Sports Boat Championship
Andrew York and the Like Oxygen (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia) crew made the best of a perfect north easterly sea breeze on Day 1 of the Australian Sports Boat Championship, winning two out of three windward/leeward races.
Adding a second in Race 3 handed York a handy three point lead over Malcolm Dean's Black Betty (South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club) and a further six points over Charles Baker's beautifully named No Dough (Trailer Sailing Club Queensland). The rest are closely piled up behind No Dough.
York's opening line was: "I'm at the very welcoming Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club," explaining, the Club is welcoming and helpful to visitors. They go out of their way."
On the conditions, the Sydney sailor said it was mainly 15-16 knots, with 18 knots thrown in for Race 3.
"We're happy with the boat. We've got good speed and height. Black Betty sails very well in a breeze. They sailed well and won the third race. We have a battle on our hands as I knew we would."
Like Oxygen is named for the band, Sweet's song, 'Love is Like Oxygen'. "Sailing is like Oxygen and I love it," York explained.
Like Oxygen won the opener by little more than a minute from Andrew Wiklund's Crank (Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron). Third was Black Betty, a further 13 seconds back.
York and Wiklund's boats went to-to-toe again in Race 2, York scoring a 20 second win and Black Betty trailing by a further 10 seconds in a tight race.
Race 3 was payback time for Malcolm Dean. He scored a 34 second win over Like Oxygen. Third went to No Dough, a further 14 seconds adrift. Crank fell from the top three after retiring from the race.
"It's looking like a 12-13 knot sou'-easter for the 5 Heads Race tomorrow," York said. "It's quite a decent race length wise. It's traditional for the Sports Boats to have a long race. It looks like pumping again on the final day for three more windward/leewards."
The three-day Championship, being held at the regatta for the first time, began racing at 11.30am on an inshore course.
Following racing, crews kicked back, enjoying the daily presentation, post-race dinner at Halyards Bistro and live music with Emma Salisbury from 5pm.
Racing continues tomorrow, when the Pittwater Cup series also commences with the well-named 5 Heads Challenge, a scenic and tricky 20nm race threading through Pittwater and Broken Bay.
For full results and all information, please go to www.pittwaterregatta.au