Brown starts proceedings

Etchells pre-pre-Worlds get underway in Western Australia

The pre-pre-worlds, the 2006 Syd Corser Regatta, started on Cockburn Sound today. A little more than a month before the Worlds, the 2006 Audi Etchells national champion Rob Brown and his Steampacket IV crew signalled they will need close watching in the upcoming regattas.

Principal Race Officer Robin Olsen held the fleet for over an hour, waiting for the breeze to settle. There was rain earlier in the morning, but the day was clearing. At 11:10am the fleet started in a southerly breeze, initially around only six-eight knots, that built late in the race to ten to twelve knots.

Victorian fleet captain Jake Gunther had a fast start, as did Rob Brown and Mark Bulka. The lead changed three or four times but down the second run Gunther gybed into pressure to win from Rob Brown and Swan River local Michael Manford. 2004 Australian titleholder Mark Bulka, finished fourth ahead of John Bertrand. Skip Lissiman was one of two skippers over early and was called back, a disaster in the tight fleet racing, and he finished well off the back of the bandwagon.

The weather continued to improve as the fleet sailed into sequence for the second race. This time they were clean away, in a twelve knot southerly.

Rob Brown started mid-line and crossed boats towards the committee boat, including John Bertrand, but the boats on the left found a nice shift, so Brown rounded fourth and Bertrand fifth. Down the first run Manford cleared out by more than 100 metres, however Brown clawed back most of this gain up the second work.

By the second top mark Manford arrived just ahead of Brown, with John Bertrand third and Peter Ahern fourth. As the leaders surfed down the second run the sun was shining and the southerly had reached 17 knots.

It was an upwind finish; Brown got the gun just ahead of Michael Manford with Gordon Blaauw third, ahead of Gordon Lucas, these boats found favour on the left, then Mark Bulka and John Bertrand.

Dockside Rob Brown commented; "We were pleased with today, a good days work. We felt we were a little rusty, we'd not sailed much in breeze and bump in recent times, have been in the northern hemisphere for quite a while with Farr 40's and other regattas. Our beats were particularly fast. We felt we sailed conservatively and we went well tactically. We have ten more races before the Worlds start, so the cobwebs should be blown away by then."

The 'final preview event' will be the Australian National titles from 10-12 November and the entire Australian and International fleet is expected to assemble for at this event, ahead of the World Championships from 17-26 November 2006.

All three events are being sailed in the same course area. The Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club (RFBYC) and the Royal Perth Yacht Club (RPYC) are the host clubs for the 2006 Audi Etchells Worlds with the Fremantle Sailing Club providing the venue.

The Provisional top five after two races:

Rob Brown Steampacket IV - 2, 1 3 points
Michael Manford, The Croc - 3, 1 4 points
Mark Bulka AUS1277 - 4, 5 9 points
Jake Gunther Dr. Evil 1,9 10 points
John Bertrand Triad - 5, 6 11 points

Race 1:

