Blog

Mel attended the Flying 11’s representing Allen which was extremely exciting to be going as the main sponsor of their Championship. Mel had competed in a Flying 11 Nationals at RQYS so it brought back a lot of memories.

Once again we finished the year on the Start Boat Boxing Day. It is always nice to spend such an intense day on the Harbour with a great team who make it feel smooth.

We proudly supported the Aussie Skiff Nationals with the race on Friday being officially Allen Day at Port Stephens. Sutech Musto Racing is the new Australian 16ft skiff champion, winning by the narrowest margin.

LIROS Ropes are a proud sponsor of the Aussie Skiffs Nationals held at Port Stephens.

The METSTRADE Show is the world’s largest trade exhibition of marine equipment, materials and systems.

Allen has launched an additional option for their range of ratchet blocks, dubbed the Wave Ratchet, which will offer between 20 to 40%* more grip without adding any additional wear to the rope.

Introducing a new ILCA specific vang block, the A2031XHL-873 from the UK hardware manufactures Allen.

The Tii range has just gained a new addition, the long awaited 60mm version.

The final four races of the One Design Trophy were held between Obelisk and Watsons Bay on a sensational day on Sydney Harbour where Rob Pitts and the Double Black crew won their first Farr 40 regatta.

Today was a special day for Pitts, who joined the Class five years ago and has never missed a regatta. The newly appointed Australian Class President was elated with the result.

“We are so happy to win our first regatta. I want to say a massive thank you to my mate Billy Idle for joining me on this journey. Billy works so hard on our boat and puts in a huge amount of time finding crew and organising logistics. I simply couldn’t do it without him, and I dedicate this win to him.”

What was supposed to be the last race of the day was abandoned due to a wind shift which didn’t allow the course axis to be changed within the time frame. Double Black were leading this race and had the win set in their sites. It was meant to be and the classy team backed up and secured the win in the last race.

Pitts continued, “We thought we had it and were a little deflated when the race was abandoned. Kudos to my awesome crew for regrouping and winning that last race, which was the decider, as there was nothing in it for the top three.”

Joe de Kock and the Good Form crew from Newcastle lived up to their name today scoring 3.2.1 finishing in second place overall, just one point behind Double Black.

Farr 40 racing has never been closer with just one point deciding the top three. Tom and Alan Quick’s Outlaw were in third place on joint points with Good Form.

Gordon Ketelbey booked a last minute flight to Japan to watch the Wallabies play in the Rugby World Cup. He left Zen in the extremely capable hands of his trusty substitute skipper Clare Costanzo, who put together a youth team including Finn Alexander and Louis Schofield who recently won the Youth Nationals in Match Racing.

The average age of the Zen crew this weekend was 24 and the young team had a blinder today scoring 2.1.2 and were awarded Boat of the Day.

At this afternoon’s presentation, Rob Pitts paid tribute to Jeff Carter and team Edake on their Corinthian World Title and presented the trophy, just delivered from Long Beach, California. The trophy will live at Middle Harbour Yacht Club until the Sydney Worlds in November 2020.

Special thanks to Middle Harbour Yacht Club, our fabulous PRO Phil Yeomans and his wonderful team on the Committee boat for a top weekend of sailing.

Farr 40 Association Website