Day Two of Sail Brisbane saw intense conditions with winds gusting to 29 knots for the SB3s on the Eastern course and up to 26 on both the Northern and Southern courses. The wind and sea conditions resulted in torn sails, broken masts, a cartwheeling Sabot, many “Moreton Bay Choc Tops” but fortunately no broken bones. The gusty and oscillating conditions saw survival skills as sailors dealt with short sharp waves.

The Laser Standard, Radial and 4.7 fleets who are racing at the Northern end of Waterloo Bay managed to brave the conditions. The top two places in the Standard have changed with Matt Coutts of New Zealand now leading after three wins yesterday. Matias Del Solar from Chili has slipped into second with Spanish sailor Javier Hernandez just one point behind in third.

Laser sailor, Greg Adams who played with the idea of retiring from the regatta due to a back injury decided to fight through the pain and continue racing. His dedication and determination now sees him leading the Laser Radial fleet just ahead of current ISAF Youth World Champion Gabrielle King.

In the 420 fleet local sailors Rhys Collins and Andrew Gough are now on equal points with fellow team members Sean Ott and Adam Lahey after racing to a third and first in yesterday’s races. NSW competitors Byron White and Jay Griffin continue to lead the way on eight points.

The results in the Sabot fleet have changed dramatically overnight with Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron local Lewis Brake and Brisbane Sailing Squadron’s Aidan Geek on equal points and leading the way. The leading Sabot and Optimist sailors showed considerable consistency in changing conditions.

Race 5 on the Southern Course was postponed due to the increasing conditions resulting in an earlier race for those fleets today. The Optimists, Sabots, 420s, 470s, 29ers and 125s will head out to their course area an hour earlier than originally scheduled.

The Hobie 16 fleet join Sail Brisbane today and will see 13 strong fleet attempt to sail five races today.

Shifty North/West winds are predicted today ranging from 25 to 35 knots ahead of thundery rain this afternoon. Not typical Queensland weather for this time of year and the Sail Brisbane regatta.

Full Results >> http://www.sailbrisbane.com/2008-results/

Day 1 Photos >> http://www.sailbrisbane.com/day-2-281108/

Keep up to date during the day via the Sail Brisbane Blog >> http://www.sailbrisbane.com/

Sail Brisbane, the first leg of the Sail Down Under Series got underway yesterday racing from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (RQYS) at Manly. Entrants totaling 143 from seven countries raced on three separate courses to get in the first two races of the regatta.

Rigging in torrential rain it was uncertain to the sailors that they had arrived in Sunny Queensland. Eventually the clouds cleared to a consistent 12 knots from the north east.

The Laser fleets raced on the northern end of the bay with Internationals leading the way. Matias Del Solar from Chili and Matt Coutts from New Zealand share the winning positions from the two races and are now equal on three points. Javier Cebrian from Spain sits on eight points in 3rd position.

Former local but now Far North Queensland resident Kelsey Ormsby is 3 points clear of Mark Langford from Belmont in NSW. Former Masters World Champion Greg Adams is equal with Langford but is rumoured to be out of the regatta due to a back injury. Another Far North Queenslander, Andrew Torpelund is sitting comfortably in the podium position in the Laser 4.7 fleet after two convincing wins in yesterday’s races.

The southern end of the bay has a great line up of Sabot sailors who are using Sail Brisbane as a final hit out prior to their Australian Championships which are being raced over the Christmas/New Year period at Airlie Beach. Felix Grech from Hunters Hill Sailing Club in Sydney won both races with Matt Graham from Gosford Sailing Club sitting closely behind after racing to second in both races.

Tom Brewer and Will Ryan from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia together with Laura Balwin and Rike Ziegelmayer sailing for Middle Harbour Amateur Sailing Club and RQYS are leading in the 470 class both sitting on 3 points.

Two wins in the 420 fleet for RQYS sailors Sean Ott and Adam Lahey has them clear ahead of Byron White and Jay Griffin from the CYCA. Racing in this competitive fleet will be close for the duration of the regatta with both teams excelling in the heavy conditions that are forecast.

Former Laser Radial sailor Kieran Searle from Northern NSW is at the helm of a 29er for Sail Brisbane after teaming up with Sam Phillips from RQYS. They are equal placed with RQYS locals Angus Rankin and James Dahl.

Young Optimist sailor Charlie Wyatt took out the first race of the regatta with Louise Evans winning Race Two. Evans received an OCS in Race One pushing her deep in the results after the first day of racing. Mackenzie Bird from Victoria is on equal points with Wyatt but the results could go any way with these competitive sailors.

The 125 fleet is strong in Queensland, especially within the Brisbane River clubs. Jenny Anderson and Joanne Luscombe from the Brisbane Sailing Squadron are leading the fleet after two wins yesterday ahead of another BSS crew of Tim and Lauren Robba. RQYS 125 sailors Bronwyn and Nigel Seto are equal with the Robba crew after Day One.

