Ginger conquers Pittwater for fourth MC38 Australian Championship
Leslie Green and his Ginger crew pulled off the ultimate class feat when they sailed to a fourth successive MC38 Australian Championship on Pittwater on Sunday February 19 , 2017 . A fickle last day closed up the final pointscore . Ginger ( CYCA ) laid the foundations in the first two days and went out to race defensively , putting a target on Dark Star ’ s ( RPAYC ) back , and Neville Crichton ’ s Maserati ( RNZYS / CYCA ) crew cleverly read what breeze there was to move into second overall . The day opened with a patchy 5-7 knot sou ’ west wind for race eight and finished with a second race , on the Mackerel Beach to Stokes Point course in a light ESEer up to 8kts with a mid-section full of holes . A weather system to the north-west did Pittwater sailors no favours and forced a postponement between races as the committee monitored the Bureau of Meteorology ’ s radar for thunderstorm activity , wary of the previous two afternoon ’ s sudden storms . “ It was a hard day today , we had to cover Dark Star and that can lead you into trouble ,” Green said . “ All the boys are so good , the reason we win is we have an excellent team . I loved every minute of it and I ’ ll be back next year ,” the smiling skipper promised . As the newest crewmember , strategist Julian Plante commented that the guys on the Ginger team are inspired by Leslie ’ s attitude and the effort he puts in . “ The inspiration pushes everyone to do their best and find a little extra . Leslie sets a nice tone and the team want for nothing . Joining them was a no-brainer for me ; they ’ ve been a successful team for so long .” Doug McGain , mainsheet on Maserati , said the mental stress was high for some on board as the games of snakes and ladders played out in the final race , when Maserati was still behind Dark Star on points . “ There was a lot of concentration and a bit of mental stress ,” McGain said . “ Once we got around the top mark and looked back we knew we were fine . Everyone just took a breath and settled down . We just had to be patient . Neville was happy with the weekend and he ’ s happy with second .” Cameron Miles , tactician on Dark Star , rued yet another final series day when their good fortune ran out , similar to the final day and race of the 2016 Australian Championship . “ The last day seems to not be our day . We are sailing well and the boat ’ s going well , we just need to be more consistent . We could have got our time on distance better in the second start , the penalty turn didn ’ t hurt us as we were going right but then the breeze came in hard out of the left . You can only go with what you can see at the time ,” Miles added . Being the tactician on a cloudy and shifty Pittwater is the most unenviable job on the boat , no matter which class , and what happened to Dark Star and others today is referred to by locals as ‘ being Pittwater-ised ’. Sunday ’ s race victories went to Maserati and Chris Hancock ’ s Vino while Steve Barlow ’ s Light Speed again posted promising results , finishing fourth in their debut MC38 regatta - a national title nonetheless . On Light Speed ’ s heels was Marcus Blackmore ’ s Hooligan , tactician Will Ryan making some smart calls in the taxing conditions . The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club ’ s PRO Steve Merrington summed up the series with , “ It was a shame the wind didn ’ t quite cooperate today but still it was a good regatta that finished up nicely .” By Lisa Ratcliff