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VIDEO| Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore and CYCA Ocean Racer of the Year celebrations

The Club is pleased and excited to announce the 2019-2020 Ocean Racer of the Year Awards and Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore winners.

While recent COVID-19 restrictions may have dampened celebrations for last season’s summer sailing, the Club along with series partner Audi Centre Sydney was able to take the celebrations online. With many tuning in from home and attending virtually a long list of winning and place-getters were recognised for their achievements.

CYCA Ocean Racer of the Year award recipients

Angelique Kear – Sally Gordon Memorial Trophy for Crew Person of the year

This award recognises a non-professional crew member that contributes significantly to the team and program. It’s for the crew member who greatly assists across any aspect of the racing process, from preparation of the yacht prior and post-racing, to assisting with paperwork and other administrative operations for the team.

Angelique regularly competes in CYCA offshore events,  having competed in four Rolex Sydney Hobarts. In 2019, Angelique competed in the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Poinstcore on board the yacht Showtime, with owner and skipper Mark Griffith highlighting her outstanding dedication and commitment to the program. Her commitment to Showtime extended well beyond simply participating in the races. She consistently assisted with the boat preparation, notably organising the provisioning for each race. Something that is not an easy task for a crew of 10!

Her unfailing optimism, dedication and reliability in both sailing and boat preparation inspired the whole Showtime crew and is to be highly commended!

Kim Jaggar – Ocean Veteran of the Year

This is awarded to a stalwart of the sport, who, has either been campaigning for a number of years, or who has returned to offshore racing after a brief hiatus from the sport of sailing.

2019 saw Kim complete his 34th Sydney Hobart Race. He competed in his first Sydney Hobart in 1976 prior to campaigning his first yacht, Vanessa III from 1981 to 1986, winning their Division and finishing 13th overall in 1986. His love affair with ocean racing continued as he campaigned his Davidson 34, Illusion, with Travis Read.

In 2018, after several years in retirement from yacht ownership, he bought the Sydney 38 Cinquante and set about updating the boat to once again take on the Great Race. 2018 saw a highly successful return, finishing first in the Sydney 38 Division and 2nd in Corinthian IRC. In 2019, he again skippered Cinquante to Hobart, and carried away five divisional prizes, including again placing 2nd overall in Corinthian IRC. He was also 23rd overall in IRC out of 119 boats, and the best placed Sydney 38 on handicap in the race. A remarkable achievement for this ocean racing veteran.

Throughout his ocean racing career, he has trained and mentored many young sailors. Most notably, he spent several years working with Sailors with Disabilities, now known as the Making Waves foundation as a crew and skipper for their Sydney Hobart campaigns and circumnavigation of Australia for which they still hold the monohull speed record!

Mark Spring – Ocean Racing Rookie of the Year

The Ocean Racing Rookie of the Year is awarded to a competitor that, may be no foreigner to crewing or participating in ocean racing, has for the first time campaigned their own boat within the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s prestigious Blue Water Sailing Program.

Mark only commenced competitive racing in 2018, having previously owned cruising boats. After purchasing the old Beneteau 45 Balance, he decided he wanted to race to Hobart with his mates. This sailor didn’t back down when told it takes hard work, money and perseverance, putting together a crew of his friends, some of whom had never raced offshore before.

Fellow crew member and friend, Andrew Pearson, competed in the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore with this sailor and said; “I have never sailed with a more delightful chap who, in his first couple of years of ocean racing, has shown he is truly considerate of others, prioritising mateship and fairness and puts safety first. He now understands the nuances of racing and upholds the traditions. He also dragged seven other non-ocean racers with him on his journey, a feat in itself, and by his own word is now “hooked”!”

Mark and his rookie crew,  finished the series off with a very commendable seventh place in IRC division 2 for the 2019 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and has shown to be a very great ambassador for the sport of Ocean Racing.

Will Oxley – Ocean Navigator of the Year

The Ocean Navigator of the Year award was instituted in 2008 and recognises the integral role that navigators play in the successful campaign of a yacht.

On board the most successful boat in the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Series, Will experienced extreme success in ocean racing globally in 2019. With a background in marine biology and countless miles of ocean racing experience, The recipient is a renowned ocean racing navigator.

In 2019, he continued to contribute to the success of the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Champion, Ichi Ban. 

Beyond his success in the Blue Water Pointscore, he recorded an impeccable season in 2019. This included wins in the Rolex Giraglia Race, Rolex Fastnet Race and Rolex Sydney Hobart on three separate yachts. He also won the Carribean 600 Overall onboard Volvo 70 Wizard, whose crew was named World Sailing’s “Team of the Year”.

Fellow Ichi Ban crew members have stated that his scientific approach has led to improvements in the boat’s performance at every level with his weather and navigation skills continuing to improve every year. This navigator has become one of the leading lights in international yacht racing.

Matt Allen – Ocean Racer of the Year

The Ocean Racing Yachtsperson of the Year is the most prestigious of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s five awards, and is presented to the leader of an Australian Ocean Racing campaign who has excelled above others during the qualification period.

This year’s Ocean Racing Yachts Person of the Year has contributed greatly to the sport, through his leadership at the CYCA and, more recently, as President of Australian Sailing. He was also instrumental in setting up the Safety Of Life At Sea Trusts which serve to support and assist Search and Rescue operations as well as families of those lost at sea.