The SB3 fleet is using Sail Brisbane to race their first Queensland Championship. Rod Jones who was behind the fleet arriving in Australia is leading after two wins. However Jones is reportedly out of the regatta due to a hamstring/achilles injury suffered during yesterday’s racing.

The Hobie 16 fleet will join the SB3s on the Eastern course from Saturday.

The forecast for Day 2 of racing has conditions increasing to 20/25 knots with a strong wind warning in place for the evening. Saturday is due to bring a 20/30 knots SW breeze.

Full Results >> http://www.sailbrisbane.com/2008-results/

Day 1 Photos >> http://www.sailbrisbane.com/day-1-271108/

Keep up to date during the day via the Sail Brisbane Blog >> http://www.sailbrisbane.com/

Yachting Australia completed its’ ‘Meet the Medallists’ state tour last night in Queensland at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron with seven team members and a crowd of over 100 sailing enthusiasts who enjoyed the inspirational presentation opened by the President of Yachting Queensland, Ken Hurling.

RQYS Commodore, Keith Anderson welcomed the audience with special mention to; former Olympic Gold Medallist, John Cuneo who won the Dragon Class in 1972, past Australian Sailing Team Managers, John Harrison and Graeme Roberts Thompson and Yachting Queenslands’ very own State High Performance Coach and 2008 Olympic Yngling Team Coach, Adrian Finglas before handing the floor over to the MC for the evening, Yachting Australia’s Media & Marketing Services Coordinator and former Olympian, Laura Baldwin.

First to be called to the stage were the Paralympic Silver Medallists in the SKUD 18 Class, Dan Fitzgibbon and Rachael Cox, who are members of RQYS. The pair expressed their delight at the reception they received and the magic feelings they experienced whilst standing on the podium watching the Australian flag being hoisted. Both agreed that the greatest emotions had flowed since their return home after time to reflect on what they had achieved. The team is now aiming to win Gold in London 2012.

Next up were the Olympic Silver Medallists in the Tornado Class, Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby who have won a combined total of 11 World Titles with Darren now being a two time Olympic Silver Medallists. The team both felt that the Opening Ceremony was the highlight of their Olympic experience.

Darren described it as, “Electric! You walk out into the Olympic Stadium in your uniform along side sporting super stars and are met by a thunderous roar generated by hundreds of thousands of excited fans and supporters from all around the world, it’s an empowering experience!”

Olympic Gold Medallists in the Men’s 470 Class, Malcolm Page who won his first National title at RQYS, arrived sporting a mo as he is fundraising for Movember, one of the many charity functions he has supported since his return from the Games. Malcolm threw his medal into the audience to hold and admire whilst he shared his highlights and feelings of National pride. He described the journey and outlined the effort required to achieve his dream and the importance of goal setting.

The final Olympic Team member to be called to the stage was the legendary Victor Kovalenko who has now coached eight teams to win Olympic Medals in the 470 Class, five of them Gold with twice winning the double, Men’s and Women’s 470 events at Sydney and now again in Beijing. The reason for his success was clear as soon as he began speaking. His passion and energy for the sport is clear and his words were empowering. He made the sailors in the room, young and old realise that they too can be champions.

All the Medallists agreed the Olympics is very addictive and that after a break they will return to campaign for London 2012.
Those who sail in Queensland are very fortunate to have access to an Olympic Coach who can guide them towards achieving their goals with Adrian Finglas as the State High Performance Coach.

The evening concluded with autograph signing of a selection of sailing posters provided by Yachting Australia whilst the club provided a fantastic selection of canapés.

By Laura Baldwin

In less than two weeks sailors from across the country and abroad will arrive in South East Queensland for the ISAF Grade 2 Event Sail Brisbane.

126 entries have been received from seven countries matching the number who raced in 2006 and falling just short of the 139 record for 2007.

12 classes are set to race with the Laser fleet again dominating in numbers.

Sail Brisbane is hosted by the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron on Manly Harbour and the competitors will race on both Waterloo and Moreton Bays. Three courses will be set this year with the SB3 and Hobie 16 fleet racing in the deeper waters east of Green Island on Moreton Bay.

On Wednesday 26th November the competitors will have a chance to rub shoulders with Australian Olympians. 470 Gold Medallists Nathan Wilmot, Malcolm Page, Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson together with Tornado Silver Medal winner Glenn Ashby will wear their medals and conducted a presentation to their fans. Local Skud 18 Paralympic Silver Medal winners Dan Fitzgibbon and Rachael Cox will also have the chance the show off their medals to the sailors who have watched their campaign since early 2008.

On completion of the regatta Judy Spence MP The Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Sport will present the medals to the overall winners across all the classes.

