AUS MUSTO Skiff National Championship 2020
Hosted by Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron (AUS)
Report by Paul Newman
Photos by Russel Bates https://russellbatesphotography.com.au/
As the 2020 Australian Championships at Metung YC drew closer, we were faced with an unprecedented situation as the state experienced the worst bush fires in history. Just four days out from the regatta, the fires were not dangerously close to Metung but presented a reasonable risk if the weather changed. This left us facing a big decision on whether to go ahead with the regatta at Metung YC or not. After discussions with the club and local fire authorities the decision was made to cancel plans at Metung YC as the risk was simply too great. This decision was validated 36 hours later when the town of Metung was evacuated, ahead of forecast catastrophic fire conditions scheduled the day before the regatta was to commence.
This left us with the decision to cancel the 2020 champs or try and find another club that could fit us into their existing program at short notice. After discussions with the participants, the decision was made to look for another club, and fortunately for the class Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron were able to fit us in between two regattas they already had running. With a modified schedule and location we now had our national champs back on track.
Day 1
Despite being an hour and three days later than planned, the 15 boat fleet got underway in a dying north westerly breeze of about 10 knots. With the tide running out, the fleet had the obligatory general recall before getting a clear start on the second attempt. The start, however, was not that clear for Jon Newman, Wayne Bates and Paul Dijkstra who came together at the pin end of the start line and took out the buoy.
Away from all the commotion at the pin end, Tim Hill cleverly chose to start on port and nailed the first few shifts to take the early lead by a good margin. The fleet was split up the windward beat with the boats on the right getting the better breeze and the boats on the left getting more of a helping hand by the tide. The wind continued to die as we neared the top mark with Tim Hill leading the fleet around followed by the top boats from the right side of the course – Hayden Harding and Ricky Ironmunger. A couple of boats chose to gybe set which cost them some places as the breeze faded further. The breeze held in best on the right favouring James Sly, Paul Newman, Paul Dijkstra and Ricky Ironmunger who made ground on the top couple of boats.
At the bottom gate there was some jostling for position as the fleet tightened up which resulted in James rounding the right gate first closely followed by Tim Hill. Paul Newman opted to take the left mark followed by Hayden Harding
As the breeze faded to almost nothing the race was on between Paul on the right and Tim and James on the left. The breeze swung the way of Paul first but as the fleet neared the top mark it swung back to favour the guys on the left. Paul Dijkstra came into the picture halfway up the leg as he headed left looking for some tide advantage. Although the breeze had swung left it strangely was stronger on the right allowing Paul Newman to tack in the extra breeze and get back across to James and the others on the left lay line. This resulted in Paul Newman leebowing James who had worked his way into the lead with some very fancy sailing and tacking while standing in front of the mast. It was now a very close and very slow finish to the race with Paul Newman taking the early advantage with some good straight-line speed, however, after a nice tack on the layline James took back the advantage and the race win. Paul Newman 2nd, Paul Dykstra 3rd, Tim Hill 4th and last years National Champion Marcus Hamilton in 5th
Day 2
There was no racing on Day 2 as there was a gale warning issued for a 45 knot cold front that was scheduled to push through around race time (and did).
Day 3
After losing a day racing on Day 2, the fleet arrived early for a 10am start time expecting a big day of racing. With the breeze blowing 20-25 knots we were not going to be disappointed.
Just getting to the start seemed a challenge in the breeze with a couple of casualties headed in before the race even started. Once underway, Race 2 started cleanly in the 20-22 knot southerly. Unfortunately, James Sly had some trapeze harness issues early on the first beat which ended up pushing him out of the race. As you would expect, the bigger guys stretched their legs in the strong breeze and showed the fleet some impressive up wind speed. At the top mark, it was Richie Robertson 1st to Jon Newman and Marcus Hamilton.
Richie chose to be a bit conservative downwind which allowed Jon to lead at the gate, but with the big fella charging through upwind, Richie took back the lead in a large gust as they rounded the top for the second time. With breeze at the limit, it delayed the kite sets for Jon and Richie with both watching each other before deciding to set it or not. Eventually, the set was on with both charging downwind until the gybe point where again they waited for the other to try to gybe. Both successfully gybed and the race was on for the finish, with Jon slowly creeping past Richie for the win. Paul Newman was coming through for third but overlayed the finish in a large gust and capsized gifting Paul Dijkstra 3rd after a slow start but a tidy race. Wayne Bates finished a credible 6th after choosing not to set his kite at any stage of the race.
Race 3 started with slightly less wind but only just. Jon led start to finish with Paul Dijkstra hot on his tail but capsizing just before the finish, dropping him to 5th and allowing Marcus Hamilton to slide through for second. Richie, after dropping his kite a bit early, came safely through in 3rd.
