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Martin Hill and crew enjoyed some great racing on Sydney Harbour in the CYCa’s Farr 40 Sprint Series on the weekend. Winning 7 out of 8 races, Martin commented “It may have looked easy from the results but we didn’t have it all our way”‘, he continued, “we had to work hard and the team that has been put together is coming together well.”

Next up for the Estate Master team is the Audi Regatta (March 6 & 7) then the Farr 40 Australian Championship, March 12-14. Each regatta offers some important training time for the team as they work towards the Farr 40 Worlds in the Dominican Republic in April.

2010 Sprint Series Final Results:

1 Estate Master – Lisa & Martin Hill (MHYC) 9.0 points

2 Orion – Brett Neill (RNZYS) 20.0
3 Easy Tiger II – Chris Way (RPAYC) 21.0
4 Edake – Jeff Carter (MHYC) 29.0

Estate Master, with Martin Hill at the helm, has won the Farr 40 section of the Rolex regatta today in Sydney. The 3-day regatta was sailed inside and outside Sydney Harbour in mostly moderate winds.

Second was Kokomo, skippered by Lang Walker and third was Transfusion steered by Guido Belgiorno-Nettis.

Estate Master featured a revised line-up including tactician Hamish Pepper, main trimmer Darren Jones and trimmer Scooter Hinton. Coach for the regatta, Malcolm Page said the boat was going great upwind.

‘What a great day, but we had to fight every inch of the way,’ Hill said. ‘The lead changed between the three top boats – it was very tight – you couldn’t let your guard down,’ he added.

Aside from the Farr 40 nationals next March, the crew are working hard towards the Worlds in the Dominican Republic in April next year.

Estate Master skipper Martin Hill with crew Malcolm Page have won Gold in the World Masters Games on Sydney Harbour.

Trumping a fleet of 40 Tasars in the 45+ age group, Martin said ‘Good speed, good height, a great regatta, really happy! It was my first dinghy regatta since I was about 19!’

Having spent a lot of time in the Farr 40 over recent years, Martin took up the challenge of the two-hander with gusto, dropping 5 kg in body weight and getting used to sailing a boat a lot flatter.

Estate Master trimmer Malcolm Page with skipper Matt Belcher finished a handy 5th at their first 470 Worlds together in the same boat.

Belcher and Page took victory in the Medal Race to jump two positions to fifth overall, with the medal race win all the more impressive as it was their only first placing of the regatta.

Matt and Mal now head to Weymouth, UK for the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta, the first of the major pre-Olympic regattas at the Olympic venue. The team will use the regatta as a chance to get to know the local conditions. Racing begins 14th September.

Nathan has just finished his fifth sailing World Championship of the year, the Moth class Worlds held at Cascade Locks, Oregon. He finished second (to Bora Gulari USA), adding to a set of respectable finishes in Worlds spanning five different classes. If he is not a great candidate for World sailor of the year, no one is!

Let’s recap Nathan’s year (well, ok just his worlds):
January – A-Class Worlds – 11th
June – Farr 40 Worlds – 9th
July – 49er Worlds – 1st
July – 29er Worlds – 2nd
August – Moth Worlds – 2nd

For his latest result Outteridge was described on Sailing Anarchy as steady and nearly flawless. Unfortunately the Aussie had to return to shore for Race 9 when his mainsail strop broke. Nathan came back with seconds to spare before Race 10 started, and promptly took a bullet.

Nathan gets a short rest as he makes his way back to Australia. Come early September he’ll head back to Europe for the Sail for Gold Olympic lead-up regatta in Weymouth in September.

Nathan – really good sailor.

EMC2 is a Tasar dinghy recently launched at Middle Harbour Yacht Club by Sarah Blackburn for dad Martin Hill and crew Malcolm Page to sail in the World Masters Games to be held in Sydney in October 12 – 16.

It’ll be Martin’s first foray into a serious dinghy regatta for some time and he’ll be ably assisted by 470 Gold Medalist crew Malcolm. Both eagerly await the challenge which is supported by Etihad and Ronstan.

Estate Master Consulting is a new branch of Estate Master to provide a network of experienced consultants that can provide a range of services for their clients that quickly determine the impact of changing conditions to current corporate forecasts and profitability across their portfolios.

49er World Champ Nathan Outteridge squeezed into a 29er with girlfriend Lauren Jeffries and secured a well-deserved 2nd place in the Worlds which finished yesterday in Lake Garda, Italy.

Steven Thomas and Blair Tuke (AUS) easily took out the title with solid top 3 results in the finals series.

Third was Nathan’s sister Hayley, crewed by Nathan’s crew Iain Jensen. In a tussle for pride and sibling supremacy, they finished just two points behind Lauren and Nathan.

Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen yesterday won the 49er World Championship held at Lake Garda, Italy. Together with new crew Goobs, Nathan defends his title, won last year in Sorrento, Australia.

The team sat in 4-5th place during the qualifying stages of the regatta and then pounced during a light and variable day of the gold fleet racing before finally sailing a smart medal race to secure the title.

Estate Master tactician Nathan now stays on in Garda to sail the 29er Worlds, this time crewing for girlfriend Lauren.

Estate Master had their best day of the regatta, scoring a 5th and 10th in the final two races of the Rolex Farr 40 Worlds in Sardinia, Italy.

We had a great start in the first race and held a long starboard tack to the favoured left side to be 7th around the top mark. With good placement from tactician Nathan Outerridge, Estate Master picked off another two boats on the next beat.

While we were a small notch off regatta winner Barking Mad and 2nd place getter Nerone in boat speed throughout the regatta, we learnt that we could hold our own against the rest of the fleet when we had clear air.

Skipper Martin Hill said ‘Wonderful, top 10 at the worlds – we’re really happy to have achieved our goal at this regatta. We are aiming to crack the top three next year and to be number one in 2011 when the Farr 40 World Championships are in Sydney.”

Full results.

Estate Master had a tough day at the office placing 21, 10, 10 in the three races today held today off Porto Cervo in 15-20 knot NW winds.

We struggled to get a good lane off each start, but were buoyed by better up and downwind speed than previous days.

We’re now lying 13th in the 26 boat fleet, equal on points with HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark aboard Nanoq. Princess Mary was also out on the course, aboard mega yacht Parasail and proudly showed a small boxing kangaroo flag to the Aussie crews as they sailed by.

Not to be outdone were our own group of 12 supporters crammed into a RIB, cleverly coming up with the chant ‘Sail higher, faster, go Estate Master!’

There are two more races scheduled for tomorrow with another forecast for a fresh mistral. Barking Mad extended their lead today and have their eye firmly on the prize. Photo by: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo