Surprise grabs Division 3 win, claims Round 1 Audi IRC Championship

8:49 AM Mon 26 Jan 2009 GMT

'Surprise - Skandia Geelong Week 2009' Teri Dodds /Skandia

A thrilled David Ellis and crew (Surprise) got the surprise of their lives to discover not had they only won Division 3 of the Audi Series; they had been announced winners of the first round of the 2009 Audi IRC Australian Championship, now in its third year.

Ellis left the regatta immediately after the final Race 6 and headed home to the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria where he is the Club Captain, so while he knew they had taken out Division 3, Ellis thought the winner of the Championship would come from Division 1.

'That's great - how good is that,' he said when told. 'It's a team effort and I have to mention my crew Troy Croft, Alex Gilbert, Paul Larcher and Jane Richards. They did a superb job, they always do.

Ellis also said a big thank you to Robert Hampshire from host, Royal Geelong Yacht Club and Principal Race Officer Denis Thompson. 'They were great - very helpful and pleasant.'

An interesting character with an even more interesting background, Ellis is a former ship's captain who has worked with the Port Melbourne Sea Pilots for the past six years which has given him more time for sailing.

'We're not ocean racers or world beaters, but we have a classic boat (A Borresen BB10) that's well sailed and I can commit to sailing more often these days.'

In an all-Victorian assault, the Surprise crew came up with an impressive five wins from six races for standout victory over second and third placed Arabelle (Grant Hailes) and Peter Jackson's Stitched Up, both of which finished 12 points behind the winner.

***Series Results [IRC] up to Race 6 (Drops = 1)***
Place	Ties	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	From	Design	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1		R25	SURPRISE	David Ellis	RYCV	Borresen BB10	5.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	[3.00]	1.00	1.00
2	2.0S	M3170	ARABELLE	Grant Hailes	MYC	Beneteau first 31.7	17.00	6.00	2.00	4.00	[9.00]	2.00	3.00
3		SM1347	STITCHED UP	Peter Jackson	SYC	Beneteau 347	17.00	5.00	3.00	2.00	4.00	3.00	[5.00]
4		SM49	DR UNC	John Lindholm	SYC	Masrm 920	19.00	3.00	5.00	[7.00]	5.00	4.00	2.00
5	2.0S	B25	FLYING FOX	Paul Woodman	RBYC	UFFA FOX	30.00	2.00	10.00	9.00	[14.00]	5.00	4.00
6		SM88	UPBEAT	Peter Dunne	SYC	Beneteau first 36.7	30.00	[13.00]	6.00	3.00	6.00	7.00	8.00
7		B6505	RECKLESS	Rory Thomas	RBYC	Bavaria 35 Match	33.00	4.00	8.00	5.00	7.00	9.00	[11.00]
8		S62	REMEDY	B Burggraaf R Hibber	RMYS	Archambault 32	38.00	8.00	4.00	10.00	1.00	15.00	[15.00]
9		S47	MRS OVERNEWTON	Leslie Norton	RMYS	Bavaria Match 38	39.00	11.00	9.00	6.00	2.00	11.00	[13.00]
10		B353	MAGAZAN 53	Nicholas McGuigan	RBYC	Farr 1104	40.00	9.00	7.00	[12.00]	8.00	6.00	10.00
11		B2580	DONT PANIC	Jamie Cooper	PDYC	Beneteau Fc 12	45.00	7.00	11.00	8.00	11.00	8.00	[12.00]
12		SM5050	TONIC	Steve Moore	SYC	Beneteau First 317	53.00	[16.00C]	14.00	11.00	12.00	10.00	6.00
13		B131	CLEMENTINE III	Michael Dalton	RBYC	SS 39	55.00	12.00	12.00	14.00	10.00	[14.00]	7.00
14		B347	ROGUE TRADER	Greg Rayner	RBYC	Beneteau First 34.7	59.00	10.00	15.00	13.00	[15.00]	12.00	9.00
15		SM99	PRIMO	Steve Copley	SYC	Benetau	69.00	16.00C	13.00	[16.00S]	13.00	13.00	14.00