Loki Yacht at the 2010 Audi Hamilton Island Race Week - Image Andrea Francolini

Representing the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Sydney, Ainsworth, who launched his Reichel/Pugh 63 in December 2008, did not realise he had won the Championship until this afternoon, thinking his main foe Milne had beaten him to the punch after the results see-sawed between the two all week.

In the end, Loki won by a mere 0.31 of a point after finishing the four-event series on 13.21 points, with Aroona second on 13.52 and Peter Horn’s King 40, Canute, was third on 18.53 points. All three yachts come from NSW.

Ainsworth was understandably over the moon when Audi Australia’s Managing Director, Uwe Hagen, presented him with the keys to a brand new A5 Cabriolet 2.0 TFSI quattro S tronic valued at over $90,000 at Hamilton Island Yacht Club this afternoon. Loki‘s owner was also presented with the elegant Perpetual Trophy designed by John Woulfe.

“It was a battle to the end, but obviously the best boat and crew have been victorious,” Uwe Hagen said on handing Stephen Ainsworth the keys outside the Hamilton Island Yacht Club this afternoon.

Loki in action - Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2010 - Image Andrea Francolini

“I’m speechless,“ Ainsworth said when told of his win. “I was sitting on my boat this afternoon thinking “I’ve lost the Audi; you’ve made my wife very happy, because I promised her the car if I won it – she’s been checking it out to see if the golf clubs will fit in the boot,“ he said.

Ainsworth confessed he had taken his wife Nanette and friends sailing in today’s final race, thinking he had just missed out on winning. “I even steered to give Gordon (Maguire) a break for the day – we just went out to have a bit of fun.“ Fortunately, that fun translated into a second place.

There was plenty of support at presentation for the well-liked yachtsman, including Hamilton Island owner Bob Oatley, and Hamilton Island Yacht Club commodore Iain Murray.

On being presented with the keys to his new car, Ainsworth said: “I go out to sail and to enjoy racing, because I love sailing – to win the Audi is a bonus. I thank my great crew – what a roller coaster ride this has been.“

Now in its fourth edition, the Audi IRC Championship starts with Audi Victoria Week in January, a mixture of offshore and bay racing. Round 2 is the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta in March, sailed inshore and offshore, followed by the 386 nautical mile Audi Sydney Gold Coast Race at the end of July and climaxing with Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, contested in the magical Whitsunday Islands, where over 200 entries enjoyed the full gamit of conditions over seven testing days of racing.

It takes everything one can muster to win yachting’s pre-eminent Championship, in which 144 boats took place this year, but to do so when your main rival is racing in another division (Loki in IRC Grand Prix and Aroona in IRC Passage 2, in which Canute also raced), demands a certain audaciousness.

Both boats crews’ also had to fight off advances from other Championship contenders from within their respective divisions, the Championship taken out of their control to a certain degree, leading to a rousing finale.

In the ring for the final round and punching above her weight was the Archambault 31 Aroona, her rival, the Reichel/Pugh 63 Loki, was at her best in the hands of Irish sailing boffin Gordon Maguire.

Loki settled in early, running away from main contender Living Doll, a Farr 55 owned by Michael Hiatt from Melbourne, reeling off two bullets in the opening races and continuing on for a runaway victory, but Aroona’s crusade went to the wire. Milne came into the final day locked on equal points with Local Hero from Sydney and finished second in division to her nemesis.

Harvey Milne gave himself the best chance of winning the Championship by contesting all four events, of which the three best results count in the final tally. However, he didn’t bargain with the power of Loki, which won its division in the latter three events.

On winning Division 1 at the Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta, Ainsworth said: “Absolutely I’ll be at the remaining regattas; I’d love to win an Audi and I’d really love to have my name on that Championship trophy.” Today he got his wish.

Such is the dedication of Ainsworth’s crew, under the watchful eye of Gordon Maguire, they were in a class of their own in the IRC Grand Prix division at Hamilton Island this week where Ainsworth pumped out five wins from nine races; their worst result a fourth place which was used as their drop. They are undisputedly, the best yacht and crew in Australia this year.

A new scoring system was put in place for the 2010 Audi IRC Australian Championship which has worked well. “The perception was it was easier for the smaller divisions to win, so we have a new formula to calculate the winners of each event this year,” Principle Race officer Denis Thompson said.

The fifth edition of the Audi IRC Australian Championship, endorsed by Yachting Australia, commences with the 2011 Audi Victoria Week starting January 20.

In a first for the Championship series, major sponsor, Audi, has partnered with ONE in 2010 and the highlights from each regatta will be shown nationally following each round of the series.

Highlights from Round 4 of the Audi IRC Australian Championship can be viewed on September 27 at 8.30pm on ONE.