Ginger’s early lead at MC38 Spring Regatta
24 September 2016
Eight MC38s took to Sydney Harbour in light winds on the magic opening day of the CYCA Spring Regatta. An hour and a half delay due to insufficient breeze eventually transitioned to an 8-9 knot easterly and consecutive starts were run off Garden Island’s naval base on the harbour’s southern shoreline.
Four races in to the seven-race series, Leslie Green’s Ginger already has a seven point advantage, their 2,1,1,2 scores easily giving them top billing and the North Sails ‘boat of the day’ battle flag.
Neville Crichton’s Maserati is running second and John Bacon’s Dark Star third, and both will carry costly 7 and 9 point results respectively, given the Spring Regatta is a no discard pointscore.
The fleet was jolted from the suspended start of the spring racing program when a different Sydney yacht club laid marks in the same vicinity as the MC38’s bottom gate, causing confusion in race one.
The three leading boats, Dark Star, Menace and Assassin, unknowingly sailed an incorrect course and were later scored DNF. Others realised the leaders’ error and were able to adjust in time. Two of the three penalised with a DNF applied for redress back at the dock but were denied by the jury.
Ginger’s mainsail and spinnaker trimmer, Richie Allanson, said they came close to sailing the wrong course and getting smacked when tactician David Chapman recognised the error and corrected, giving them a few bonus points. “It was a hard day to string four good results together, tricky with the tide and the other traffic but a beautiful day on the harbour,” Allanson elaborated. “One of the great things about these boats is you can race them in eight knots.”
In the off-season Green had Ginger’s rigging renewed and the team went sailing on Wednesday, their first sail together in two months, to trial the new set-up. “Leslie said going sailing during the week was the best thing that had happened to him the last eight weeks. When the owner is enthusiastic, he does a nice job driving his boat,” Allanson added.
CYCA Spring Regatta - Ginger boat of the day. Photo by Bob Fowler
Maserati and Ross Hennessy’s Ghost Rider’s scored a bullet apiece and all crews other than Ginger collected mixed results.
Dark Star had Katie Spithill on the helm representing Bacon, who was interstate but will be back for day two. On her first-ever drive of an MC38 Spithill said, “It was really good fun. I’ve been in the tactical role but not the driving role – it’s a very different focus, making sure the boat’s going fast. I had zero practice, on the way to the start line was it. Stepping on with a competent crew makes it easy; it was like old times as I’ve sailed with a lot of the guys before. If I win Lotto I’ll buy an MC38 and join the fleet,” she added.
Spithill’s husband Grantley Pellew was also on board Dark Star, as a guest trimmer.
The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s Principal Race Officer Steve Kidson originally set up a course off Taronga Zoo, anticipating the forecast southerly. When an easterly breeze settled in Kidson’s team moved the operation and reset, starting with one mile upwind legs in race one then shortening to .85nm, to keep individual races within the class’ preferred timeframe.
West to north-westerly winds below 10 knots are anticipated to turn south-westerly on Sunday September 25 in the middle of the day then tend southerly 10-15 knots in the early afternoon.
Race five is scheduled to begin at 1000hrs and like Saturday it will be a matter of Kidson sticking his head out of the boat and setting up based on what’s actually happening on the track.
Series Results [MC38] up to Race 4
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper Sers Score Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 AUS38011 GINGER Leslie Green 6.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 2.0
2 NZL80 MASERATI Neville Crichton 13.0 1.0 2.0 7.0 3.0
3 AUS38002 DARK STAR John Bacon 19.0 5.0 3.0 2.0 9.0F
4 3.0S NZL38014 MENACE Howard Spencer 20.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 9.0F
5 AUS521 HOOLIGAN Marcus Blackmore 20.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 5.0
6 403 GHOST RIDER Ross Hennessy 22.0 8.0 8.0 5.0 1.0
7 HI101 VINO Christopher Hancock 23.0 4.0 7.0 8.0 4.0
8 9999 ASSASSIN Robin Crawford 27.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 9.0F
by Lisa Ratcliff
Ginger overpowers MC38 Spring Regatta field
25 September 2016
Event: MC38 CYCA Spring Regatta, 24-25, 2016 September on Sydney Harbour
Ginger Spring Regatta winner 2016 - photo by Bob Fowler
The dominance of the MC38 class by Leslie Green’s Ginger continues with yet another triumph, this time the CYCA Spring Regatta sailed on Sydney Harbour over the weekend of September 24-25, 2016.
