Peter Bromby and crew of Chequemate won the J-105 National Championship contested for in the Great Sound at the weekend.

Bromby finished four points clear of second-placed Jon Corless and crew of Mayhem with James MacDonald and crew of Passion rounding out the podium.

Victory was particularly sweet for Olympian Bromby who connected all the dots around the racetrack to remain in the pressure en route to claiming a maiden J-105 national title at the first attempt with a boat loaned to him at the eleventh hour.

“This is the first time I have done a J-105 National Championship and what was really good was that we had a lot of teamwork and our guys don’t normally sail together as some of the other teams have done,” Bromby said. “Our challenge was to come together at the drop of a hat and they all did a great job.”

Bromby posted four bullets sailing in 12-16 knot south, southwesterly breezes during Saturday’s opening day of racing to carry a two-point lead over rival skipper Corless going into the second and final day of racing.

But Corless managed to cut Bromby’s lead in half after winning the fifth race and placing third in the penultimate race.

With just one point separating Bromby and Corless the stage was set for an exciting finale.

Bromby led his rival across the start line but was overtaken by Corless on the first beat. After exchanging several gybes on the downwind run Bromby managed to pass inside of Corless at the bottom mark and keep his closest rival behind his transom heading up the second beat.

Another solid run enabled Bromby to stretch his lead over Corless who faded during the latter stages of the race and eventually had to settle for fifth while the Bromby finished second behind defending champion MacDonald.

MacDonald’s victory in the final race was crucial as it allowed him to secure the final spot on the podium on a countback after he and Olympian Glenn Astwood finished level on points.