Sail Brisbane is the first regatta in the Sail Down Under Series and is raced from Thursday 27th to Sunday 30th November.

Entries List – http://www.sailbrisbane.com/08-entries/

Laser Radial winner Penny Clark (GBR) with Yachting Queensland President Ken Hurling and Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron Vice Commodore Keith Anderson

Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Brisbane – Wednesday 12 December, 2007:

The four days of Sail Brisbane 2007 have come to a close after a variety of wind conditions, extremely high humidity and many tussles on the start and finish lines.

Overall the visiting competitors enjoyed their time at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron with many now heading south to Sydney for the Sydney International Regatta before venturing further south to Victoria for Sail Melbourne.

Inconsistent conditions at times made it difficult to lay not only a course, but a start line as well, however after the delays racing was well and truly underway with only the Laser Standards not getting in their total amount of scheduled races.

The two largest fleets, Lasers and Radials certainly made an impact on Waterloo Bay with international visitors taking home the gold.

Great Britain sailor and Olympic campaigner Penny Clark was able to secure first place ahead of local talent Klade Hauschildt with Ben Price coming in third.

“This has been a really great place to sail and the conditions were similar to what I expect to get in Miami. The competition was fantastic, there are some talented sailors here and it was a privilege to be able to race against them,” said Clark.

Rutgee Schaardenburg from Holland was first in the Laser fleet well clear of Jeemin Ha from Korea and Kevin Lim from Malaysia. These internationals will begin their travels to Sydney tomorrow morning.

The 470 fleet was solely supported by the Korean Sailing Federation who used the four day regatta to train for the future events they will be competing in here in Australia.

The local Tasar fleet was well represented with husband and wife team Wayne Sampson and Michele Petty-Sampson finishing in first position. Sampson was impressed with the amount of Tasars in attendance for the regatta and is looking forward to building the fleet in South East Queensland.

The SEQ Sabot team who head off to their National Championships shortly took Sail Brisbane as an opportunity to train before their major regatta. Shelley White from Keppel Bay Sailing Club had seven wins ahead of Southport Yacht Clubs Sean Ott. Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron sailor Alistair Rankin placed third ahead of the tactically challenging young fleet.

Future Paralympian Dan Fitzgibbon used Sail Brisbane as an opportunity to sail against other boats and as part of his overall training program. Sailing without Rachel Cox, Fitzgibbon opted to race with friend Jake Broomhall as Cox prepares for her relocation to Brisbane early 2008.

Talented North Queensland 4.7 sailor Andrew Torpelund finished one point ahead of local Jacqueline Van Soest in what was a very challenging and exciting regatta for these sailors. Sasha Ryan, also from RQYS took third place having only entered the 4.7 fleet some 6 months ago.

Former Sabot National Champion Nick Peate from Ballina in Northern NSW and Rhys Mara together raced extremely well in the 29er fleet finishing 13.5 points clear of second place. Peate and Mara have been racing the 29er together for two seasons now and will well and truly make their mark on the international 29er circuit.

The 125 fleet is consistently building in South East Queensland with Brisbane river sailors Tim Robba and Kerri Sayer taking home the gold. Along with the ever growing 420 fleet these two classes are constantly racing against each other with each loving their chosen class and the challenges they endure on the race course. Angus Galloway and Alex Gough from RQYS were the overall champions in the 420 class leaving them ready to take on their Sydney counterparts at SIRS.

Last by definitely not least was the mixed fleet of Sabot 2ups and Minnows. These youngsters hit the water each day for Sail Brisbane with some competitive racing amongst themselves, and the Sabot senior sailors. Lake Cootharaba sailor Louise Evens was the overall championship after seven wins from 10 races.

Dates for Sail Brisbane 2008 will be confirmed and announced shortly. Be sure to keep up-to-date via the dedicated website – www.sailbrisbane.com

Klade Hauschildt (177731) crossing the fleet on port tack - Photo by Suellen Hurling

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Brisbane – Monday 10 December, 2007:

There was plenty of action on the waters of Moreton and Waterloo Bay yesterday (9.12.07) as 140 competitors hit the water for Sail Brisbane. It was also the final day of racing for the Audi Etchells Queensland Championship and the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron was a hive of activity also celebrating the festive season with the children’s Christmas Party.

With seven countries represented, Sail Brisbane has reached recorded numbers.

Local Laser Radial sailor and World Masters Champion Greg Adams and the young Klade Hauschildt each week battle it out for the podium finish for Squadron racing. Their competition is fierce right down to the names of their Lasers. Adams has called his boat Kladerator whilst Hauschildt went for Greg Who?. The friendly, yet competitive competition showed in Race 1 with Hauschildt getting the bullet for in the Radial fleet followed closely by Adams.

