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Written by Bradley Ginnivan
We were privileged to sail in the Gosford Etchells state championships last week against some of the best sailors in Australia, Olympic Gold Medallists, World Champions, America’s Cup Sailors and the Best Corinthians (non-pro) in the country.
After arriving in 34 degrees heat and setting the boat up it we were ready for the following day in the same conditions, hot and humid.
As a Corinthian crew, we had no idea how fast we would be. This is a 1130 pacesetter with non in haulers for jib sheeting. At club racing this is ok, but in a fleet of 28, we didn’t know.
Day one started ok with three races scheduled in light and fluky conditions, starting at the boat, our boat speed was just fine, using the new Vakaros 2 for the first time was awesome, it allowed us to have confidence in our approach to the line, having sailed mostly a right hand track we finished in mid fleet in 14th, Happy with that.
Pin end start, second from the right, AUS 1130, We established that the best way to go was to get to Point Frederick first which we renamed Bradley’s Head, most of the track was left handed which we sailed, with a bit of luck a top 10 position looked great at stages, in the end we improved by one spot to 13th, still happy, just needed a bit of luck.
Great sailing condition we all 3 on the rail, Getting to Bradley’s Head was important, left was paying, we had a great first leg and was in the top bunch, not quite sure where as it was so close, we manage the race track well with our Bowmen Will Thomson and Tactician Scott Miller putting us in the right spot, after great second windward work we found ourselves in 5th spot only to be passed by David Dunn ( The Great White Hunter) on the finish line.
Day 1 over in = 13th, not bad, happy with our finish to the day.
Day 2, light and fluky, race postponed, two bad starts and also stating oat the wrong end didn’t help, the competition looked like it had step up a gear or to as the pace was on, we couldn’t afford to make too many mistakes, Race 4 we finished 15th and Race 5 was 14th, this was a little frustrating as our boat speed seemed to be ok. As everyone knows you must get off the start line in the front row or it’s very hard to catch up, that was the plan for the final day.
Chaos at the start of Race 6, with us seeing OCS for the first time on the Vakaros , we headed back (us pointing the opposite way just behind 1450 bottom left). This was a very strange race with wind all over the place, being forced out to the right we ended up around 9th or 10th at the first mark, Will doing a great job downwind we managed to get buoy room at the bottom mark, thinking the left would pay, we were forced to tack of to the right as the leader would be all over us, looking around we saw a little bit of pressure on the right under a cloud, this was either going to make us or break us, fortunately we got the right had shift that would send us into nearly first place. Finishing of the down wind to claim 3rd.
With this race to be the last, the chat was to finish off as best as we could. The breeze was still all over the place; that’s lake sailing, and having grown up on a lake, the conditions suit me, probably not so much for Scotty or Will, but it’s easier to gain or lose position.
Started at Pin end in a cluster of boats and managed to get clear air up the first work rounding in the top ten, breeze was all over the place, and Will made some f great decisions to stay right on the downwind. This paid off as you can see from the above pic us vying for the lead with JC and Mark Thornborrow from HK (The Eventual Winners). Having rounded the top mark for the last time in 8th spot, we managed to pass one and finish 7th. That was a great day for us, moving us to 8th overall behind 7 pro boats.
With this result we were awarded the winners of the Corinthian Division out of 17boats and 3rd in the Grand Masters out of 15 boats. See the results here.
Special thanks to Scott Miller and Will Thomson for their great sailing and to Brisbane Etchells for their support. We look forward to doing it all again at our own Corinthian Cup from 17-19 April 2026.
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