Sydney 38's Rock in Sydney-Gold Coast Race

by Di Pearson on 31 Jul 2002 Sydney 38's dominated IRC Division B, grabbing the top four places in the 2002 Sydney-Gold Coast Race recently conducted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

In the frustrating 386 nautical mile race, sailed in mostly light and non-existent breezes, the Sydney 38's sailed a race within a race in which Justin Lambeth's London Tavern was the eventual winner, with 2nd place going to Andrew Short's Andrew Short Marine, 3rd to Graham Gibson's newly launched Hidden Agenda and 4th to Jeff Matthes and Grant Halliday's The Business.

Although in many respects the race was a bit of a lottery, Lambeth's win is perhaps remarkable for the fact that he was one of the few who sailed the race in the one-design configuration.

'We didn't realise until just before the start gun went that most the others were carrying gyb tops and asymmetricals, and those boats really mowed us down during the day, so my crew, who are really dedicated, sat on the rail all night to give us a chance of winning. It was beat them, or sulk all the way to Southport - we went with the former idea' he said after the race.

Asked about London Tavern's race, Lambeth recalled, 'It was like three or four short races for all the Sydney 38's - the harbour to Seal Rocks was the first race, and then significant land marks made up the other three races - and the lead boats kept changing all the time. We all kept going backwards and forwards, then had a go at parking and then we all had a go at fast running, it was most frustrating, but also exciting, you couldn't separate us.'

Nigel Holman's Cuckoo's Nest, one of the 14 Sydney 38's commented during the race, 'It's been a very quiet night and we are mid-fleet, all the 38's are lined up within 2 miles of each other, it's great one-design racing, and we are currently under spinnaker travelling at around 4 knots.'

Holman again, 'Yesterday we passed 11 boats, but 3 passed us early this morning. Honestly, this is great racing in the 38's - all but two of us are with five miles of each other, it's like a plague of locusts - a heaping mass - just amazing. We're having a great time. Andrew Short Marine appears to be the Sydney 38 leader, then London Tavern, then us.'

By the afternoon of day three however, Andrew Short Marine, London Tavern and The Business were fighting it out for the top three places.

Lambeth said they had probably spent more time sailing out to sea rather than hugging the coast, but on reflection, didn't know whether they had done the right thing or not.

Keeping finely attuned to what was happening to the rest of the class, Lambeth said that Rick Welch's The Bolter suffered because of a kelp wrap around the rudder that was not detected for 48 hours. He indicated that The Business, Cuckoos Nest, Peter McNamara's AMI Jade and Ian Douglas/Doug Williams The Bigger Picture were unlucky not to top place.

'AMI Jade were unlucky - they blew it at Seal Rocks, parking and not recovering. We all had a go at that. It was amazing to think, you'd have a half-hour nap, come back on deck, and the positions had changed dramatically. Cuckoos Nest was also a big worry for us' Lambeth recalled.

Owner, Graham Gibson, was not onboard his new Hidden Agenda to help celebrate his boat's 3rd place, he is currently overseas but will be back in time to contest the Airlie Beach Hosgsbreath race and the Sydney 38 National Championships. However, he was pleased with his boat's debut.
'This is the first race for us, Adam Brown was in charge, he and the crew did a great job. I am looking forward to getting to know the new boat and to racing at Airlie Beach and Hamilton Island, we want to be competitive,' Gibson said.

On board the lone South Australian entry, Full Bore, all the way from Port Lincoln, owner David Buckland and his navigator, Steve 'Reggie' Kemp, were commiserating over a few rums at Southport Yacht Club. Buckland said, 'The communication onboard left a lot to be desired.'

Kemp described their race, 'We sailed in the one-design configuration also, and were doing well. Full Bore was in the top two on the afternoon of the second day, but we were becalmed that night offshore, losing 12 miles which we didn't recover from, we just didn't think quickly enough, so were left behind - that won't happen again. Our boat speed was good, but it doesn't change the fact of our disappointing performance.'

Full Bore will also contest the northern circuit races, including Airlie Beach and the Sydney 38 Nationals. 'We have a couple of secret weapons joining us for the Nationals; Ross Lloyd from Melbourne will navigate for us, and former South Australian America's Cup sailor, Andy Dyer, will also join us,' Buckland said.

Provisionally, this is how the Sydney 38's finished in IRC Division B:

1. London Tavern (Justin Lambeth)
2. Andrew Short Marine (Andrew Short)
3. Hidden Agenda (Graham Gibson/Adam Brown)
4. The Business (Jeff Matthes/Grant Halliday)
7. Cuckoos Nest (Nigel Holman)
8. Prosail Next (Natasha Henley Smith)
9 AMI Jade (Peter McNamara)
10 Obsession (Ty Oxley)
11 The Bolter (Rick Welch)
12 The Bigger Picture (Ian Douglas/Doug Williams
13 Wadadli (Gordon Ketelbey)
14 Swish (Steven Proud)
16 Full Bore (David Buckland)