Willy Packer sailing Scoundrel made a clean sweep of the Dragon class’s Ted Albert Memorial series, winning all three races, but by his own admission there was a bit of luck involved. Sailing with Randall Harding and Jock Packer the team were well oiled and had an impressive ability to wriggle out of a tight spot.
Second place in the series, after a consistent performance, went to Andrew Foulkes and his team sailing Tatsu, with French Connection skippered by Grant Alderson third.
Talking about today’s second and third races in the series Willy Packer said, “we were very lucky in the first race today, we made a dreadful start and were forced to tack off, we found some space on the right and all the guys who went left overstood the first mark but were looking strong. As we were approaching the mark we got a ten degree lift which got us there in third place.”
The Scoundrel team played the shifts on the second windward leg well and grabbed a slender lead at the windward mark second time around. For the rest of the three lap race it was neck and neck with Richard Lynn and his team on Gordon, with Packer grabbing the win by half a boats length.
In the second race of the day Packer established an early lead and was never really challenged throughout the race. “We took the decision not to get close to anyone at the start, not to get involved in any mess on the line,” he explained, the tactic paid well.
Second placed Andrew Foulkes, sailing with Andrew Bennett and Matthew Stafford, put in a steady series, “being consistent is what counts,” he commented, “you can win a regatta without winning a race, it you’re always up there near the front you’re going to have a good result.”
Finishing the last race in second place lifted Grant Alderson and his French Connection team into third place for the series. This crew showed good boat speed, but did themselves out of second place after a spinnaker problem in the opening race of the series cost them several places.
All three of the top boats are from the host club, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, who have been blessed with great weather conditions for this event. Today’s races started in a steady 12 knot breeze, but by the end of the day the fleet of twenty four boats were experiencing gusts of up to 20 knots.
The eight race Prince Philip Cup, the class’s Australian Championship, starts today, Monday 6th January. Having won the warm up series Willy Packer is wondering about the claim that no one has ever won the Ted Albert Memorial series and the Prince Philip Cup.
https://rfbyc.asn.au/dragon-australian-championship-2025
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Perth, Western Australia, 4th January 2025
