| Australia. Skip Lissiman wins Slam Etchells 2007 Championship title |
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| Sunday, 12 November 2006 | |
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Event media: West Australian Swan River fleet sailor Skip Lissiman, who was a member of the 1983 America's Cup winning Australia II crew, this afternoon won the 2007 Slam Etchells Australian Championship sailed on the legendary Cockburn Sound. This was the final regatta before next weeks 2006 Audi Etchells Worlds, an eight race series which runs from 18th to 25th of November. This will certainly be one of the strongest international fleets for many years Skip Lissiman with crew Ben Durham and Kane Williamson won from Mark Bulka, Stewart Nichols and Steve Young from the Melbourne fleet. Britain's Andy Beadsworth sailing with James McHugh and Simon Fry were third. Fourth were the Kiwi crew of Alastair Gair, David Ridley, Carl Peters and Derek Scott. Lissiman, who will qualify for the Masters fleets next May, commented; 'It's funny, in all the years we've never won a Western Australian title, still have to put that notch on the belt. We were second in the last Australian Etchells titles in Perth in 2001, behind Noel 'Nitro' Drennan and today went one better. 'It's great to win the Australian title and especially one with such a strong fleet, less than a week before the Audi Etchells Worlds.' Lissiman is a member of the World's organising committee and like many of the Swan River fleet sailors, has been 'a little short of time' on the water. 'Our crew time had been a little short. Ben Durham in the middle, who sailed with James Spithill on the Young Australia team and is now with the Luna Rossi America's Cup program, had never set an Etchells spinnaker until we rounded the first mark. We still have plenty of work to do before the Worlds. 'In the last race the weather had settled to a standard sea breeze pattern. We wanted to go left, it was crowded so we just reached for the left corner and were well placed at the first mark. We saw Alistair (Gair) had gone right and was buried, so we just kept our eye on Mark Bulka and Andy Beadsworth and sailed a little conservatively for the final part of the race. The final race in the series was won by John Bertrand. He finished sixth overall and his second yesterday and win today showed he will be a force in the Worlds. Dockside the 59 year old, was relaxed. 'This regatta was a lot of fun and it was great to win today. Sailing is something that I enjoy immensely but I retired when we won the America's Cup. I don't sail anything other than Etchells now. 'The Audi Etchells Worlds fleet will be red hot. Skip's (Lissiman) sailing well, Andy Beadsworth's made a fast transition into the class. Stuart Childerley will be coming from the UK and he has won two World Championships in fresh conditions. Judd Smith is hot as well; clearly, he has the technical skills for heavy conditions. We look forward to being competitive and actually doing some damage among the young guns.' 1 AUS 891 - Bandwagon (WA) Skip Lissiman/ Ben Durham/Kane Williamson 29 2 AUS 1277 - Critical Balance (VIC) Mark Bulka/Stewart Nichols/Steve Young 32 3 GBR 1187 - Anam Chara Andy Beadsworth/James McHugh/Simon Fry 32 4 NZL 950 – Velsheda Alastair Gair/David Ridley/Carl Peters/Derek Scott 37 5 AUS 1317 - Una Mas (QLD) Mark Bradford/Graeme Taylor/Steve Jarvin 40 5 IRL 1015 - Matatu Durh Richard Burrows/David Burrows/Peter Coad 46 6 AUS 1321 - Triad (VIC) John Bertrand/Ian Johnson/Tim Ede 43 www.etchellsworlds2006.org. |
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 12 November 2006 ) |
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