top of page

 PRINCE PHILIP CUP 2025

 

RICHARD LYNN & TEAM WIN PRINCE PHILIP CUP, Perth, Western Australia, 10th January 2025

John Roberson robo_bandana@mac.com

 

Richard Lynn and his team sailing Gordon have won the Prince Philip Cup, the Australian International Dragon class championship by just one point after a nail biting final day of the series, hosted by Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and sailed on the Swan River. This puts his name on the trophy for the fourth time, thirty years since he first won it in 1995.

 

Going into the final day of the event, with two races to sail, there were three possible winners, Lynn, Willy Packer and Grant Alderson, all with three points of each other, and with Richard holding a one point advantage. 

 

The team on Gordon won the first race of the day, with Packer’s Scoundrel second, while a fourth place for Alderson’s French Connection team put them out of the running, barring disasters for the two front runners. 

 

Willy Packer came back strongly to win the final race of the regatta, putting the pressure on the Gordon team who had to finish second to take the trophy. Despite a strong challenge from British sailor Tim Tavinor Lynn, crewed by Ethan Prieto-Low and Adam Brenz-Verca, held on to cross the line second and take the championship.

 

Commenting in his usual eloquently manner on his victory Richard Lynn said, “we are an egalitarian boat, we all do our jobs to the best of our ability, Ethan and Adam are excellent at getting the best speed out of the boat, while I do my best to put it in the right place.”

 

Willy Packer was generous in his praise for the victor, “Richard sailed very well, a consistent series, he was able to discard a third place, which was exceptional.”

 

The final day produced yet more fabulous conditions, with the fabled Fremantle Doctor sea breeze coming in at a consistent 15 knots under a clear blue sky, the Swan River at its best.

 

The Australian International Dragon Class is hugely grateful to the host club Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, event sponsor Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and race-day sponsors Talo Construction, Packer & Co, Yacht Grot and Unidata. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RICHARD LYNN CLINGS TO LEAD, Perth, Western Australia, 9th January 2025 by John Roberson

 

Richard Lynn and his team sailing Gordon are clinging to a one point lead at the end of the penultimate day of the Dragons’ Prince Philip Cup, the class’s Australian Championships. Chalking up two second places today Lynn, crewed by Ethan Prieto-Low and Adam Brenz-Verca, faces a fascinating tactical conundrum on the final day tomorrow.

 

The first race of the day went to Willy Packer’s Scoundrel crew, while Grant Alderson and his team on French Connection took the second race. “We made a great start and were soon able to tack across the fleet,” Willy commented about the first race of the day. He had a commanding lead at the first mark and held on despite the Gordon team slashing his advantage to just two boat lengths at the finish.

 

Grant Alderson’s first race was a disaster, finishing 11th after starting at the committee boat end of the line and being on the wrong side of the big wind shift. Things went better in the second race, “we started towards the pin with clear air, then worked out enough space to be able to play the shifts on the left hand side of the course.” He had a comfortable lead at the first mark and controlled the race to the finish.

 

Richard Lynn is now in the enviable position of being able to discard a third place from his score line, while Packer discards a seventh and Alderson and 11th. However all is not as rosy for Lynn as it may seem, he will not be able to cover both of his close opponents at the same time.

 

Talking about his options for the final day tomorrow he said, “Isn’t this great, such close racing, we love the tension this is why we sail these boats. In both of today’s races they were trying to push us back into the fleet and we were trying to push the one behind us back into the fleet. It was a day of champagne sailing, perfect dragon weather.”

 

For many yesterday’s lay day was spent putting their boats back together after the boat busting day on Tuesday. Today’s conditions didn’t put as much stress on the boats, gear or crews, with a moderate sea breeze in the 10 to 12 knot range. it was described as a “sail trimmer’s day”, you had to get the sail trim perfect to gain that fractional edge over the opposition.

 

The regatta is being hosted by Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club on the Swan River, with tomorrow’s final day with two races promising to be a fascinating tactical battle. Whoever comes out on top will deserve the prestigious trophy.

