Devine and Furlong claim International 14 Class Aust Championship

8:56 AM Tue 6 Jan 2009 GMT

'I14 Nationals 2009' Peter Kovesi Click Here to view large photo

International 14 Class 93rd Australian Championship being held in Perth, Western Australia report.

Heat 7: Brad Devine and for'ard hand Ian Furlong secured back-to-back International 14 footer Australian Championship titles today in the last heat of the 2008-09 event on the Swan River.

Perth sailors Devine and Furlong sailed their boat Royston Vasey to sixth place today which was enough to secure the championship by two points from Archie Massey in George 1st with Anthony Anderson in Ray & the Crazy 88s third overall.

Anderson had to win today to stand a chance of taking the title but finished fourth in a race sailed in 10-15 knots of sou'west.

'I had Anthony just in front of me all day today, while the lightwind fliers like Kristic and Massey cleared out,' said Devine.

'There were just two points in it at the end but that is obviously enough.

'We had a bit of a home-town advantage and we sailed well in the stronger breezes earlier in the regatta.

'It is a great feeling to get the title.'

Devine said he had thought of making this regatta his last event but said: 'I'll be back.'

'I have a new boat on the way from Canada and we have a bit of unfinished business (a World Title).'

Final heat winner Mark Kristic said it was great to get a win as his boat TBA is only new and he and his crew Andrew Wilson had only been sailing together for a relatively short time.

'We grabbed the lead on the first run and hung onto it,' Kristic said.

'The boat is fast and we are certainly looking forward to Sydney.'

The International 14 footer class is to hold the next world championship for the class in Sydney during the summer of 2009-10. A fleet of 100 boats, with good representation from the northern hemisphere, is expected.

Results:

Heat 7:TBA (M Kristic/ A Wilson VIC) 1; George 1st (A Massey/ D Wilsden UK) 2; Sage Automation (D Hayter/ M Low SA) 3; Ray & the Crazy 88s (A Anderson/ P Chadwick VIC) 4; One More Grunt (G Coutts/ T Caldwell) 5.

Final results:Royston Vasey (B Devine/ I Furlong) 12pts, 1; George 1st 14pts, 2; Ray & the Crazy 88s 15pts, 3; TBA 19pts, 4; Sage Automation 31pts, 5.

by Neil Patchett

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Devine and Furlong claim International 14 Class Aust Championship

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