Race 4 was probably the lightest wind of the day and only 18-20 knots, which saw more competitors on the pace, with James Sly getting a good start at the pin end to lead at the top mark with Richie, Paul Dijkstra and Jon in hot pursuit. James extended his lead on the second upwind leaving Paul Dijkstra and Jon trying to close in on his lead on the last downwind.
Unfortunately, both had poor gybes with Paul somehow holding on and Jon having a big tank slapper and capsized. Tim Hill rolled through to take 3rd after Marcus Hamilton capsized meters from the finish.
After a well needed rest onshore and some discussion about how many races to aim for in the afternoon session, we all headed out expecting 2 races. After being held ashore at the last minute while a small front passed through, most boats launched in 15 knots before another big line of wind came in, and left the whole fleet struggling to make it downwind to the start without a swim. Race 5 started in 22-24 knots and seemed to get stronger as the race went on.
After a clean start and everyone in survival mode, Richie lead at the top mark but got a big wine glass in the kite which slowed his progress downwind. Paul Dijkstra and Jon set their kites and charged down to pass Richie on the downwind. Paul, Jon and Richie survived the gybe and drop and headed back upwind in the large breeze. James Sly was the only other boat to set kite and not capsize. He somehow sailed from top mark to the gate without a gybe and rounded not far behind the top 3. Upwind was extreme, with Jon failing to successfully tack not once but three times and Richie and Paul Dijkstra passing through to lead around the top mark for the final time. Jon and James Sly rounded not long after fighting it out for 3rd. In the end, Paul Dijkstra took the win with Richie holding off Jon (3rd) and James (4th) for the second place in the big breeze. Tim Hill and Robin Dayes finished in 5th and 6th staying upright the whole race but without setting the kites. Safety first!
At the end of a very long and windy day of racing there were lots of tired and sore bodies but luckily, no big boat breakages so everyone was able to enjoy the sun and a few beers after racing. Special note should go to Paul Dijkstra who finished the day on top of the leader board with some very consistent racing. Unfortunately, Paul was heading home to Europe in the morning and was going to miss the final days racing. Paul’s absence left the title chase up for grabs with James Sly in 2nd, Richie Robertson in 3rd and Jon Newman still lurking a couple of points back in fourth place.
Day 4
Day 4 began with a much more relaxed feeling than the previous day as the big winds had dropping down to a nice 10 knots.
Race 6 got underway in 8-10 knot breeze, that was shifting around a bit with the localised rain clouds.
The fleet got away to a clean start on a fairly even line. The majority of the fleet headed left looking for a left shift, while Robin and a couple of others after good boat end starts tacked and headed right. The boats on both sides of the course played the shifts with Jon Newman emerging from the middle to left side of the course as the early leader with Tim Hill and Paul Newman close behind him. Late in the windward leg the breeze shifted right giving the boats on that side an advantage and Robin the lead of the race at the top mark, closely followed by Jon, Tim and Paul.
The down wind was reasonably even with the fleet mostly headed to the right and only a couple of position changes by the bottom gate. At the gate it was Robin in the lead to Jon, Tim then Paul who all elected to take the left gate mark and head to the right side of the course. Paul choose to tack first with the other 3 following 30 seconds later, the decision to tack proved to be a good one as the breeze shifted left giving Paul the lead halfway up the leg. To capitalise on the left shift Paul tacked on it and the other 3 tacked under his bow, they sailed until almost the layline before it shifted back to the left which closed up the gap between Paul and Jon as they tacked on the layline with less than a boat length between them. As the breeze shifted further left they ended up footing in to the mark with Jon managing to edge over the top of Paul just before the mark rounding first to Paul then Tim and Robin.
There was plenty of jostling down wind as everyone tried to find the balance between attack and defence but in the end it all stayed the same with Jon crossing the line first closely followed by Tim and Paul who had a photo finish for second and Robin in 4th.
Race 7 started in the same 8-10 knot breeze on a similar start line with maybe a slight pin end bias.
As per the previous race the majority of the fleet sailed middle to left hand side of the course with a few electing to tackle the right side again. However it seemed to be the boats in the middle of the course that were able to take advantage of the shifts best, so at the top mark it was Jon, Paul, Robin and Richie made up the top bunch as they turned and headed down wind.
The was plenty of gybing on the downwind leg with Casey Bates making up a couple of positions by the bottom. Paul and Jon chose the right gate mark and headed left , while Robin and Casey choose the left mark and headed right. Robin, Jon and Paul chose again to play the shifts towards the middle of the course but Casey chose to play the shifts further to the right of the others which payed of as they neared the top mark, with a right shift giving Casey the lead by a good margin as they rounded, Jon 2nd Paul 3rd and James Sly 4rd after a good upwind leg.