 

 

Dragon Prince Philip Cup at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club - Day 3 Lay Day Update

by John Roberson 9 Jan 00:33 AEDT

Classic good looks, no I'm not talking about Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot or Princess Grace, I mean the Dragon class. The pointy bow and long overhangs, reminiscent of the metre classes era, the smoothly sculped sheer line, the overlapping genoa and triangular mainsail, the Dragon is the sort of shape that non-sailors would draw if asked to sketch a sailing boat.

 

This class is one of the survivors, a boat that will never go out of style and is kept going by a dedicated band of faithful devotees. Classes of boat with the longevity of the Dragon are rare, like the Star class, both have survived being dropped from Olympic competition and thrived. Look at other former Olympic classes, who has built a new Flying Dutchman, Soling or Tempest since they were dropped from the Games.

 

The current Prince Philip Cup Regatta, the Australian National Championships, being hosted by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club on Perth's Swan River, gives a few hints as to why this class keeps rocking on. There is diversity in the age of participants, age of boats, gender, sailing experience, there is incredibly close racing and a wonderful bonhomie ashore.

 

The oldest boat in the fleet 24 strong fleet, and the only all wooden one, is the 60 year old Aeolus, being sailed by an all female crew which includes the youngest competitor. Skippered by Jennie Fitzhardinge a devoted Dragon sailor and wooden boat enthusiast, the team includes Celina Trinh a 13 year old Optimist sailor.

 

Celina commented on her experience, "I enjoy a challenge and have been loving the opportunity to sail the beautiful Aeolus, while learning new skills from the experienced helm Jennie and crew Alex & Steff. I hope I can keep sailing these interesting and fun boats."

 

Jennie is one of three female skippers and leads one of two all female crews, while there are plenty of other women throughout the fleet. Grant Alderson is skippering French Connection with the owner, Emma Shand, on mainsheet.

 

 At the other end of the scale is 83 year old Charles Stanton, the oldest competitor sailing on Tarakona with Hugh Howard as skipper, and by a strange quirk of coincidence happens to be the newest boat in the fleet, at just 12 years old. There are also two 79 year old skippers, Rob Campbell, whose Penny Farthing is currently in 9th place overall, and Rod Williams sailing Georgia.

 

Meanwhile Stephen Locke is following in the family footsteps, relating his Dragon sailing experience he said, "my Dragon sailing journey started at the age of six months in 1988 with a gentle sail across to Applecross in my father's newly purchase Solvieg AUS173. Many years later in my early 20's I again joined my father Andrew Locke and Mark Cubitt onboard Solvieg, competing in numerous state championships and the occasional Prince Philip Cup."

 

After several year of ocean racing Stephen came back to Dragons because of, "the love for the close racing and the technical aspect of the Dragon." With crew Christian Gallagher and John Suriano the newly refurbished Taranui is currently in 8th place in this regatta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RICHARD LYNN STILL LEADS AFTER BOAT BUSTING DAY

 John Roberson robo_bandana@mac.comPerth, Western Australia, 7th January 2025

 

First and third places on a day of boat busting conditions were enough to keep Richard Lynn and the Gordon crew at the top of the leader board on the second day of the Dragons’ Prince Philip Cup, the class’s Australian Championships.

 

Both races were a three way contest, with Grant Alderson’s French Connection and Willy Packer’s Scoundrel still serious challengers for the overall lead at the halfway stage of the regatta. 

 

With an early sea breeze building rapidly to over twenty knots, with gusts nudging over twenty five knots it was a boisterous day on the Swan River. Of the twenty four entries only seventeen finished the day, with broken halyards and blown running backstays the main causes of retirements.

 

Richard Lynn and his team of Ethan Prieto-Low and Adam Brenz-Verca won the first race of the day, before finishing a close third in the second. “It was the same mix at the front of the fleet in both races,” Lynn observed, “In the first race we got the early lead and managed to control the race from there. In the second race Grant got ahead early and was able to keep control.”

