Estate Master trimmer (and Olympic Gold medalist) Malcolm Page was last night named Australian Institute of Sport Athlete of the Year for the 3rd time in four years.

Mal shared the award with skipper Nathan Wilmot as well as fellow Olympic 470 Champions, Tessa Parkinson and Elise Rechichi. Page and Wilmot’s AIS Team of the Year award was the pair’s third, having won the award in 2007 and 2005.

The teams’ coach, Victor Kovalenko, was also recognised by the nation’s peak sports body with the Coach of the Year award.

Adding further to the tally for the sport, The Australian Sailing Team, which is supported by Estate Master skipper Martin Hill, also won AIS Program of the Year.

Page had to miss Farr 40 training last night due to the awards, but is expected to be fresh for this evening’s training.

Malcolm Page trimming on Estate Master

Flying a new Bladerider Moth, Estate Master Tactician Nathan Outteridge had a spectacular win on debut at the Moth Australian titles in Geelong this week.

Nathan had just a few days of practice in the Moth, most recently favoring to apply his talent to the A-Class cat where he finished 11th of 90 at the World titles earlier this month.

Near the end of the regatta Nathan confessed ‘I can’t seem to win a race but I’m good at coming second.’ However, by the last race Nathan found a little extra speed and won it and the championship from Brit Simon Payne. The fleet featured 40 starters from 7 nations.

‘I was consistent and I didn’t make too many mistakes…, when I did they didn’t cost me too much,’ Outteridge added.

‘They are awesome boats to sail, it will be hard to go back to the 49er after this. An Olympic campaign is so intense, with this class I’m just enjoying sailing again.’

Next on Nathan’s calander are the Farr 40 Nationals in February. He will fully return to the Olympic 49er class following the Farr 40 Worlds in Sardinia in June.

Nathan Outteridge wins the Moth Australian Championship, Skandia Geelong Week 2009 Andrea Francolini / Skandia

Estate Master skipper Martin Hill was especially proud of his crew on the final day of the 2008 Rolex Trophy One Design Series. With winds peaking at 28 knots and boat speeds around 17 knots, the Estate Master crew coordinated beautifully to take Boat of the Day honors.

Principal Race Officer Dennis Thompson was also pleased with the day’s racing. “Today we experienced some of the best Farr 40 racing I’ve seen in heavy breeze conditions,” said Thompson. “In the final race Kokomo and Estate Master were bow for bow as they planed to the finish.”

In the final tally, Kokomo, with guest skipper Matt Allen, took victory. Second and third place were decided on a count back as Estate Master and Guido Belgiorno Nettis’ Transfusion finished on equal points. Estate Master finished in second with Transfusion third.

Hill said “We learnt a few more little things in this regatta that we think will mean a lot thinking forward to the Worlds next year in Italy, so we’re really happy about that”.

Peter Andrews – Outimage

Today on Sydney Harbour the Estate Master Sailing Team won their first Farr 40 regatta – the CYCA Farr 40 regatta – after, according to skipper Martin Hill, their 18th attempt!

They say try, try again and the team’s focus on the small things in their preparation certainly paid off.

After the first day, there was a three way tie between Guido Belgiorno Nettis’ Transfusion and Kokomo, with guest skipper Matt Allen.

The second day brought a moderate SSE breeze and Kokomo took out the first race, followed by Estate Master, then Transfusion. This result, and the intricacies of the count-back system, meant that the EM team had to beat transfusion and have Kokomo finish 3rd to win the regatta.

In the final race EM tactician Nathan Outteridge managed to catch Kokomo by surprise in the pre-start and trap her out side the layline for the pin end of the start line before tacking back and slotting in under Transfusion for the start.

Trasnfusion lead around the first mark from Estate Master but then Nathan pounced again and forced Transfusion to gybe towards less wind. EM lead around the bottom mark and covered Transfusion closely.

Having won the last two regattas, Transfusion wasn’t about to give up and they fought back strongly during a ferocious gybing duel down the last run to be within half a boat length at the finish.

Skipper Hill said “I’m really proud of our team and how we’ve all gelled together. It’s taken 18 attempts, but we’re really happy to win one. Here’s to many more!”