Down wind Casey was out of reach, so the brother duked it out all the way to the finish, Casey 1st, Jon 2nd, Paul 3rd and Robin 4th after James sly broke his tiller extension.
Race 8 got underway in a fading breeze, influenced by a storm cloud to the left of the course.
The fleet started in 8-10 knots, splitting into two groups, the left hand group going for the cloud, the right hand group going for a right hand shift off the coastline. At the top mark, the left hand group won out, with Paul Newman leading from James Sly, Hayden Harding and Jon Newman.
Jon made up a place at the gate to round third from James and Paul. The lead group headed left again. The pack was close behind, with Tim Hill rounding 7th, just behind Richie Robertson.
Tim and Richie elected to head right. Richie tacked back towards the leaders half way up the beat. Tim continued, picking up a right hand shift in pressure to lift to a close 5th, just behind the tightly bunched leading pack. He continued to the left hand layline, tacked to cross with a narrow lead from Paul, James and Hayden in fading pressure.
Tim did a bear away set, Paul rounded and followed before gybing back to port to shadow Jon, who gybe set into a puff. Tim also gybed setting up a loose cover while James continued down the right hand side of the run. With the breeze filling from behind, Tim gybed back and forward down the rhumbline spending his lead, in the end taking the win from James in second, Hayden in third.
Race 9 started in total confusion swirling around the points. James’s first 2 races were a write off, capsizing in a puff in Race 6, breaking his tiller extension in Race 7 – although he’d recovered in Race 8, he’d come back to the chasing pack. Jon had started with a win, but had just picked up a 5th, to go with his 2 other discards. Richie had sailed steadily with a 5,5,5 – not accumulating anything too big and looked poised for a great overall result, but light weather generally doesn’t suit big men – and Race 9 looked lighter than ever. Paul started the day with a 2nd, 3rd and 4th was looking very fast and very consistent in the light breeze. Tim carded a 3rd, then crashed to a 6th, before picking up a 1st in Race 8.
All 5 had a shot at winning, and with the second drop coming in, nobody really knew where they stood.
On que, the weather threw a tantrum and shifted hard left with 2 minutes to the start. Paul, Richie, James, Tim and Jon all elected to start on port towards the pin end of the line, weaving through the line of starboard tackers to head towards the shore. The wind puffed to 8 knots, then began a slow fade, shifting right as the storm cloud drizzled to the left hand side of the race course.
Jon was the first to tack off the line of port tackers, missing the right hand shift which James picked perfectly some minutes later. Tim tacked at the same time below James, but elected to head back towards the right half way up the beat.
James continued on to the left hand layline and arrived first at the top mark – just in front of Richie, also arriving from the left. The leaders set their kites in light breeze and turned downwind, while the wind glassed out at the top mark as the rest of the fleet drifted in.
Robin Dayes, Ricky Ironmonger, Casey Bates, Chris Peile, Paul and Tim – all turned the top mark in a tight bunch, more or less together. The wind veered hard left, leaving them to tight reach to the bottom gate with barely enough pressure to fly their chutes, the leaders already more than half a leg in front.
With James leading, Jon was in dire trouble, arriving in no wind at the top mark in last position.
The breeze stuttered and filled again. James led to the gate as the RO reset the windward mark. Richie followed and initiated a tacking duel. With a big gap over the following pack, the two leaders went tack for tack as the wind filled in from the right hand side. Seeing the same patch of pressure, Tim gybed away from the layline procession of drifting boats to round 4th, immediately heading right to consolidate 3rd.
At the top mark the last time around, James correctly guessed the last 100 meters to pull out a comfortable lead from Richie. Behind them Chris and Paul arrived at the windward mark on the left hand layline pushing Tim back to 5th, Chris rounding 3rd, Paul 4th.
James took the win from Richie, with Tim picking pressure lanes down the run to finish in 3rd, Paul in 4th and Jon deep in the pack at 9th.
Heading back to shore, no one knew where the chips had fallen.
The final points saw Jon scraping home to take the championship on 23 points.
James (2nd), Richie (3rd) and Paul (4th) all finished on 24 points, James taking the tie break by virtue of his 3 wins, while Tim finished one point further point adrift on 25 points in 5th.
Jon celebrated a well deserved, white knuckle win. 2nd to 5th places were left to pick over what might have been. All 5 boats had a realistic shot of winning the championship – but none possessed the mathematical skills to realise what the f was really at stake during the snakes and ladders of that final race, let alone what might come to pass when the second drop came in.
Overall results below:
Big thanks to Blairgowrie for picking up the Australian Musto Skiff Championship after the fires cancelled the planned regatta at Metung on the Gippsland Lakes. And big(ger) thanks to class Prez Paul Newman, who managed to relocate, replan and re-organise the regatta in 4 very busy days.
