Steve and Blake Vance, the calm and composed cousins on the aptly named Serenity Now from Perth Dinghy Sailing Club have won the 2008/2009 Western Australian Cherub State Championships. They sailed with great consistency, notching up only a couple of wins, but finishing no worse than 2nd. Finally mastering the light conditions paid off enormously for the boys, who in previous years struggled to finish anywhere near the top when the wind blew under 10 knots.
Runners-up were Brennan Stead and Josh Leslie on Fine Mess also from Perth Dinghy Sailing Club, who were the front runners for most of the series until the last two heats. A few results outside the top four in the lighter conditions sealed the deal. At age 17 they are still one of the youngest crews in the WA Cherub fleet and have a very bright future ahead of them.
Third was Cunning Linguist from Mounts Bay Sailing Club sailed by Cam Rule and a variety of
crews, however most sailed with Todd Montgomery. They were off to a great start winning the first heat and usually finished within the top three for the rest of the series, but with a lack of a consistent crew came a lack of consistent finishes up the front.
The women's winners were Who Made Who sailed by Renae Vance and Rachel Jones from
Perth Dinghy Sailing Club. They sailed really well, often placing in the top 6. Twenty one Cherubs competed in the Championship which was held over the whole sailing season from early November to April with seven races at Mounts Bay Sailing Club, Perth Dinghy Sailing Club, The Cruising Yacht Club and Koombana Bay Sailing Club. Conditions for each race were lighter than a typical WA Cherub sailor would prefer (the 10 nautical mile race in under 5 knots at Rockingham springs to mind), however it gave the younger, lighter crews a chance to hit the front end of the fleet. Of particular encouragement was to see a strong fleet of six Cherubs compete from Koombana Bay Sailing Club in Bunbury. The regular training of the Cherub fleet there has made a noticeable difference with some great finishes, in particular Green Apple Splatter almost creating a huge upset to win heat six at Rockingham.
The next major event for the WA Cherubs will be the 46th Cherub National Championships hosted at MBSC from the 28th Dec to 7 Jan. A significant number of Cherubs from the eastern states are set to come over to Perth for what will be a fun, exciting and very social regatta.
The Cherub is a 2 person 12ft high performance racing skiff with spinnaker and trapeze. Cherubs are very quick craft, offering exciting rides particularly downwind with their large asymmetric kites. The majority of Cherub sailors are in their late teens or early twenties
but the flexibility of the class and the Cherub's great sailing qualities mean that there are also attractive to many older sailors. Many women sail Cherubs, both as skippers and as crews. Husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, brother/sister and parent/child combinations
of crew are common.
Association contacts:
cherub.org.au
E-mail: info@cherub.org.au
NSW Ewan Duckworth 0415 231 363
WA Telisha Crannage 0403 882 701
SA Duncan Groome 08 8242 1140
Qld Rob Jackson 07 3393 3383
Tas Mike Fuller 03 6266 7109
Vic Brent Frankcombe 03 9807 9607