- EM

Estate Master offshore from Sydney, CYCA regatta (photo: sailing-dog.com)

Having gone into the last day of the Pittwater Farr 40 regatta on a three way tie for first place with Guido Belgiorno Nettis’ Transfusion and Lang Walker’s Kokomo, Lisa and Martin Hill’s Estate Master finished up second overall after a 3, 5, 2 in the final three races.

Winner Belgiorno Nettis said ‘I think it’s the brotherly rivalry between our bowman Mitch White and Estate Master’s bowman Morgan White that has given us the same result as our last class event but that could all change next regatta’.

The first race of the day was started in a 10-12 knot NE breeze that gradually built in strength to 21 knots with the increasing swell making for some great surfing action.

Kokomo started the day splitting the three way tie by winning race seven and leading the nine boat fleet around the two lap windward leeward course. Transfusion took second while New Zealander Brett Neill’s White Cloud crossed the line three seconds astern of Transfusion.

Race eight and nine were Transfusion’s from start to finish with the team extending on the lead they established in both races. Gear failure and torn sails made for a difficult day on the race course for a couple of teams while the whole fleet had to dodge a pod of whales who came to see what was going on off Sydney’s Palm Beach.

Given the placings at the top of the last run Estate Master would have finished the regatta third overall. However, some great surfing, steering and trim by the crew saw them move up two places and finish the race second, breathing down Transfusion’s neck.

Estate Master powers into the windward mark

The top three places for this regatta are a exact replica of the top three places from the Pepper’s Anchorage Farr 40 regatta held two weeks ago and as a result Belgiorno Nettis is now leading the 2008-09 Australian Farr 40 circuit.

The Australian Farr 40 class would like to thank the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club for hosting the event and Denis Thompson and the race management team for some terrific racing.

The next event in the Australian Farr 40 schedule is the CYCA F40 Regatta on November 15-16 being hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Score Board

1. Transfusion, G. Belgiorno-Nettis, MHYC, 24
2. Estate Master, Martin & Lisa Hill, MHYC, 29
3. Kokomo, Lang Walker, RPAYC, 32
4. White Cloud, Brett Neill, RNZYS, 35
5. Sputnik, Ivan Wheen, RSYS, 44
6. Hooligan, Marcus Blackmore, RPAYC, 45
7. Wot For, Graeme Wood, CYCA, 62
8. Edake, Jeff Carter, MHYC, 66
9. Easy Tiger II, Chris Way, RPAYC, 68

- Sam Crichton with EM

The Estate Master Sailing Team enjoyed a great weekend of sailing at Port Stephens, finishing 2nd in the Peppers Anchorage Farr 40 regatta.

EM powers upwind. Pic by Sam Crichton

Skipper Martin Hill was particularly pleased to win two ‘boat of the day’ titles on the first and third days of the regatta. However, a sub-par day two, in which the team scored a 4, 5 and 7, kept the team just two points behind in the final tally from overall winner Transfusion and skipper Guido Belgiorno Nettis.

On the final day the battle lines were drawn early with two races remaining in the regatta – Transfusion was leading by 10 points from Estate Master and Hooligan both on 24 points.

With the water in the bay flat and the NE seabreeze building, the fleet were on their way in race eight on a three lap NE course. Lisa and Martin Hill’s Estate Master displayed some fantastic sailing skills as they led the fleet after a great start. Estate Master went on to win race eight and did a repeat performance in the last race of the regatta.

Hill said: “We’re really pleased with our result and for Guido who sailed a great regatta. It’s great to have Middle Harbour Yacht Club boats one and two in this event. It’s been great to have our Australian Sailing Team members back on board after Beijing, Malcolm Page trimming and we are seeing improvements happening all the time. We have ’son in law elect’ (Michael Blackburn) on the main and Nathan Outteridge calling tactics and this was his first Farr 40 regatta in that position. He’s very precise on the start line calls.”

The next event in the Australian Farr 40 2008-09 circuit is the Pittwater F40 Regatta being hosted by Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club on October 24-26.

- Sam Crichton with EM

Pictured below is Estate Master in her cradle undergoing a few final touch-ups last week. She was put back in the water in time for the crew to enjoy 3 days of solid training on the weekend.

The boat is now beling delivered by water to Port Stephens for the Peppers Anchorage regatta, starting this Friday, 10 October.