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

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

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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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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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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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 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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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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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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John Bertrand and his crew of Ben Ainslie and Andrew Palfrey (AUS) have reclaimed the 2009 Audi Etchells World Championship lead today on Port Phillip in a thrilling Race 6 finish with Graeme Taylor/Ben Morrison-Jack/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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