First gun to Quantum Leap

Racing underway at Audi Australian Etchells Nationals

Victorian sailor Chris Jackson skippered Quantum Leap to a win in the first race of the Audi Etchells National Championship hosted by Royal Brighton Yacht Club in Victoria today.

Jackson, crewed by Graeme Taylor and Simon Gorman said the three had only got together for this Championship, making the win all the more extraordinary in this strong fleet of World and America’s Cup champions.

“Conditions were varied out there. It was heavy going on the first work and light for the next two beats. We got around 8 knots, but it was very lumpy out there, quite difficult at times with 15-20 degree shifts,” the Mornington sailor said this afternoon.

The Quantum crew crossed the finish line 44 seconds in front of gun NSW entry Steam Packet VI (Rob Brown/Bruce Wookey/Garry Gudmunson), with Who’s Ya Daddy (Mark Griffith/Liam Parker/Tony McKenzie) third.

Jackson, though, led the 60-strong fleet from start to finish and paid tribute to his crew. “Graeme did the first leg of the VOR with Grant Wharington, he’s a very smart sailor; the three of us got together on the weekend. We have a new Quantum sails and are confident with our speed.”

The Mornington sailor said it was too early to predict winners in such an illustrious fleet, but said, “it will start to unfold after tomorrow’s races.”

Some of the big name skippers at the Championship include John Bertrand, Michael Coxon, Ross Lloyd, Chris Pratt, Mark Bradford, Andrew Plympton and Cameron Miles. The latter two, along with five others, were OCS today.

Racing got underway at 2.00pm on windward/leeward course some two and a half miles off the host club.

Officials plan to hold a further two races back to back in the Sail Melbourne event tomorrow off host club, RBYC, from 11.00am

	Sail		Skipper	Race 1
1	AUS1011	QUANTUM LEAP	Chris Jackson	1
2	AUS1326	STEAM PACKET VI	Robert Brown	2
3	AUS1213	WHO'S YA DADDY	Mark Griffith	3
4	AUS1254	ODYSSEY	Julian Plant	4
5	AUS1124	ROULETTE	Mark Johnson	5
6	AUS1131	LITTLE G	David Clark	6
7	AUS1273	NORTH SYDNEY STATION	Michael Coxon	7
8	AUS1143	SQUID	Chris Pratt	8
9	AUS1244	DR. EVIL	Jake Gunther	9
10	AUS1320	RHAPSODY IN BLUE	Rob Bird	10
11	AUS1025	WALK ON WATER	Greg Mellody	11
12	AUS1079	INTERNATIONAL MEN OF MYSTERY	Craig Cobbin	12
13	AUS1321	TRIAD	John Bertrand	13
14	AUS1311	MYSTERY TAXI	Paul Henshall	14
15	AUS1312	SQUEAKY CLEAN	Robert Davis	15
16	AUS1277	BALANCED A-TAC	Mark Bulka	16
17	AUS924	BARRY WHITE	S. Cunnington/D. King	17
18	AUS1274	THE NURSE	Ross Lloyd	18
19	AUS1290	GANESH	Steven Tracy	19
20	GBR1340	BOAT X	Nils Razmilovic	20
21	AUS1136	BOHICA	David Royal	33
22	AUS1121	BANANAS IN PAJAMAS	Jason Farnell	22
23	AUS1317	1317	Mark Bradford	23
24	AUS415	WATERLOO BAY	Noel Paterson	24
25	AUS1293	THAT'S LIFE	Ian Crisp	25
26	AUS867	WAR OF THE ROSES	David Rose	26
27	AUS1319	PANTHER	Stephen O'Rourke	27
28	NZ1295	UNLIMITED POTENTIAL	Barry Thom	28
29	AUS831	STRENGTH & HONOUR	Mathew Mitchell	29
30	NZ1314	ADDICTION	Lindsay Kennedy	30
31	AUS1250	BUSHFIRE	Jervis Tilly	31
32	AUS1026	JACKS HUT	Barry Fairley	32
33	AUS1192	ECHO BEACH	Mathew Chew	33
34	AUS1257	TEMPTRESS	Barry Hawkes	34
35	AUS913	NEVER ENOUGH	Steve Moore	35
36	AUS1082	ENIGMA	Mary Hanna	36
37	AUS1030	CREATURES OF THE SWAMP	Peter Ahern	37
38	AUS949	IMPACT II	Garrath James	38
39	AUS826	HUSTLER	David Healey	39
40	AUS1144	BULLET	David Bull	40
41	AUS1134	SYNERGY	Matt Whitnall	41
42	AUS1334	BE COOL	David Morrell	41
43	AUS925	ET	Rod Jones	42
44	AUS1288	MAGIC BUZZ	Steve Gunther	43
45	AUS1048	FREQUENT FLYER	David Atkinson	44
46	AUS1141	MEN'S SHIRTS,SHORTS SKIRTS	Peter Stubbings	45
47	AUS1291	THE DON	Don Wilson	46
48	AUS1013	SILKY	Tony Hirst	47
49	AUS1189	THE ARCHER	Clark Swan	48
50	AUS850	SLICK	Brian Case	49
51	AUS1024	VOODOO SPIRIT	Guyon Wilson	50
52	AUS885	ANTARES	Connor Jeffreys	51
53	AUS882	JUKES OF HAZARD	Brendon Jukes	52
54	AUS1287	COBRA IV	Andrew Plympton	61
55	AUS1335	FREE ADVICE	Phil Smidmore	61
56	AUS747	FUNCTIONAL OVERLAY	Niesje Hees	61
57	AUS865	FAST FORWARD	Bruce McBriar	61
58	AUS872	COUNT BORIS' SECRET RENDEZVOUS	Nick Knezic	61
59	AUS947	MAGPIE	Chris Hampton	61
60	AUS994	CREWS CONTROL	Brendan Garner	61