He has enjoyed plenty of success in sailing throughout his career, especially in recent years with a dominant racing team. His knowledge and experience gained over 40 years of big boat sailing has come to a pinnacle with his latest Ichi Ban. Under his leadership, the Ichi Ban team have continued to improve and achieve at the highest levels in Australian Offshore yachting.

His leadership, focus and determination to succeed have resulted in a back-to-back Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore series victories – a massive success against highly competitive fleets.

Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore award recipients

The following winners were recognised for outstanding achievement over the 2019/2020 Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Series:

Ken Holmes – Dreki Sunnan

3rd Commodores Cup

Sebastian Bohm – Smuggler

1st Commodores Cup

Les Goodridge – Wax Lyrical

2nd PHS Division 2 – Commodores Series

Mark Griffith – LCE Showtime

3rs IRC Division 2 and 3rd ORCi Division 2 – Commodores Series

Julian Farren-Price – About Time

1st PHS Bird Island Race, winning the 44th George Barton Trophy

Sam Haynes – Celestial

2nd Commodores Cup

1st PHS Flinders Islet Race, winning the 71st Kings Birthday Cup

David Griffith – Chinese Whisper

3rd PHS Division 1 – Commodores Series

1st Line Honours, winning the Pat Cooper Memorial Trophy – Bass & Flinders Series

Carl Crafoord & Tim Horkings – Sail Exchange

3rd PHS Overall

1st PHS Division 2

3rd ORCi Overall

1st ORCi Division 2

2nd IRC Division 2 – Commodores Series

Tony Levett – TSA Management

3rd Commodores Cup

2nd PHS Division 2 – Tasman Performance Series

3rd ORCi Division 2 – Cape Byron Pointscore Series

3rd IRC Division 2 – Blue Water Pointscore Series

Mark Spring – Highly Sprung

3rd Commodores Cup

3rd PHS Division 2 – Commodores Series

3rd PHS Division 2 – Tasman Performance Series

2nd ORCi Division 2 – Cape Byron Pointscore Series

2nd IRC Division 2 – Blue Water Pointscore Series

Noel Cornish – St Jude

2nd Commodores Cup

3rd Line Honours, 2nd ORCi Division 2, 3rd IRC Overall and 1st IRC Division 2 – Commodores Series

1st PHS Division 2 – Tasman Performance Series

1st ORCi Division 2 – Cape Byron Pointscore Series

1st IRC Division 2 – Blue Water Pointscore Series

Bob Steel & Craig Neil – Quest

1st Commodores Cup

2nd Line Honours, 2nd PHS Division 1, 2nd PHS Overall, 2nd ORCi Division 1, 2nd ORCi Overall, 2nd IRC Division 1, 2nd IRC Overall – Commodores Series

2nd PHS Division 1, 2nd PHS Overall – Tasman Performance Series

2nd ORCi Division 1, 2nd ORCi Overall – Cape Byron Pointscore Series

3rd IRC Division 1, 3rd IRC Overall – Blue Water Pointscore Series and;

1st IRC Bird Island Race, winning the 63rd Janzoon Trophy

Matt Donald & Chris Townsend – Gweilo

1st Commodores Cup

1st Line Honours, 1st PHS Division 1, 1st PHS Overall, 1st ORCi Division1, 1st ORCi Overall, 1st IRC Division 1, 1st IRC Overall – Commodores Series

3rd Line Honours – Bass & Flinders Series

1st PHS Division 1, winning the Malcolm Halliday Memorial Trophy and 1st PHS Overall – Tasman Performance Series

3rd ORCi Division 1 and 3rd ORCi Overall – Cape Byron Pointscore Series

2nd IRC Division 1 and 2nd IRC Overall – Blue Water Pointscore Series

1st PHS Cabbage Tree Island Race, winning the 47th Woollahra Cup

1st ORCi Cabbage Tree Island Race, winning the EC “Boy” Messenger Memorial Trophy and;

1st IRC Cabbage tree Island Race, winning the 57th Halvorsen Brothers Trophy

Robert Greenhalgh – Ichi Ban

The Tony McLean Memorial Trophy awarded to the mainsheet hand of the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Champion.

Davin Conigrave – Ichi Ban

The Roger Hickman OAM Memorial Trophy presented to the Bow Person of the Audi Centre Sydney Blue Water Pointscore Champion.

Matt Allen – Ichi Ban

The 2019 Audi Centre Sydney Bluewater Pointscore Champion

1st IRC Division 1 and 1st IRC Overall, winning the Jack Halliday Perpetual Trophy and Blue Water Pointscore Series

1st ORCi Division 1, winning the Cape Byron Perpetual Trophy and 1st ORCi Overall – Cape Byron Pointscore Series

1st IRC Flinders Island Yacht Race, winning the Ron Robertson Memorial Trophy

1st IRC Newcastle Bass Island Yacht Race, winning The Solo Trophy

2nd Line Honours – Bass & Flinders Series

3rd PHS Division 1 and 3rd PHS Overall – Tasman Performance Series

2nd Commodores Cup

3rd IRC Division 1 and 3rd IRC Overall – Commodores Series

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