Sunken Dragon forces substitute for Sayonara Cup

10:23 AM Fri 9 Jan 2009 GMT
The International Dragon class yacht Liquidity, which sunk after a collision with another boat during yesterday's heat five of the Prince Philip Cup on Sydney Harbour, has been located in Chowder Bay - but at a depth of 30 metres.

Liquidity, owned by Richard Franklin and Damien Hannes, filled with water and sank after locking masts with the Victorian boat Waliki (Andrew Merrett) soon after rounding the leeward mark in Chowder Bay.

The sunken boat was not located until this afternoon and because of the depth of water will require a specialized diver to assist with the recovery.

Liquidity's sinking has forced the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club to find another Dragon for Sunday's defence of the Sayonara Challenge Cup against Karabos IX from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.

The RPEYC's Sean Kirkjian was to have sailed Liquidity against Karabos IX, skippered by Nick Rogers, in the best of five match racing challenge for the historic Sayonara Cup.

Kirkjian will now helm a substitute boat, Tatsu, which owner Wolf Breit has agreed to make available following the Prince Philip Cup, in which Karabos IX is the current leader. Fortunately for Kirkjian, Tatsu is also a Petticrow-built Dragon with a similar layout to Liquidity.

'Nevertheless, it's going to make the defence harder as I was familiar with the layout and sail controls of Liquidity, having sailed as mainsheet hand during the Dragon States and done some coaching of the crew,' Kirkjian said today.

Kirkjian's crew for the Sayonara Cup, an interstate yachting challenge dating back to 1904 and sailed in Dragon class yachts since 1984, will be Tony Powell and Kieran Cowan.

Rogers will sail with his current Prince Philip Cup crew, Leigh Brehrens and Simon Burrows.

Meanwhile, Sydney skipper Matt Whitnal this evening will need ask the Prince Philip Cup protest committee to re-open the protest hearing that followed a collision between Whitnall's boat Taranui and the Russian entry Murka 9 in heat four.

The incident happened as the boats were rounding the leeward mark in an overlap situation and the protest committee found both competitors had broken the racing rules of sailing. Both yachts were disqualified under rules covering gybing and avoiding contact.

by Peter Campbell

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Sunken Dragon forces substitute for Sayonara Cup

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