Saturday 14 March saw the final race for the Grant Thornton Short Haul and Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore fleets. With only a few points separating the top 3 in the overall Pointscore in both fleets, it would come down to this race to determine the overall Pointscore winner. Racing was hosted by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in 12-15 knot n/nor’easterley breezes.

Ray Entwistle, who entered his new yacht J/122 Jackpot in the Grant Thornton Short Ocean Autumn Pointscore, after her delivery in January prior to the start of the Australia Day regatta, is a very happy man – having finished equal first in IRC Division 1, but was relegated to second on countback by Leslie Green’s Ginger.

“The last race was a nail biter from start to finish, with some exciting tactical racing against Julian Farren-Price’s About Time, Annette & Robert Hawthorn’s Imagination, Warwick Sherman’s Occasional Coarse Language and Stephen Thomas’ Blackadder  just to get out of the harbour”, said Ray Entwistle

“It was a long beat in the 12-15knot N/N’Easter taking us over an hour to get to the top mark, by which time Ginger and Matthew Short’s Shortwave had established an impressive gap.  About Time and Imagination appeared to be match-racing for the whole race, with neither letting each other out of their sights. 

Ginger took the line honours win, closely followed by Shortwave with David Forbes’ Merlin third.

Ginger also won IRC Division 1 overall, with Shortwave second and Jackpot third. S Rahilly & J Pelly’s Crosshaven placed first in IRC Division 3, with Howard & Susan Piggott’s Brilliant second and Michael Delaney and John Markos’ Eye Appeal third.

Occasional Coarse Language finished first in PHS Division 1, with Blackadder second and Imagination third. Crosshaven finished first in PHS Division 3, with Tim Cox’s Soundtrack second and Kevin O’Shea’s Stormy Petrel third.

The IRC Division 1 Autumn series finish was as close as it gets with Ginger and Jackpot tied for first on 8 points, with Jackpot relegated to second on a countback with Imagination third and About Time 4th both on 9 points with third place being awarded to Imagination on count back.

“It’s great to be part of such a closely matched and well run series. I have had a tremendous time sailing my new yacht in the Grant Thornton Short Ocean Autumn Pointscore Series. Jackpot was only able to join in the Autumn Series of the SOPS as her commissioning was finished in January, just in time for the Australia Day Regatta – the first race in the series.  We all have ‘if-only’ stories, but we missed second place in that race by 1 second in a 4.5 hour race.   The series would have been ours except for that one second!  The quality of the fleet sailing in the CYCA SOPS series certainly gets you focussed and accelerates the fine-tuning process.  Thanks to the CYCA for running an excellent series, to all the competitors for their skilled sportsmanship and camaraderie, our crew for their teamwork and to Ian Short and his team who did an outstanding job on the sail wardrobe,” added Ray.

In IRC Division 3, Brilliant finished first on 5 points, with Eye Appeal second on 7 points and John Maclurcan’s Morag Bheag third on 11 points.

In PHS Division 1 Blackadder finished first on 6 points with Imagination second on nine points and Jackpot third on 10 points. Eye Appeal took out PHS Division 3 on 7 points with Desmond Fagan’s Lisdillon second on 10 points and Stormy Petrel third also on 10 points.

Julian Farren Price’s About Time has won IRC Division 1 of the 2008-2009 Grant Thornton Short Ocean Provisional Pointscore from Imagination (second) and Shortwave (third)

Howard & Susan Piggott’s Brilliant won IRC Division 3 of the 2008-2009 Grant Thornton Short Ocean Provisional Pointscore with Morag Bheag second and Eye Appeal third.

Imagination also won PHS Division 1 of the 2008-2009 Grant Thornton Short Ocean Provisional Pointscore with Blackadder second and Occasional Coarse Language third. Eye Appeal won PHS Division 3, with Stormy Petrel second and Brilliant third.

In the Short Haul fleet, Paul Billingham and Pete McGee’s Elusive came up with their first win of the season in the PHS Division, with Warren & Williams Grounds’ Mr Bojangles second and John Keelty’s Electra third.

Alex Brandon & James Connell’s Zephyr finished first in IRC Division, with Jon Short & Miles Bastick’s MRX second and Troy & Scott Dillion’s CMist third.

Elusive won PHS Division of the Grant Thornton 2008-2009 Short Haul Autumn Provisional Pointscore with CMist second and Robert Hunt’s Attitude third. Zephyr placed first in IRC Division with MRX second and CMist third in the Autumn Pointscore.

Niel Burling’s Baltic Lady won the overall Short Haul Series Pointscore in PHS Division, followed by Zephyr second and Elusive third.

Zephyr won the overall Short Haul Series Pointscore in IRC Division with MRX second and John & Ann Kirkjian’s Lady Ann third.

For full details about the Grant Thornton Short Haul Pointscore Series click here

For full details about the Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore series click here

By Jennifer Crooks with contributions from Ray Entwistle