Heat 7 of the Metro series was held at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. The light and patchy breeze rewarded attention, with Itinerant storming to the first mark, likely aided by a very clean looking hull. They kept their lead throughout, finishing fastest with Lionheart first on handicap.
Well done to all, and a huge thanks to Royal Freshwater for hosting us again this year.
The first race back from the Christmas break had the fleet racing out of Royal Perth Yacht Club. Repeating the success of last year, the fleet sailed the marathon course, taking us down the river and past Blackwall Reach, then East Fremantle Yacht Club and back home to a Crawley finish. Despite the name, the course was only marginally longer than our usual Course 1, however provided some different challenges, changed scenery and was well received by the grinning sailors back at the Catalina bar after racing.
At the pointy end of the pack, Eufarria stormed off to a healthy lead which they maintained throughout the afternoon. Itinerant followed, but was closely pursued by Farrlap who kept them under pressure. Farrlap ended up first on handicap, with Eufarria fastest. Well done to all!
South of Perth Yacht Club hosted the Farr 9.2 fleet for heat 5 of our Metro series. The forecast had a weakening easterly gradual being replaced by a light seabreeze throughout the afternoon, however Hughie had other ideas in store!
Itinerant and Eufarria continued their great recent form, marching out to early lead. The rest of the fleet swapped placings many times over, as the boats alternately found pressure and were then were completely becalmed, as we raced between the two colliding winds.
Despite a scare at the last mark rounding, Itinerant managed to come home fastest, with Eufarria finishing second by only 5 seconds! Seahawk was first on handicap, and now takes the lead in the Consistency competition. Well done to all skippers and crews… a tricky afternoon!
The fleet raced Metro heats 3 and 4 as windward/leeward races out of the Royal Perth Yacht Club. The forecast again proved an illusion, leaving skippers rethinking jib choices (and crew numbers). The earlier start time had us contending with the usual river fleets, which made for some interesting crosses, but thankfully everyone made it through the afternoon unscathed.
Eufarria showed us all how it’s done in the first race, finishing first and fastest by a full minute! Lionheart was second and Seahawk third.
Itinerant and Frenzy must have taken notes, as they galloped away in the second race. Frenzy came home second over the line and first on handicap, with Itinerant fastest and second and Elusive third. Well done!
Heat 2 of the Metro series was held at the Royal Perth Yacht Club, racing for the Max Hayes Memorial Trophy. After missing the first heat, Elusive shook off some early cobwebs and stormed her way through the fleet, finishing first by 30 seconds, with Eufarria first on handicap.
It was great to see Frenzy and Elusive back racing with us! Well done to all.
The Farr 9.2 season opened in our usual style with heat 1 of the Swan River Metro series raced at Royal Perth Yacht Club. The familiar summer seabreeze conditions have yet to set in, so the fleet set off into a light north-westerly that drifted to a westerly over the afternoon.
The placings changed hands several times through the first several legs, however Farrlap made excellent ground on the run from Dee Road to Dolphin East, and maintained that lead to finish first… well done Kevin!
Seahawk was first on handicap… a great start to the season for (newish) Farr owners Pedro and Juan. Well done to all!
The Farr 9.2 Association held its annual Prize Night on the 10th of May, where the trophies and prizes were presented for the season. This included the 2024 State Championships, the 2023-2024 Metro Series, and the other special races we held throughout the season.
The overall results for the Metro series were as follows:
The Farr 9.2 State Championships for 2024 were held over the March long weekend, racing at Owen Anchorage and hosted at the RPYC Fremantle Annex. The event was well attended and expertly run by RPYC staff and all the wonderful volunteers – a huge thank you to all of you, as these events just can’t happen without you.
The July edition of RPYC’s In the Wind magazine has a great write up of the event on page 54, so please check it out if you haven’t already.
Thanks as always to our generous prize sponsors for our State Championships racing:
The last race of the 2023/2024 Metro series was held on 6th April at Royal Perth Yacht Club for the Allan Coutts Memorial trophy. Elusive came home fastest to take out the trophy, with Farrlap first on handicap. Well done to all!
We have plenty of Farr 9.2 news from the final parts of the summer season, news from our recent prize night, and some plans for sailing over winter. Read on for details!
Continuing on with the Farr 9.2 Metro Series, heat six saw a new format to the racing this year, with a marathon race that took the fleet down Blackwall reach, past East Fremantle Yacht Club and back home to a Crawley finish. This was also a significant race for the fleet, with recent new owners Juan Roman and Pedro Araujo bringing Seahawk back into the series. Getting an early lead on their way south, Farrlap (Andrew Hossen) finished both first and fastest, with Lionheart (Warren Westaway) a close second, and Eufarria (Peter Cook) third. Well done to the winners and welcome to racing, Juan and Pedro!