 

The French Connection crew of Alderson, Emma Shand, Matt Maxted and Alice Travlos finished third in the first heat before winning the second. Always economical with words, Grant commented, “in the second race we started at the pin and went left, did a few tacks and led at the first mark.” 

 

With two second places to show for a hard day’s sailing Willy Packer, Julian Harding and Jock Packer on Scoundrel are just two points behind French Connection. “In the first race Richard sailed a really good first downwind leg and got away from us,” said Willy, “then he just played it safe.”

 

But for a snagged jib on the last tack of the race it could have been a photo finish between Scoundrel and French Connection in the second race. Approaching the finishing line from opposite ends it was hard to call who would get there first, but as Packer threw his boat into a tack to cross the line the headsail snagged on the mast and he was unable to complete the tack while Alderson claimed the victory.

 

This series, hosted by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club looks likely to go down to the wire. Losing a seventh place in his score line when the discard kicks into the results will be a big boost to Packer if he can maintain his run of top two scores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REPORT RACE 1 AND 2 - PRINCE PHILIP CUP 

RICHARD LYNN GRABS AND EARLY LEAD.

 Perth, Western Australia, 6th January 2025, John Roberson robo_bandana@mac.co

 

Richard Lynn and his crew sailing Gordon have grabbed an early lead at the end of the first day of the Prince Philip Cup, the Dragon Australian Championships, being hosted by the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club on Perth’s Swan River. Sailing with Ethan Prieto-Low and Adam Branz-Verca, the Gordon team chalked up a second then a first place to hold a three point advantage over second place Grant Alderson skippering French Connection.

 

After a disappointing warm up series in which Lynn finished fifth the team put in a big effort to reconfigure the boat. “We stayed out after the last race yesterday and adjusted a few things,” Richard explained, “then we had a long evening on the dock re-setting and were down here early this morning to do some more work.”

 

Amongst the many changes they made were a completely different set of sails, and he said he had a long late night phone call to his German sailmaker. He admitted the result of all this might be purely psychological, but it worked.

 

Grant Alderson kept his end of day comments simple, “we’ve got two keepers,” he said, referring to a pair of third places. Sailing with Emma Shand, Matt Maxted and Alice Travlos French Connection was always in the hunt in both races.

 

Two points behind Alderson in third place is Willy Packer’s Scoundrel, the winner of  the warm up series. Having won the first race of the day convincingly Packer and his team had an uncharacteristic seventh place in the second heat of the day.

 

“We broke our own rule,” he said by way of explanation for the poor result, “we said we wouldn’t get involved in a mess on the starting line, and we did. We were at the pin end with too many other boats.”

 

It was a long day on the water for the fleet of twenty four Dragons, with a two and a half hour wait on a glassy Swan River before the fabled sea breeze was able to establish itself. With the first race starting in a comfortable 10 knot breeze, the conditions remained manageable, never exceeding 15 knots throughout the afternoon.

 

REPORT RACE DAY 2 - TED ALBERT MEMORIAL REGATTA

WILLY PACKER’S CLEAN SWEEP OF THE DRAGONS.

Perth, Western Australia, 5th January 2025, John Roberson robo_bandana@mac.com


Willy Packer sailing Scoundrel made a clean sweep of the Dragon class’s Ted Albert Memorial series, winning all three races, but by his own admission there was a bit of luck involved. Sailing with Randall Harding and Jock Packer the team were well oiled and had an impressive ability to wriggle out of a tight spot.


Second place in the series, after a consistent performance, went to Andrew Foulkes and his team sailing Tatsu, with French Connection skippered by Grant Alderson third. Talking about today’s second and third races in the series Willy Packer said, “we were very lucky in the first race today, we made a dreadful start and were forced to tack off, we found some space on the right and all the guys who went left overstood the first mark but were looking strong. As we were approaching the mark we got a ten degree lift which got us there in third place.”
 

