Yanmar Racing has been finalising race preparations off Fremantle for the upcoming Australian Championships in late December and the International Dragon Boat World Championships in January 2019.
The team spent nine days in Fremantle with another championship Dragon Boat team and dedicated coach fine tuning their keel boat’s equipment and improving race-competitive water ability.
Representatives from Power Equipment, exclusive Australian distributors of Yanmar Marine products, got the chance to meet with the Yanmar Racing team and observe first-hand their preparations for the upcoming championship events.
The Yanmar Racing team boasts some serious credentials and experience. Skippered by America’s Cup veteran Peter Gilmour, the tight-knit three-man crew is rounded out with Peter’s son Sam Gilmour and Yasuhiro Yaji, who worked with Peter on the Japanese America’s Cup team.
The team have recently had their 8.9 metre boat and equipment shipped to Western Australia after competing in the European Championships in waters off Copenhagen and the Netherlands.
Yanmar Racing have improved their finishing efforts across the European series, (which can field fleets of between 70 to 100 boats), finishing initially towards the middle of the field and then posting top ten finishes and a second in later events.
With a field of around 20 teams expected for the Australian events, Yanmar Racing and their boat YRed should be hot contenders.
Peter Gilmour said recently: “We are excited to participate in the International Dragon Class as Yanmar Racing. This is proof of how deeply Yanmar is committed to marine sport and recreational activities.
“I think the World Championships out here are going to be fantastic with great boats from many countries so I am looking forward to it.”
The Dragon Class is a keel boat which was designed in Norway in the late 1920’s. It became an Olympic class in 1948 and was still used as an Olympic class up until the Munich Games in 1972.
The specifications of the 1,700kg hulls are closely monitored by associations and uniformity of design, along with allowed crew weights, allows for competitive racing across most ages and genders.
In line with Yanmar’s ability to constantly improve and attain “best in class” with its equipment, Peter Gilmour and his team are improving their performance each time they are on the water.
“The Dragon is an extremely technical boat and you have to have a formulaic set of things you do in certain conditions and try and stick to them,” Peter explained recently. “It’s all about creating that repeatability. We are stepping forward every time we go out sailing.”
The Australian Championships are being run off Fremantle between December 27th – January 2nd. The World Championships are there also between January 4th – January 9th, 2019.
