The 48th Australian Cherub Championships held at Largs Bay Sailing Club in South Australia was won by Cherub veteran Trevor Fay and Nathan Chipchase on French Tickler. The duo travelled from Belmont 16ft Skiff Sailing Club in New South Wales. Trevor has now reached legendary status amongst the Cherub fraternity by winning his 4th Australian Championship.
In typically South Australian fashion half the races were held in very light conditions and the other half in over 20 knots. Trevor and Nathan finished consistently in the top 3 each race to convincingly win the title.
Runners up were local boys Neil How and A Bath on “Monster” who sailed very well in all conditions. Monster also won the “O’Mahoney Best Presented Cherub” with its meticulous pink and white paint work.
Third place went to “Busted Football” sailed by Ben Lawrie and Geoff Longwood from Perth Dinghy Sailing Club in Western Australia. This was an exceptional effort considering Ben’s hadn’t finished building his Cherub until a week before the regatta and he had only sailed with Geoff twice.
As with all Cherub championships the social calendar proved to be just as exciting as the racing, with a pub crawl around Port Adelaide, New Year’s party and a boat race on Presentation night testing the sailors’ partying skills off the water.
The next Australian Cherub Championships will be held at Yeppoon Sailing Club in Queensland. The club is situated in a beautiful tropical area, with plenty of wind around that time of year.
– Anarcht Cameron.