The Scoundrel team played the shifts on the second windward leg well and grabbed a slender lead at the windward mark second time around.

For the rest of the three lap race it was neck and neck with Richard Lynn and his team on Gordon, with Packer grabbing the win by half a boats length. In the second race of the day Packer established an early lead and was never really challenged throughout the race. “We took the decision not to get close to anyone at the start, not to get involved in any mess on the line,” he explained, the tactic paid well.


Second placed Andrew Foulkes, sailing with Andrew Bennett and Matthew Stafford, put in a steady series, “being consistent is what counts,” he commented, “you can win a regatta without winning a race, it you’re always up there near the front you’re going to have a good result.”


Finishing the last race in second place lifted Grant Alderson and his French Connection team into third place for the series. This crew showed good boat speed, but did themselves out of second place after a spinnaker problem in the opening race of the series cost them several places.


All three of the top boats are from the host club, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, who have been blessed with great weather

conditions for this event. Today’s races started in a steady 12 knot breeze, but by the end of the day the fleet of twenty four boats were

experiencing gusts of up to 20 knots.
The eight race Prince Philip Cup, the class’s Australian Championship, 
starts tomorrow, Monday 6 th January. Having won the warm up series

Willy Packer is wondering about the claim that no one has ever won the

Ted Albert Memorial series and the Prince Philip Cup.

REPORT RACE DAY 1 

TED ALBERT MEMORIAL REGATTA

WILLY PACKER LEADS ALL THE WAY, 

Perth, Western Australia, 4th January 2025,

John Roberson robo_bandana@mac.com

Willy Packer sailing Scoundrel sailed to a comfortable win in the

opening race of the Ted Albert Memorial Series, the warm up regatta

for the Dragons’ Prince Philip Cup, their national championship.

Crewed by Randall Harding and Jock Packer, Willy was ahead at the

first mark and did not relinquish his advantage through the race.

 

Commenting on the race Packer said, “We started at the committee boat end of the line, it was not the favoured end, but it was where we wanted to be. There were some big shifts out there and we played the middle of the course on the first upwind leg.

 

“The second windward leg was shifty again and you had to play the shifts, but by the time we got to the last leg is had settled down and we just sailed conservatively to keep our position.” Indeed Packer and his team ploughed a lonely furrow up the middle of the first beat while most of the fleet headed for the south shore of the Swan River. 

 

At times it looked as if those along that southern shore might get to the windward mark first, but the pendulum swung in favour of the Scoundrel team and they rounded about two boat lengths ahead of Grant Alderson sailing French Connection.

 

Behind Packer there was plenty of place changing with Andrew Foulkes and his Tatsu team moving into second place when Alderson and his team messed up a spinnaker drop. Third place went to Peter Bowman sailing Akula.

 

The event is being hosted by Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and sailed on the Swan River, with 24 entries from as far afield as England and Hobart. The race started in a comfortable 12 to 15 knots of south westerly breeze that built to a more challenging 20 knots and more by the finish.

 

Top female skipper of the day was Trish Ford sailing Canewdon Witch, she was mid fleet at the first mark, but sailing well downwind gained places, before overtaking a couple more boats on the final upwind leg to take sixth place.

 

There are two more races for the Ted Albert series on Sunday before the Prince Philip Cup starts on Monday.

Willy Packer and Julian Harding receive the Ted Albert Memorial Trophy from Andy Locke Patron WAIDA.

Precision Start - AUS211 French Connection, AUS214 Scoundrel, AUS 222 Gordon, AUS 198 Cappoquin III

Victors - Adam Brenz-Verc, Richard Lynn, ethan Prieto-Low

Jennie Fitzhardinge 'Aeolus AUS109

Steve Locke 'Taranui AUS184

Scoundrel AUS214 Willy Packer

The BurnhamCrowd

Team Akula dressed to kill - Rowan Macfarlane, Peter Bowman, Jeremy Shellabear, Steven Cole finished 3rd in Race 1 TAMR

bottom of page