11/08/2017
Whale Be Back, say Valmadre Visitors
The 2017 Valmadre Cup series concluded on Saturday with the Voladora Race, a happy humpback, and a visit from three generations of the Valmadre Family.
The Voladora itself was another challenging affair, with a variable breeze and a choppy residual sea state making maintaining boat speed a nightmare for steerers and trimmers. With the initial breeze and day buoy set at 230 degrees, the choice of the East/West-orientated Course 3 was a surprise, and it did turn out to be somewhat military in nature.
In Division One, Ian Clyne's J122 Joss (RFBYC) delivered an emphatic Voladora performance to take out both the IRC and YAH trophies, from Scott Glaskin's Farr 30 Cougar (RPYC) (2nd IRC & 3rd YAH) and Peter Kennington's C&C 115 The Cro Connection (FSC) (3rd IRC & 2nd YAH). It was noted that the three winners are all Past Commodores - Ian of Royal Papua Yacht Club, Scott of Mounts Bay Sailing Club and Peter of both Mandurah and East Fremantle Yacht Clubs.
In the closely-matched and BYOS (bring-your-own-sailmaker) Division Two, Dennis Vincent's Beneteau First 34.7 Wyuna (RPYC) took the triple in the Volodora to confirm its dominance of the regatta, winning IRC & YAH in both Div Two and Overall. The wins are a tribute to the tenacity of Septuagenarian Dennis and partner Hilary Arthure, who imported Wyuna from the UK in 2010 and have invested in improving and optimising the yacht's performance. It is also noteworthy that Wyuna's crew included two women, along with Doyle's WA loft owner Will Hammond.
The minor placings in Division Two were filled by Laurie & Maddie Flynne's First 34.7 Dynamic (FSC), which was second in both IRC and YAH, with April Jorgenson's Sydney 32 Naughty Black Shorts (SoPYC) third on IRC and Mark Pitt’s First 35 Mulberry (HYC) third on YAH. Mind’s Eye, Terra, Raya & MX missed the podium, but were in contention throughout the series.
The showdown in the Double-Handed Division did not disappoint, with both The X-Factor (Kyle "Chewy" Dodds and Dean Giraudo, BW36 (RFBYC)) and Low Flying Duck (Ryan Binedell and Lawson Shaw, S97 (HYC)) putting in strong Voladora performances. In the end, the series was decided by a mere 1 min 28 secs on IRC, with TXF prevailing. It was noted that Chewy, Dean, Ryan and Lawson usually sail together as part of Dirty Deeds' crew, so this was personal! Alison Stock and Brad Skeggs sailed Selkie (Northshore 38 (FSC)) to third place under both rating systems.
In the Overall results, with each race scored as a single fleet, it was unsurprising to see Wyuna and Joss in the prime positions. What was impressive was The X Factor in third place, indicating just how well these lads sailed in open competition against very competitive fully-crewed competition. The growth of double-handed sailing in WA has been steady, and results like this demonstrate just how successful a competent DH crew can be.
FSC has recently resolved to raise the bar on the quality of its Offshore events, and the 2017 Valmadre Cup was an outstanding success despite the absence of many prominent boats, under maintenance or competing out of Darwin. The club even organised a whale to farewell competitors on the last leg of the series.
The etched glassware prizes proved popular, and many were put to immediate use. It was fabulous to preserve the connection to the main trophy's original 1908 donor, A.G. "Paddy" Valmadre, with Paddy's grandson Les Valmadre, his wife Marina, daughter Ashley and her children attending the presentation.
Finally, thanks must go to the volunteers and staff who worked so hard to deliver the event and the little extras like photos, and of course, to the many visitors from other clubs who joined us for the series.
Where else would you be in Winter?
Full results are here:
https://www.fsc.com.au/onwater/results-3/ #1498540958855-b2457c72-d9bd
Bernie Kaaks’ Volodora Photo Gallery is here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/berniekaaks
