Harry Price had only 24 hours to prepare for a race that’s been 115 years in the making before joining an illustrious list of skippers to win the Botany Bay Championship. Price guided Manly entrant Moonen Yachts to victory in the famous 16ft race after filling in for regular skipper Daniel “Ruffy” Turner, who is in Japan on a family skiing holiday. Price was contacted by Moonen crew member and good mate Gus Williams earlier in the week to see if he’d be available but couldn’t immediately commit.
Then news came through that Moonen’s bowman Matt Stenta was also unavailable, throwing the Botany Bay campaign into further doubt. The stars eventually aligned, with Max Paul – who was a member of last year’s winning crew on Imagine Signage (Nathan Wilmot) – answering an SOS from Price.
“I text Gus back on Friday morning to say I was available and he said Matt was unavailable but if we could find someone else, we’d be good to go if I still wanted to do it,” Price explained. “I got in touch with Max – we sail a 49-er together – so it was pretty easy from there. “We’d never sailed a 16 together but I’ve sailed a lot with both Gus and Max so there were no problems.”
Given their hurried preparation, Moonen could have been forgiven for a being a little off the pace on a course that tests you every inch of the way. But it all gelled perfectly as the Manly boat held off fierce challenges from local specialists Bosker Build (Sarah Lee) and Belmont’s East Coast Marine & Sail (Tom Burton) to win by 15 seconds.
“We got out to the correct side for the first work and then it was one of those races where you just had to just hold on until the very end,” Price said. “It’s quite a tide-dominated (course) when it’s relatively lighter winds with the long legs. The top three boats all went different ways up the track on the beats to Kurnell and ended up at the top mark at the same time. “It was a day you just had to sail your own boat and your own race and you got what you got. “It was cat and mice all the way. There were times you were thinking you were comfortable and all of a sudden it’s not.”
Price, Williams and Paul now add their names to a trophy that’s not only big on size, but big on status in the 16s community. There was also the added incentive of sharing in the $35,000 prizemoney up for grabs on the day. The first Botany Bay Championship was held in 1908/9 and has been won by some of the greats of the class. Price, who received a congratulatory text from Turner after the win, said: “I wasn’t really clued in to the history behind it but it’s a big honour to join those other names.”
Wichard Pacific (Amy Mulkearns) finished inside the top 20, which was enough for the St George entrant to clinch handicap honours. “We were well behind at the start but made up a lot of places on the first work then managed to stay with a tight bunch of boats for the rest of the race,” Mulkearns said. “Even though it was a long race it was still very tight racing, with placings constantly changing due to such large wind shifts. “When we finished, we thought we had a chance of doing well on handicap and were stoked to find out we got the win. We’ve been improving every week and looking forward to what the future holds.”
The 13s made a welcome return to the Botany Bay Championship after a lengthy absence, with Manly taking out the top two places. Botany Scaffold (Sophie Hart/Hugh Skeen) were narrow winners from clubmate The Kitchen Maker (Tayla Lees) with ever-improving St George boat Noakes (Tom Hughes) third. The next four places were filled by Manly entrants.
Words Adam Lucius
Photos SailMedia
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