Etchells Brisbane

John Bertrand sails with Brisbane Fleet Crew

admin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:07:38 +0000

James Chilman and Gary Van Lunteren two exceptionally talented young Queensland sailors will fill an important crewing role when they contest the 2010 Musto Etchells Australasian Winter Championship off Mooloolaba Beach this weekend.

Chilman a gifted sail maker with the North Sails Brisbane loft, has the proven trimming skills to create fast sail shapes while the ‘Big Boy’ Van Lunteren, normally a key crew member on the dual Brisbane to Gladstone race line honours champion Black Jack, has both the body weight and hiking skill to sail fast in the heavier breezes.

They have answered the crew call to contest the important championship series with the master match racing helmsman John Bertrand.

Surprisingly John Bertrand, who with the Australia ll crew won a tactical arm-wrestle over the Dennis Conner skippered Liberty to win the Americas Cup in 1983, has experienced several unsuccessful attempts to win at Mooloolaba.

He has made a casual approach this year sailing a borrowed Etchell and racing with an unfamiliar crew but this has failed to disguise the respect the five times summer national title winner holds within the strongly bonded Etchells family.

Naturally James Chilman who at 22 has sailed far too many highly competitive races to make any pre-title predictions on the championship results in a fleet which has attracted several World champions.

Chilman winner of a World Tasar Youth silver medal in his home town of Darwin also has the career distinction of winning the 2009 Audi Australian IRC ocean racing championship with the Rod Jones skippered Sunshine Coast yacht Alegria.

However while he respects the opportunity to crew for John Bertrand he has entered this championship with an open mind.

‘Both Gary (Van Lunteren) and I have never sailed with John (Bertrand) before so it will be an interesting new challenge’ James Chilman said.

The strict nature of this one design racing class where the results are generally decided in centimetres rather than seconds suggests that John Bertrand, James Chilman and Gary Van Lunteren could be forced to play catch up to sail on equal terms with the pre-title favourite Mark Johnson and his crew of Nik Burfoot and Peter Conde.

Johnson, the Silver Medallist from 2009 and the talented New Zealand skipper Alastair Gair, who was forced to carry a Black Flag disqualification in his Bronze medal winning score last year, head the rankings.

John Bertrand has proved his tactical tenacity but like his other major rivals, including Mark Johnson, dual World champion John Savage, and former Winter Etchells champions Julian Plante, Ian Johnson and David Rose, will need to consistently protect their sailing space and finish all races in the top ten to rate a chance to wrap up the championship.

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Queensland State Etchells champion to defend title

admin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:26:38 +0000

Defending champion Vaughan Prentice promises tough competition in next month’s Wharf Tavern Etchells Queensland State Championship for Etchells sailors with designs on taking the coveted trophy.

Prentice will be up against a high-quality fleet of 20 boats from Queensland, Hong Kong and New Zealand. The two-day regatta will see the fleet contest six races on the open waters off Mooloolaba Beach on the 14 and 15 November.
While Prentice claims he is just coming along to make up the numbers, he says some of his fellow Etchells sailors may argue that this is when he is at his most dangerous.

Ask his North Sails business partner Mark Bradford. ‘A relaxed Vaughan is definitely dangerous. I think that his form in the last year has shown that he will be hard to beat. He won’t be alone though. Mooloolaba’s Dave Turton won’t be easy along one or two others that are likely to pop up and do a good job.’.

Prentice rates a top three placing in the State championship very highly. ‘I have had many seconds and many thirds, but never actually managed to win one until last year. Competing in the Etchells class at State level I figure if you finish in the top three you are doing pretty well. Most of the State championships are won on a count back so it is always very close within the top three or four. So at State level to finish in the top three is not bad and when we come to Mooloolaba to do the mid-winters, to finish in the top ten you are in the hunt.’

Vaughan will content the championship with two of winning crew from 2008, Chris Anderson and Darren Hutchinson, plus young Laser sailor Curtis Skinner who has recently returned from the Laser Youth World Championship, held in Brazil.

by Tracey Johnstone 6:04 AM Fri 16 Oct 2009 GMT

BRISBANE FLEET NEWS

admin — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:02:01 +0000

JUNE 2009

Another season is over and what a good one it was. What a great effort by Jason Muir and crew Paul Wyatt, Bucky Smith & Matt Chew in winning the World Championship in Melbourne in March with a race to spare. To cap that off Jason has just been awarded Yachtsman of The Year at RQYS jointly with fellow member Dan Fitzgibbon (Olympic Silver Medalist – Skud 18). Jason also won the Brisbane Fleet Championships earlier this year. Other winners this year were Noel Paterson (Waterloo Bay) Squadron Championship and David Healey (Rapscallion) Season’s Points winner.

