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:
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.
The Farr 9.2 State Championships for 2023 were held over the March long weekend, racing at Owen Anchorage and hosted at the RPYC Fremantle Annex. This year we thankfully had an uninterrupted racing and social program, with close and competitive racing on the water.
A huge thank you to Royal Perth Yacht Club, all the staff and volunteers for putting on a great event.
Thanks as always to our generous prize sponsors for our State Championships racing:
The Farr 9.2 State Championships for 2022 were held over the March long weekend, racing at Owen Anchorage. In a change from our usual championship racing down at Cockburn Sound, we joined the S80 and S97 fleets for a combined state championships event, hosted by Royal Perth Yacht Club at the Fremantle Annex.
A huge thank you to all the staff, volunteers and sponsors for putting together such a great event, and making all us 9.2 newcomers feel welcome. While the COVID related cancellation of the social events limited the off-water revelry, the racing was extremely competitive, with the championship decided on countback. Well done to all the skippers and crews, who embraced the challenges of the new location (and the extra day of racing!).
We had a number of generous prize sponsors for our State Championships racing:
The Farr 9.2 State Championships for 2021 were held in Rockingham over the last weekend of March. With last year’s event cancelled due to Covid, it was great to be back racing in the sound. The conditions kept everyone thinking, with shifts, lulls and a drop in wind on Sunday.
Several competitors were looking to be in contention over the weekend, with some very close photo finishes. The final Championship winner was Itinerant, followed by Farrlap in second and Lionheart third.
Thanks go out as always to The Cruising Yacht Club of Western Australia for hosting us as well as the numerous sponsors who helped make the weekend such a great success – they are, in no particular order:
The Farr 9.2 Association is pleased to announce the Notice of Race for the 2020 Farr 9.2 State Championships, held on the 28th and 29th of March, at The Cruising Yacht Club (TCYC) in Cockburn Sound.
Racing will be held over two days, and as is tradition, there will be plenty of social events happening at the club over the weekend.
Skippers have been emailed registration details, but if you’d like to participate and haven’t been in touch, please email Jeremy at jk@ozlabs.org. A few boats may be after additional crew, feel free to email if you’re interested in joining the fleet.
We’d like to thank our sponsors for supporting this event: Jane Brook Estate, Doyle Sails, Yacht Grot, Yacht Rigging Solutions, North Sails, Bay Marine Boat Maintenance and UK Sailmakers.
The Farr 9.2 State Championships for 2019 were held in Rockingham over the last weekend of March. We were treated to ideal racing conditions all weekend, with close racing and photo finishes. The Championship was decided by 1 point, with Seahawk claiming the trophy from the reigning 3 time winner Itinerant.
