Steve McConaghy and his crew from Australia have successfully defended their 11 Metre World title in Arendal, Norway today, with a fourth place finish in the final race to defeat their nearest rival, a Norwegian entry skippered by Dag Usterud.
McConaghy, from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in NSW, with crew from his 2004 defence, brother Scott and Michael Spies, along with additional crew, Matt Allen, reported yesterday that they needed to finish no worse than four places behind the Norwegian, whom they nicknamed ‘Bjorn Borg’, in the final race.
In 15-18 knot winds, McConaghy, a former Olympian and highly regarded big boat tactician said, ‘Bjorn had a really bad start at the pin end. We started clean, two boats up and didn’t look back. He finished 15th, so we keep our title. Yippee – what a feeling – we’re all stoked.’
Sailing SLAM, team McConaghy, the only Australian crew at the event, won five of the nine race series, which included only one race drop. On Day 2, the Aussies were black flagged, putting them under pressure to perform well for the rest of the series.
McConaghy, apart from sailing in the Soling class at the 1996 Olympics, called tactics for Colin O’Neil on After Shock, in the RPAYC team’s win of the 2003 Admiral’s Cup – just one of his many triumphs.
Spies and Allen are both members of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, where Allen was recently elected Vice Commodore.
Both he and Spies have impressive sailing records of their own. Spies holds the race record for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, which he also won on handicap in 2003, amongst his many other skiff, dinghy and yacht titles. Allen won the prestigious CYCA Blue Water Championship this year, following a consistent eight-month campaign with his Farr 52 Ichi Ban. He also finished second at the Rolex Farr 40 2005 Pre-Worlds and won the first two races of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds.
McConaghy paid tribute to his crew’s sponsors; SLAM, Hamilton Island, Ian Short Sails and SAS (Airlines). ‘We would not be here without them and really appreciate the support,’ he said.
All four will return to Australia shortly, where McConaghy, Spies and Allen will prepare for the Hahn Premium Race Week in August to individually campaign for the major IRC trophy.
by Di Pearson
