Gordon Ingate has won the Prince Philip Cup Australian championship for the Dragon class for the fourth time, at the age of 91. Ingate, from Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, was crewed by Aimee Walsh and David Giles, aboard Whimsical, the same combination with which he won the Prince Philip Cup on Sydney Harbour last season.
A fleet of 25 contested the championship, sailed from the class’s new stronghold, the Metung Yacht Club on the Gippsland Lakes.
Whimsical won by four points from Pennyfarthing, skippered by UK sailor Rob Campbell who has regularly campaigned in Australia in recent years. Adios III, skippered by Graeme Aldersea from Metung YC was third.
The Ingate team, well positioned with three wins earlier in the seven-race series, finished second in the last race to local boat Ghost (M.Johnson to win the series by four points. Ghost won by 13 seconds from Whimsical with another three seconds to Adios III.
“It was an extremely close finish but we managed to get across the line in the place we needed to secure the win,” said Ingate. “It was almost time, I thought, I am getting to old for this, with winds over 20 knots.
“We had close battle with Bob Campbell all the way.”
Final placings and points top ten: 1, Whimsical (G.Ingate, RSYS), 6-1-1-3-9-1-2, 14; 2, Pennyfarthing (R.Campbell, RCYC), 1-4-5-1-7-3-4, 18; 3, Adios III (G.Aldersea, MYC), 3-2-4-4-11-8-3, 24; 4, Riga (S.Anderson, RFBYC), 13-3-3-2-8-6-6, 28; 5, Shapes (G.Totterdell, RFBYC), 10-26-9-5-1-5-5, 35; 6, Linnea (R.Hammond, RFBYC), 11-6-6-7-3-4-26, 37; 7, Wizzardry (R.Chatfield, RFBYC), 7-7-14-10-5-2-7, 38; 8, Wild Rose (T.Smith, SYC), 2-5-26-9-6-12-9, 43; 9, Ghost (M.Johnson, GLYC), 12-12-12-26-2-9-1, 48; 10, Merum (J.Hatch, FS), 5-9-10-6-13-7-26, 50.
-Bob Ross