Unfortunately Hauschildt, Adams, Penny Clark (GBR) and Ben Price were forced to retire from Race 2 after sailing the incorrect course. After two races, Richard Bott from Sydney is leading the Radial Fleet.

Rutgee Schaardenburg (NED) is currently leading the Laser Standard fleet ahead of Jeemin Ha (KOR) and Christoph Bottoni (SUI). These sailors will travel to Sydney on completion of Sail Brisbane to continue racing in the Sail Down Under Series.

Future Paralympian Dan Fitzgibbon is racing in Sail Brisbane on home waters as part of his training program. Although not sailing with fellow Paralympian Rachel Cox, due to her work commitments and relocation to Brisbane, Fitzgibbon is still on the water in his Skud 18 sailing with long time friend Jake Broomhall.

Racing is underway for Day 2 of Sail Brisbane.

Sail Brisbane Results – www.sailbrisbane.com/07-results

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Brisbane – Sunday 2 December, 2007:

Great Britain Laser Radial sailor Penny Clark has arrived at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron on Manly to race against the strong, talented and world champion fleet for the upcoming Sail Brisbane regatta.

A member of The Royal Navy, Clark was given two years leave to campaign for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and together with her husband, coach, manager and mentor Russell, the two are traveling the world giving Clark a strong advantage and more training time prior to the final trials.

Clark is vying for the covenant GBR team position and is up against other Laser Radial stars Charlotte Dobson, Lizzie Vickers and Andrea Brewster. Vickers and Brewster will meet Clark on the start line at SIRS (Sydney International Regatta) however opted out from attending Sail Brisbane which gives Clark the edge over these two sailors as the conditions on Waterloo Bay are similar to those at Miami, which is the first regatta of the final selection for the team.

“I’m looking forward to racing next week. Everyone here has given me such a warm reception right down to being invited to the 6 hours training sessions with the locals!” said Clark.

Clark will be racing against World Laser Radial Masters Champion Greg Adams as well as the Women’s Master World Champion Lyndall Patterson. The young radial fleet will also give Clark a run for her money including Klade Hauschildt who challenged her in some tight club racing yesterday at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.

“There is some brilliant talent amongst the local fleet here and there will be some close racing for the regatta,” continued Clark.

The team from Fremantle Sailing Club arrived at the Squadron at 7pm last night (Saturday 1 December) and will join the local sailors over the next few days during some intense training sessions. The Korean team is due to arrive on Monday to train and enter for the regatta.

For more information – www.sailbrisbane.com
Entries to Date – www.sailbrisbane.com/entries

Gabrielle King with the Totally Wild film crew (photo by Suellen Hurling)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Brisbane – Thursday 8 November, 2007:

Current Volvo ISAF Youth World Champion Gabrielle King was in Brisbane today filming a segment for the Channel 10 program ‘Totally Wild’ and ‘TTN’.

King won her first World Championship title in July at the Canadian regatta which brought 40 young Laser Radial women sailors together in a competitive competition.

With an array of conditions, King managed to out sail her opponents and had the World Championship won before the final race was due to start.

“It was a pretty amazing feeling knowing that I had won the regatta without having to sail the final race, but regardless, I raced anyway as the experience of being out there with other talented sailors was fantastic,” said King just moments before her on screen interview.

From the small country town of Maclean in Northern NSW, King sails on the Clarence River from Big River Sailing Club. Having just completed her final HSC exams, King will now be focusing her training for Sail Brisbane before heading to SIRS, Sail Melbourne, Sail Auckland, the Laser Nationals at Blairgowrie, the Youth Championships in Frankston and the Open Women’s Radial Worlds in Takupuna Auckland.

“This will be my forth Sail Brisbane regatta. It’s a great chance to race in some tough, harsh and challenging conditions on Moreton Bay which prepares you for anything!”

Sal Brisbane kicks off on Sunday 9 December from the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron with the final races scheduled for Wednesday 12 December.

Entries are now open with all documentation and information available on the dedicated website – www.sailbrisbane.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, Brisbane – Wednesday May 16, 2007:

Laser Radial Start, Sail Brisbane 2006 (Photo by Suellen Hurling)

The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron has launched the official Sail Brisbane website, www.sailbrisbane.com, which will host the Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions and other useful information regarding the event.

Sail Brisbane 2006 attracted 136 competing boats across an array of classes, including Brendan Casey who opted to revert back to the Laser for the regatta at his home club.

“Sail Brisbane is a fantastic regatta and a great way to catch up with the locals who are supporting my Finn campaign,” said Casey during his brief visit home for Mothers Day, prior to jetting off to Europe for the ISAF Grade 1 Holland Regatta (formally known as SPAR).

“I will definitely be back for Sail Brisbane 2007. Hopefully there will be a Finn division this year however if not then I will get back into the Laser and mix it up with the locals!” said Casey.

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