Australian M30 Nationals

The runners and riders for this weekend's competition

Competition will be fierce when ten M30 teams representing New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland fight it out for the title of 2008 M30 Australian Champion. The three days of racing will be conducted off Sydney Heads over February 1-3 and the regatta will be hosted by Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.



Returning to defend his title will be 2007 M30 Australian Champion, Victorian Bruce Eddington (above) and he will be aiming to make it four in a row after taking the hat trick of titles when he won in 2007. Eddington remarked after his recent win at the Rolex Trophy series, “It was a good series. Win, lose or draw, this regatta was very good practice for the Nationals,”. Eddington who has enjoyed a successful 18 months in the M30 class both in Australia and overseas won the M30 division at the Rolex Trophy regatta but isn't going to rest on his laurels.

Heading to Sydney for a crack at the title will be Queenslanders Alex Douglas and his team on Synergy, Colin Loel and his new boat Asterix and Jeff Paul's Immigrant. New South Wales combination of Chris Way and Geoff Couell will be racing Awarua Boat Mate. Way has just finished fourth in another one design class event, the Sydney 38 National titles which were held in Geelong during the Skandia Geelong Race Week.

Sydneysider Guy Stening and his team on Optimumm, who made their class debut in 2007, will be aiming for a good result at this event before they head over to the United States to race in M30 class events on the east coast. The Optimumm team will use these events for training before racing in their second M30 World Championship, the 2008 M30 World Championship being held in September in Newport, Rhode Island.

“We have a number of our crew who we sailed with in Sardinia sailing this weekend. It's great to see four new teams and two boats racing at the Australian Championship. We had a great warm up event in December at the Rolex Trophy and the teams that are racing are all in with a chance at the title”, commented Stening.

Making their class debut in their first class event will be John Formosa and his team on Yandoo representing New South Wales along with Chris Tyquin's GOA/Lexom Home from Brisbane. Garry Hobson will make his class Nationals debut with Don't tell Mumm after racing in the M30 class division in December at the Rolex Trophy series. "I bought the M30 as it offers competitive sailing and a fleet that has seen great growth internationally and is growing in numbers and depth here in Australia. Our crew wanted to be tested as a team and the M30 one design class has a excellent reputation in sailing circles", commented Formosa.

2008 M30 Australian Championship Entry list:

Boat Name	Skipper	State
Don't Tell Mumm	Garry Hobson	NSW
Yandoo	John Formosa	NSW
Optimumm	Guy Stening	NSW
K2	Bruce Eddington	VIC
Awarua Boat Mate	Chris Way	NSW
Asterix	Colin Loel	QLD
Synergy	Alex Douglas	QLD
Cleopatra	Rob Davis	VIC
Immigrant	Jeff Paul	QLD
Goa/Lexom Home	Chris Tyquin	QLD