Over seven races Neville Crichton’s Maserati came within five points of the supreme Ginger racing team. Crichton reckons they can be beaten, but no one has figured out how since the full class competed at the MC38 Winter Regatta in June last year, when Howard Spencer’s Menace set up a Kiwi victory.
New Ginger crewman, Mick O’Brien, who has “a mast and middle of the boat grunt role” says the team has a ‘never give up’ attitude. “We had a dream day on Saturday; it wasn’t always easy… a couple of those races we were fourth and fifth around the top mark and we managed to grind away downwind. Our two wins…one was by five seconds and the other by two seconds. We worked really hard and got them on the line.”
At 80 something, Green is an inspiration to the class and wider sailing family for his ability and endurance on the helm of these touchy grand prix racing machines. To his own team he’s a motivating leader. “It’s definitely a team; no egos, they just do it for the boat, and for Leslie,” O’Brien added.
Green particularly enjoyed the Spring Regatta win representing the host club, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, where he’s a 60-year member. In his usual light-hearted spirit he took the opportunity at the end of series trophy presentation to acknowledge his crew one-by-one and joke with the crowd.
Speaking on Ginger’s performance, runner-up skipper Crichton had these comments, “Leslie does a fantastic job, there’s no argument his is the best team out there, but he’s beatable…he’s beatable. We weren’t that far off the pace.”
If Menace hadn’t collected a DNF points give-away in race one after sailing the wrong course, their story would have had a different ending.
Commenting on a redeeming second day that moved them to third overall, Menace’s tactician Ray Davies said, “We had a much better day; we went around all the correct marks and ended up boat of the day. Neville Crichton’s boys did a good job of holding onto second and Ginger sailed a fantastic regatta. Hats off to Leslie, it’s very inspiring he can be the oldest guy in the fleet and still so good.”
Though Chris Hancock’s MC38 Vino is “more or less for sale” he’s gearing up for the four-part 2016/17 season pointscore which starts in a fortnight on Pittwater. “We are back on the horse; we’ve only been together for four weeks with some of the original guys and a few new ones.”
Hancock is excited to announce that Peter ‘Billy’ Merrington is joining the Vino program as tactician.
John Bacon thanked Clare Crawford (Assassin) for the organisation of the CYCA Spring Regatta which was sailed in easterlies on Saturday and W-WSW winds on Sunday, averaging seven knots gusting to 13 knots and down to 2 knots as the boats inched to the finish of the closing race seven, just before the rain came down and soaked crews and officials.
Dark Star Spring Regatta 2016 - photo by Bob Fowler
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club will host the first act of the 2016/17 Summer Series Championship on the weekend of October 8-9 on Pittwater.
Series Results [MC38] up to Race 7
Place Ties Sail No Boat Name Skipper Sers Score Race 7 Race 6 Race 5 Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 AUS38011 GINGER Leslie Green 16.0 7.0 2 .0 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 2.0
2 NZL80 MASERATI Neville Crichton 21.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 7.0 3.0
3 AUS38002 DARK STAR John Bacon 24.0 1.0 1.0 2.0 5.0 3.0 2.0 9.0F
4 3.0S NZL38014 MENACE Howard Spencer 35.0 3.0 8.0 4.0 3.0 5.0 3.0 9.0F
5 AUS521 HOOLIGAN Marcus Blackmore 38.0 9.0F 4.0 6.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 5.0
6 403 GHOST RIDER Ross Hennessy 40.0 4.0 7.0 7.0 8.0 8.0 5.0 1.0
7 HI101 VINO Christopher Hancock 40.0 6.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 7.0 8.0 4.0
8 9999 ASSASSIN Robin Crawford 45.0 5.0 5.0 8.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 9.0F
by Lisa Ratcliff