Pos	Boat No	Boat Name	Skipper/Crew
1	AUS 1244	Dr Evil	Jake Gunther/Russell Tyson/Richard Ironmonger
2	AUS 1326	Steampacket VI	Rob Brown/Bruce Wookey/Garry Guildmunson
3	AUS 1356	The Croc	Michael Manford/Dean McAullay/Richard Rowell
4	AUS 1277	AUS 1277	Mark Bulka/Stewart Nicholas/Steve Young
5	AUS 1321	Triad	John Bertrand/Ian Johnson/Tim Ede
6	AUS 1117	Seven P s	Ian Anderson/Peter Vos/Gus McBrair
7	AUS 1160	Liquidity	Dirk van der Struyf/Simon Sutherland/Doug Cooksey
8	AUS 1131	Humpback	David Clark/Stephen Barlow/Andrew Smith
9	AUS 781	Abracadabra	Gordan Lucas/Geoff Chambers/John Gardiner
10	AUS 866	AUS 866	Murray Smith/Barrie Sturgeon/Brad Sheridan
11	AUS 939	Power & The Passion	Gordon Blaauw/Andrew Short/Thor Schoenhoff
12	AUS 963	The Rat	Grantham Kitto/Brad Moore/Simon Shaw
13	AUS 916	Daylight Robbery	Alastair McMichael/Richard Edinger/Andrew McAuley
14	AUS 1056	Upbeat	Peter Godley/Rod Godley/Geert Buters
15	AUS 617	Nopropellis	Frank Van Ruth/Edgar Vitte/Rick Maxwell
16	AUS 1289	Two Palms & A Hammock	Peter Chappell/Sam Gill/Michael Hughes
17	AUS 1320	Rhapsody in Blue	Rob Bird/Graeme Johnson/Nic Gray
18	AUS 1188	Jaloralee	Dave Roberts/Brett Shoebridge/Jamie Robertson
19	AUS 1030	No Jacket Required	Peter Ahern/Chris Sutherland/Bill Browne
20	AUS 1258	Ruby	Jason Ward/Sheraun Bruland/Ron Carterton/Adele Frean
21	AUS 1022	Screaming Plum	Doug Kerr/Greg Kerr/Luke Paterson
22	AUS 1150	Dragon Lady	Bill Steele/Rob Rooke/Geoff Reilly
23	AUS 1142	Tuscany	Peter McLachlan/Dave Mann/Matt Giudice
24	AUS 883	Tusk	Gary Smith/Mark Lovelady/Mick McAulley
25	AUS 891	Bandwagon	Skip Lissiman/Kane Williamson/Mossimo Vallentini
26	AUS 622	Tamatea	Warren Cossgrove/Stuart Emery/Bruce Fever
27	AUS 594	Nereus	Jonathon Joyce/Frank Lane/David Joyce

Race 2:

Pos	Boat No	Boat Name	Skipper/Crew
1	AUS 1326	Steampacket VI	Rob Brown/Bruce Wookey/Garry Guildmunson
2	AUS 1356	The Croc	Michael Manford/Dean McAullay/Richard Rowell
3	AUS 939	Power & The Passion	Gordon Blaauw/Andrew Short/Thor Schoenhoff
4	AUS 781	Abracadabra	Gordan Lucas/Geoff Chambers/John Gardiner
5	AUS 1277	AUS 1277	Mark Bulka/Stewart Nicholas/Steve Young
6	AUS 1321	Triad	John Bertrand/Ian Johnson/Tim Ede
7	AUS 1117	Seven P s	Ian Anderson/Peter Vos/Gus McBrair
8	AUS 916	Daylight Robbery	Alastair McMichael/Richard Edinger/Andrew McAuley
9	AUS 1244	Dr Evil	Jake Gunther/Russell Tyson/Richard Ironmonger
10	AUS 1030	No Jacket Required	Peter Ahern/Chris Sutherland/Bill Browne
11	AUS 1160	Liquidity	Dirk van der Struyf/Simon Sutherland/Doug Cooksey
12	AUS 1056	Upbeat	Peter Godley/Rod Godley/Geert Buters
13	AUS 1131	Humpback	David Clark/Stephen Barlow/Andrew Smith
14	AUS 1022	Screaming Plum	Doug Kerr/Greg Kerr/Luke Paterson
15	AUS 866	AUS 866	Murray Smith/Barrie Sturgeon/Brad Sheridan
16	AUS 963	The Rat	Grantham Kitto/Brad Moore/Simon Shaw
17	AUS 1320	Rhapsody in Blue	Rob Bird/Graeme Johnson/Nic Gray
18	AUS 1142	Tuscany	Peter McLachlan/Dave Mann/Matt Giudice
19	AUS 891	Bandwagon	Skip Lissiman/Kane Williamson/Mossimo Vallentini
20	AUS 883	Tusk	Gary Smith/Mark Lovelady/Mick McAulley
21	AUS 1289	Two Palms & A Hammock	Peter Chappell/Sam Gill/Michael Hughes
22	AUS 1150	Dragon Lady	Bill Steele/Rob Rooke/Geoff Reilly
23	AUS 1258	Ruby	Jason Ward/Sheraun Bruland/Ron Carterton/Adele Frean
24	AUS 1188	Jaloralee	Dave Roberts/Brett Shoebridge/Jamie Robertson
25	AUS 617	Nopropellis	Frank Van Ruth/Edgar Vitte/Rick Maxwell
26	AUS 594	Nereus	Jonathon Joyce/Frank Lane/David Joyce
26	AUS 622	Tamatea	Warren Cossgrove/Stuart Emery/Bruce Fever