9 boats from our fleet ventured to Mooloolaba for the June long weekend Winter Championships which saw light winds and sunny skies. 55 boats from all over Australia, NZ and Hong Kong took part with the new format of using the Wharf as a base turning out to be a big winner.

The Brisbane Fleet is running a couple of “come and try” days during winter (11/07 and 15/08) with the aim of promoting the class to prospective owners as well as crews. We have a decent list of names for the first one already and it is still 4 weeks away. The format is expected to take the form of a series of short sprint races. Depending upon the final number of people attending we will swap crews from a mother ship so everyone gets a go. On a previous weekend that incorrigible duo of Paterson and Healey took out some interested people which has already resulted in one boat sale with another underway. We welcome John/Jack Sweep and Peter Cziel to the Fleet.

Next season kicks off with Opening Day on 5th September. Start your maintenance now as this will soon come around.

See you on the water.
David Healey

Audi Etchells Worlds: What it took to win

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 02:08:31 +0000

Last Friday, March 13, this Queensland based team clenched the Etchells Worlds with one race to spare. 85 boats, with crews of highly decorated sailors, competed in the worlds hosted this year in Melbourne, Austrailia by the Royal Brighton Yacht Club. When the last day was cancelled due to weather conditions, Jason Muir’s team had won the Worlds by twenty points over second place Damien King, and twenty-two points over legendary skipper John Bertrand. This team of generation X and Yers (perhaps the reason for the boat name), may be young in years, but they are wise in experience. Muir’s team sat down this week to answer a few questions about their regatta win, and what it took to get there.

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Audi Etchells Worlds: World Championship Winning Formula

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:06:48 +0000

Piece together a puzzle made up of a well-prepared boat, excellent crew work, good weather forecasts, a fast boat and a top ten result in every race and you have a winning formula.

Two years in the making, the Australian team of Jason Muir, Matthew Chew, Paul Wyatt and Bucky Smith delivered a quiet and confident program which gave them the coveted Audi Etchells World Championship 2009 title sailed on Port Phillip Bay last week.

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Audi Etchells Worlds: Steady Muir crowned new World Champions

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:05:43 +0000

Australia’s Jason Muir and his crew of Paul Wyatt, Matthew Chew and Bucky Smith won the 2009 Audi Etchells World Championship with a classic Tortoise and Hare series. While favourites Bertrand, Ainslie and Palfrey cracked after their flying start, scoring a 12th and then a 32nd, Muir and crew sailed steadily to victory with a day to spare.

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Audi Etchells Worlds: Jason Muir wins the 2009 Audi Etchells World championship

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:04:00 +0000

Friday the 13th was a lucky day for Jason Muir and his crew of Matthew Chew, Paul Wyatt and Bucky Smith from Brisbane when they won the 2009 Audi Etchells world championship with a day to spare with a very consistent day of racing with a 9th and 8th placing to now have a total of 43 points, leading Damien King from Melbourne on 63 points.

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Audi Etchells Worlds: Team Muir crowned new world champions

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:01:39 +0000

‘Audi Etchells Worlds 2009, Brighton Yacht Club, Melbourne (AUS) – 13/03/09 RACER XY, skipper Jason Muir (second from right) are the Etchells World Champion 2009′ Andrea Francolini / Audi ©

Jason Muir and his crew of Paul Wyatt, Matthew Chew and Bucky Smith (AUS) have outclassed the rest of the 85-strong field at the 2009 Audi Etchells World Championship to win the title a day before the Championship finishes.

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Audi Etchells Worlds: Taylor wins Race 8, but Muir secures title

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:59:40 +0000

Race 8 of the Audi Etchells Worlds was dominated by Graeme Taylor, closely followed around the first three marks by Damien King and Jon Andrews (in that order).

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Audi Etchells Worlds: Bertrand’s back but Muir looks dangerous

admin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 00:58:23 +0000

Australian John Bertrand and his crew of Ben Ainslie and Andrew Palfrey have reclaimed the Audi Etchells World Championship lead today on Port Phillip in a thrilling Race 6 finish with Graeme Taylor, Ben Morrison-Jack and Grant Wharington (AUS), who won the race, Bertrand having to tack to lay the finish and having no alternative but to follow Taylor’s stern over the finish line.

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