Australia: 2010 F18 National Titles
Audi Week, Geelong
By Brett Goodall
The last few weeks have been REAL busy at the AHPC factory and it was a welcome relief to get out and spend some time on the water with the new C2. We arrived in Geelong on Thursday night and rigged up… Gee the boat looks nice. On Friday we went for a few practice sessions but with maximum wind of 2 knots we couldn’t really figure much out.
Saturday 23rd Jan’
Given we didn’t get any real practice in the day before we decided to get out to the course area early. Upon arrival we were greeted with a solid 20 – 25 knots blowing from the south. We did an upwind and downwind, only to arrive at the start line just in time for the starting gun… luckily we were only 10 seconds late. Steve Brewin, on the other C2, missed by a good 40 second and still pulled himself to 3rd. we fought through the pack to get back to 6th. The next two races Steve proceeded to send his C2 around the course faster than anyone else taking two wins, showing how the C2 can be driven in the windier conditions. Greg and myself really proved what a lack of practice can do, throwing away good positions with silly boat handling errors. Robie Lovig and Matt Homan also showed there was nothing like youth to round out the top 3 after day one.
Sunday 24th Jan’
Conditions could not be much different than the day before, a soft 5 knots greeted us when we arrived at the venue. After rigging up and getting out to the course area it at built to a shifty and gusty 5 - 8 knots. Conditions were really tricky with some sold shifts near the top mark. We managed to hook into a great gust on the 2nd downwind of the 4th heat and turn our 100meter lead into 700m and won that race by a good 4min. Steve Brewin on the other C2 must have paid attention and did the same thing to us all in the second race with us and Adam Beattie pushing each other all the way to the end for the minor placing. The 6th heat became a lottery where Steve decided to cover us and Matt Homan instead of Brett Burvill who snuck through for the win. By the 7th heat the sea breeze had kicked in to give us a great 10 knots. Once again Steve took the win but had to watch the following 5 boats storm down on him in the dyeing meters. These 5 boats finished all within 10 seconds making for an exciting finish to the day. The first two days really give us confidence in our initial expectation for the C2 in any condition. Steve Brewins comments after day 2 “the boat is nice… real nice” with a cheeky smile that says a lot more than his words.
After the racing Darren Bundock and Carolijn Brouwer took the C2 for a blast and where impressed!!!!
Monday 25th Jan'
We knew it would be light winds and it was. Barely 5 knots greeted us to the racing area, enough to race… so we did. We pulled out a clean start and tacked into a clear lane that took us all the way to the top mark. After 2 laps the race committee shortened the course at the bottom gate, and we took the win ahead of Brewin on the other C2.
The breeze picked up for the second race, won convincingly this time by Brewin over Brett Burvill from Western Australia. We rounded out the top thre.
Brewin won the third race of the day from us and Robbie Lovig, giving Brewin the overall title without having to compete in the final race. They chose to sail it anyway. However Lovig and Burvill got the break on the C2s and raced to the wire for the win.
These results gave AHPC the top two positions at the Australian Nationals. After the first week of competitive testing we are very proud and excited for the future of the C2. The boat handles and performs as good, if not, better than we had hoped!!! Stay tuned for C2 news in the near future!!!
Photos and Press here
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