The S80 Association, in conjunction with RPYC, ran its annual Ron Tough Match Racing event in Matilda Bay last Sunday—the first in a few years due to COVID-19.
Ron Tough, a stalwart of WA sailing and founder of the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation (which financially supports Western Australian sailors in achieving competitive success at an international level), donated an elaborate gold trophy (worth a substantial amount today) for the inaugural S80 match racing series in 1988.
Six competitors turned out for an early and chilly morning briefing before the action started and things heated up. SoPYC’s Christina Heydon was the lead on-water umpire for the day.
After the initial round-robin flights, three boats were tied in first place: SoPYC’s Don’t Panic (Mat Selby) & ShadowFax (Mark Gooding), along with RPYC’s Frakka (Annette Koenders)—each having beaten the other and all others. The tie-break rules were invoked, and by some mathematical equation known only to Albert Einstein, Don’t Panic & Frakka went through to the final best-of-three matches.
Don’t Panic won the first match and Frakka the second, setting up a winner-take-all SoPYC vs RPYC final match. Annette on Frakka took early charge of the final match during the pre-start and was never headed, claiming the Ron Tough trophy. Well done, Annette! Also, great sailing by Mat. ShadowFax sailed off in a petite final (3 vs 4) against Fusion, winning both flights and finishing third overall.
Another great on-water keelboat event from the S80 Association.
Anyone interested in owning or getting onboard an S80 can contact our section rep, Mark Gooding, at .
