NSW Sate Championships 2015: Steve Brewin 1st , Report by Bob Griffits

As always complete & detailed by Bob Griffits & the Australian Assoc / www.a-cat.org.au:

"The NSW A Class Championships were held over the weekend of March 21st and 22nd, straddling the Southern Hemisphere's Autumn Equinox. 26 boats from New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, converged to the South Lake Macquarie Sailing Club to compete in a proposed 7 race series.

The fleet welcomed the addition of 5 new junior sailors whom ranged in age from 14 to 21 years of age. The concept of high performance foiling boats is definitely attracting the interest of the younger sailors.

The series was won by Steve Brewin, sailing an Exploder design, with Z shaped boards. Stevie has put many hours into perfecting his foiling technique, and recently competed in the World Moth Class Championships in order to enhance his skills.
Second place went to Scott Anderson, a fellow New South Welshman and former World A Cat Champion. Scott was sailing an Exploder with C shaped boards. Third place went to Hamish Sinclair, a Victorian, sailing a DNA with C shaped boards.
Once again the C shaped boards are proving that they are still competitive. The Z and J boards are faster downwind, provided the skill level has been established to keep the boat on it's legs for prolonged periods of time. The foilers have intrinsically more drag upwind, and the view seems established that the windward board must be raised when sailing upwind.
The series was shortened to 5 races, after the weather system which had provided good breezes, evaporated into the ether by midday on the Sunday.

Four races were held on the Saturday, under cloudy skies , with moderate to fresh winds in the realm of 16 to 20 knots blowing across the course from the south east. The wind formed a small chop which certainly tested the sea legs of the downwind trapezing sailors. Steve Brewin proved to be the master in that regard.

The four races, each of approximately 5 nautical miles really stressed the endurance and stamina of many of the competitors.
Sunday was much more kinder, with more docile wind in the 10 to 12 knot range, now blowing from the east. Towards the end of race 5 there was a significant wind shift which split up the fleet.
The wind then completely stopped, and that was the conclusion of the event.

The Championship doubled as a test event of the venue. The National Champsionships will return to Lake Macquarie in the first week of January , 2016. As the area is the hometown of both Jimmy Spithill, and Nathan Outteridge, we anticipate that the event will once again draw a crowd of some of the America Cupper's, perhaps recreating aspects of the wonderful atmosphere of the 2012 Nationals that were held at Wangi, just up the way on Lake Macquarie. Perhaps some of the Europeans and North Americans may like to escape their winter hibernation to sail against some of the world's best."

Bob Griffits.