CPYA Honours Its Winners

Not since the days of RPYC’s great Graham Cerini has there been such dominance in a State Championship and it all started from a conversation between two car rally enthusiasts, Razvan Vlad and SoPYC time trialler, Graeme McKay (Taj). In only their second season, Raz and his wife Ioana took out the Oceaneer Boat Brokers’ State Championship in Corinne Adele with an incredible scoreline of three wins and two seconds. The couple also won the Bob Stanford Trophy for least points lost over their best six events.

In his acceptance speech, Raz pointed out that it was his car rally friend Graeme who introduced him to time trials. He also paid tribute to SoPYC, pointing out that although he is not a member, the Club welcomed him as a competitor to gain experience.

South of Perth Yacht Club’s incoming Power Yacht Captain Jason Claricoates and his wife Caroline James enjoyed an outstanding season, finishing second to Corinne Adele in the Championship and first in the Consistency competition. Their transition to The Dolphin from their previous boat made them realise how much harder it is when the gap between the boat’s nominated speed and her top speed is much smaller than they were accustomed to. The experience has made The Dolphin one of the most consistent boats in the competition. Third place in the Championship went to Guy Skinner and Fiona Lyons in Thanet.

South of Perth Yacht Club retained the Teams Trophy, but only after a close battle with Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. The message is clear. Freshie’s depth of talent is significantly larger than it once was and they are hungry to lift the Teams Trophy out of Coffee Point – the sooner the better! Season 2025 promises to be another nail-biter.

Claremont Yacht Club has a well-established reputation for having the best buffet on the Swan River and enhanced that reputation with their hosting of the Championship dinner. Starting with a huge bowl of prawns and oysters on a bed of ice cubes, guests were treated to an amazing smorgasbord of vegetables, fish and meat for a main course, followed by a dessert table of petit fours, pannacotta, cakes and fruit salad. It was truly and outstanding feast.

Corica Pastries once again donated their famous strudels, thanks to the generosity of David Bovell. Your scribe, for the first time ever, was fortunate enough to win one from the raffle and the rumours are right – they’re delicious!

South of Perth numbers in State events were not strong this year. While members were away on holidays, others seem to have an opinion that State events are more difficult than Club events. The fact is that it’s actually quite refreshing to visit the “other” end of the river at Karrakatta bank, and the opportunity to compete against different boats is not just a challenge but an opportunity to meet a wider circle of friends with like interests!

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