The next heat of the Metro Series brought the fleet over to Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club (RFBYC), as guests in their Saturday race series. A light and variable afternoon breeze made for a tricky start, but Elusive (Richard Brisbane-Cohen) picked the shifts well for an early lead, with the rest of the fleet swapping places behind. A late sea breeze kicked in, but Elusive maintained their lead over the line, and third on handicap, The Black Smoke (Jeremy Kerr) first and Lionheart second. We had a great representation of the fleet at RFBYC’s results presentation, and even managed to extract some post-race local knowledge from members, which should turn out handy for future finishes in Freshwater Bay!
Next on the racing calendar, on a sunny long-weekend in March, seven of the 9.2 fleet made their way out of the confines of the Swan for their State Championships event, hosted as part of RPYC’s WA Keelboat State Championships out of the Fremantle Annex. With an expert race management team and a brilliant set of volunteers – both on water and off – the racing was first-class, and the crews were kept sustained through a decent post-race sausage sizzle.
Farrlap, The Black Smoke and Euffaria at the Farr 9.2 State Championships
The regatta had us out for eight races over two-and-a-half days, under all sorts of winds. In particular, Saturday brought some strong easterlies, building over the day. A few of the fleet decided to keep their spinnakers packed, dry, and intact in the gustier winds, a few of the others risked it with varying levels of success, including one unintended journey beyond the bottom gate and off towards Carnac Island. Fortunately, we did see team Itinerant (Mark Hansen) back at the bar after racing, so we can assume that they did eventually manage to douse the kite.
Despite their sojourn westwards, Itinerant – as defending championship winner – sailed well over the regatta, with three firsts over the weekend. However, Eufarria – new entrants this year – stole the show with four, taking out the overall championship trophy. The remaining race win went to The Black Smoke, ending up third in championship regatta results. Consistency results for the State Championships had Farrlap in first, Lionheart second, and Frenzy (Murray Rowe) third. Well done to all teams for a fantastic weekend of racing, and for our contemporaries in the S80 and S97 fleets for a great combined event. Of course, the stars of the show were the staff and dedicated volunteers for such a smoothly run weekend of racing. Thank you all!
The later parts of the season’s race calendar certainly keep our fleet on their toes – after a (generous!) two weeks’ rest, the fleet were back racing at RPYC Crawley for heat eight of the Metro Series, then the heat nine three weeks following. As is tradition, heat nine had the fleet racing for the prestigious Alan Coutts Memorial trophy, commemorating Alan as an prominent supporter, enthusiastic promoter, and valued friend of the 9.2 class. Chasing the trophy for a number of years now, Elusive’s stars fell into alignment to finish fastest, and second on handicap. Further handicap results had Farrlap making their way into first, and Eufarria at third. With the fleet back in their pens after heat nine, the Metro Series was complete for the season, with final results formally announced at the upcoming prize night.
In boat movement news, Kevin Shroeder and Tarla Elward have sold Dragonheart to new owners Chris and Amanda Maines, based at EFYC. They plan to start off with a little cruising, and perhaps join in some racing events in the near future. Welcome to the fleet!
To wrap up the summer season, the Farr 9.2 Association Prize night is our annual ceremony for distributing the trophies (and, or course, prizes!) to their rightful owners. After a great event last year, this year was also held at the Dutch Trading Company in Victoria Park, over tasty cocktail-style dinner, and tasty beverages of all kinds. Some particular highlights for the results were:
Farr 9.2 State Championships, championship:
1st: Eufarria (Peter Cook)
2nd: Itinerant (Mark Hansen)
3rd: The Black Smoke (Jeremy Kerr)
Farr 9.2 State Championships, consistency:
1st: Farrlap (Andrew Hossen)
2nd: Lionheart (Warren Westaway)
3rd: Frenzy (Murray Rowe)
Farr 9.2 Metro Series, championship:
1st: Elusive (Richard Brisbane-Cohen)
2nd: Itinerant (Mark Hansen)
3rd: Lionheart (Warren Westaway)
Farr 9.2 Metro Series, consistency:
1st: Farrlap (Andrew Hossen)
2nd: Eufarria (Peter Cook)
3rd: The Black Smoke (Jeremy Kerr)
Farr 9.2 Crew Skipper trophy:
Kevin Ferguson – Farrlap
Farr 9.2 Ladies Skipper trophy:
Tiffani Tong – Farrlap
Well done to the winners for a great season.
Prizes for the season were generously provided by our prize night sponsors: UK Sailmakers, Doyle Sails, Yacht Grot, Bay Marine Maintenance and Yahava Coffee. We are very grateful for their support, and encourage our members to check out their offerings.
Of course, even with the summer season over, sailing will continue just as enthusiastically over winter, with regular Wednesday afternoon sailing, and a few of the fleet sailing in the Winter Frostbites series. We’re also helping out the S80 fleet in their Sailor Development Program, hosting some spinnaker training sessions on a Farr 9.2. Contact Jeremy Kerr (0417 095 745) if you’re interested in participating in any of the above.
