Victorian Beneteau owners enjoy Competition Season

Victorian Beneteau Dealer Sundance Marine will host up to 35 Beneteau owners on Saturday March 9 for their annual Sundance Marine Beneteau Cup. Racing is sure to be fiercely contested with the Firsts, Oceanis and Sense models all in the running for honours. The format for the weekend will see a passage race from Sandringham to Port Melbourne with both spinnaker and non-spinnaker divisions.

Alan Woodward and his First 45 Reverie will go head to head with Denis McConnell and his First 45 Schuss. Chris Barlow on his Oceanis 45 Champagne will no doubt be fighting it out with Paul Commins aboard his Oceanis 43 Dionysos. We’re also very excited to have one of the first Sense 55’s to arrive into Australia called Cicre, also competing in the regatta. On completion of the regatta the fleet will cruise in company from Port Melbourne to Docklands for the formal presentation dinner.

Sundance Marine and their Beneteau owners have enjoyed a thrilling sailing season after some great results during the recent Festival of Sails Regatta in Geelong. Held over the Australia Day long weekend the Festival of Sails Regatta is now one of the biggest regattas in the region with 15 different race series, over 400 yachts and 45,000 competitors. The festival saw a strong contingent of Beneteau’s lining up to race and the team from Sundance Marine received many positive comments on the number of Beneteau’s in the fleet.

The most outstanding results from amongst the Beneteau owners and crew were the three Beneteau First 45’s on the podium in IRC Division B, and the first round of the IRC Australian Championships. The series was a closely fought out affair which came right down to the wire, requiring a count-back for 2^nd and 3^rd placing after the last race was run.  Bruce McCracken’s Ikon took out the win, with Chris Manton’s Senna in 2nd place and Alan Woodwards’ Reverie in 3^rd.

In other results, the Cruising with Spinnakers Division A saw Ignazio Paraolini’s Beneteau First 45f5 Republica taking honours, while in Division 3 of the performance series, Peter Jackson and Stitched Up took out AMS in his Beneteau First 34.7 and Geoff Adams Unami took out EHC in his Beneteau First 31.7.

“The Beneteau range has a reputation for being equally at home as a cruising yacht as they are a competitive racer, so its no surprise for us to see our Beneteau owners figuring in many of the key races throughout the season”, said Sundance Marine Managing Director David Beck. “What’s even more exciting is the fleet we are able to put together for our annual Beneteau Cup, which continues to grow each year. There’s no better sight then a fleet of Beneteaus under full sail on Port Phillip Bay”, David went on to say.

Sundance Marine enjoy state of the art yachting facilities at their bases at Sandringham in Melbourne and Bellerive in Tasmania. Registrations are still open for the Sundance Marine Beneteau Cup on Saturday March 9. For more information visit www.sundancemarine.com.au or contact sarah@sundancemarine.com.au.

Melbourne Office: 2/36 Jetty Rd Sandringham, Victoria, 3191 | Melbourne Phone 03 9598 8999 Tasmania Office: 3/44 Cambridge Rd, Bellerive 7018 | Tasmania Phone 03 6244 6028