There were six new names atop the podium, as a season-record fleet of 112 boats grappled light winds in Race 7 of the CYCA Winter Series.
Wild West (B), Speedwell (D), Wild Oats (F), Marloo (J1), Salona (J2) and Dal-Trans Wld1 (Sydney 38) all picked up their first race wins of the 2021 series.
The tame conditions led to a shortened course, with the wind dropping from 12 knots at the start of the race to as little as two knots as the tail end of the fleet ambled across the line.
But there was again plenty of interest on a sunny day in Sydney Harbour; this the fourth race in the series with more than 100 starters.
Past Commodore Paul Billingham and Pete McGee claimed Division B honours with their Bakewell White Z39 Wild West, holding off Les Goodridge’s X50 Wax Lyrical, which shares the overall divisional lead with David De Coster’s Secret Men’s Business.
Colin Geeves’ Beneteau First 34.7 Speedwell chased down Gerard Kesby’s Valkyrie for the Division D win, moving within five points of overall leader One More No More (Ian Guanaria), who finished third.
Brett Eagle’s Farr 43 Wild Oats was on the podium for the first time this series, winning Division F ahead of Chancellor (Ted Tooher) and Charles Parry-Okeden’s Beneteau First 40.7 Crystal Cutter III, who takes the overall lead from Sagacious V (David Hundt).
There was a thrilling finish in Division J1, with George Girdis’ Jarkan 12.5 Marloo chasing down Glenn Crane’s Dufour 40 Lahara II to win by just two seconds.
Marloo started four minutes behind Lahara II, but recovered the deficit to move level with Jason King’s SOLyMAR into second place on the overall standings.
Just four points now separate leader It Happens (Craig Young) from fourth-placed Lahara II.
Division J2 is also tight at the top, with Phil King’s Salona 37 Salona the fourth different winner in as many races.
Byran Moore’s Trim was second to move a further point clear at the top of the leaderboard, with John Conroy’s Star Ferry trailing by just three points after a third-place finish.
In the Sydney 38 Division, Dal-Trans Wld1 built on back-to-back second-places, picking up her first win to move within four points of overall leader Shine On (Phil Herscovics).
Mitchell Gordon’s The Goat was second and has featured on the podium in every pointscore race so far, while John Amos’ Utopia was third.
Darryl Hodgkinson’s Victoire (Casual) was first across the line in Division A1, as Vamp (Donald Graham) led the pointscorers, from Adam Lavis’ Wild Thing and Damien Parkes’ Denali.
David Gotze’s Triton leads the way on 13 points overall, with Gordon Ketelby’s Zen and Wild Thing tied for second, just a point back.
Another casual boat, Gunther Schmidt-Lindner’s Austmark, won Division A2, with second-placed Shape (Dean Harrigan) taking a first pointscore win in the Series, ahead of Odin (Matthew Hanning) and Amazingrace (Andrew Banks/Malcolm Roe).
Commodore Noel Cornish’s Indi continues to lead the overall standings on 11 points.
The riveting battle continues between Don Young’s Young Super 30 Krakatoa and David Ingram/Bradley Hastings’ Roger That in Division E.
Roger That pipped Krakatoa to win Races 5 and 6, but the top two positions were reversed this time as Krakatoa won for the first time in five races to move within a point of Roger That.
John Griffin’s Cheoy Lee 47ft Ketch Zara secured back-to-back wins in Division G, with overall leader Checkmate (Fernando Tiglio) second and Eau Well (Lee Hawksley) third.
Christopher Taylor’s Beneteau Oceanis 34 Danielle has now won consecutive races to go a point clear of La Vela (Chris Pentland) in Division K.
Check out the full photo gallery on Facebook. Photos: David Brogan
| Division | Boat | Skipper |
| A1 | | |
| 1st (C) | Victoire | Darryl Hodgkinson |
| 2nd | Vamp | Donald Graham |
| 3rd | Wild Thing | Adam Lavis |
| 4th | Denali | Damien Parkes |
| A2 | | |
| 1st (C) | Austmark | Gunther Schmidt-Lindner |
| 2nd | Shape | Dean Harrigan |
| 3rd | Odin | Matthew Hanning |
| 4th | Amazingrace | Andrew Banks/Malcolm Roe |
| B | | |
| 1st | Wild West | Paul Billingham/Pete McGee |
| 2nd | Wax Lyrical | Les Goodridge |
| 3rd (C) | Blink | Mark Gorbatov |
| 4th (C) | Highly Sprung | Scott Poole |
| 5th | Cyrene 3 | Michael Selby |
| D | | |
| 1st | Speedwell | Colin Geeves |
| 2nd | Valkyrie | Gerard Kesby |
| 3rd | One More No More | Ian Guanaria |
| E | | |
| 1st | Krakatoa | Don Young |
| 2nd | Roger That | David Ingram/Bradley Hastings |
| 3rd | Rapid Transit | A Wyllie, B Abbott, M McLean |
| F | | |
| 1st | Wild Oats | Brett Eagle |
| 2nd | Chancellor | Ted Tooher |
| 3rd | Crystal Cutter III | Charles Parry-Okeden |
| G | | |
| 1st | Zara | John Griffin |
| 2nd (C) | Ace | David West |
| 3rd | Checkmate | Fernando Tiglio |
| 4th | Eau Well | Lee Hawksley |
| J1 | | |
| 1st | Marloo | George Girdis |
| 2nd | Lahara II | Glenn Crane |
| 3rd | Business As Usual | Paul Glynn |
| J2 | | |
| 1st | Salona | Phil King |
| 2nd | Trim | Byran Moore |
| 3rd | Star Ferry | John Conroy |
| K | | |
| 1st | Danielle | Christopher Taylor |
| 2nd (C) | Applejack | Derek McDonnell/Rogerio Blanc-Ramos |
| 3rd | La Vela | Chris Pentland |
| 4th | First Light | David Jacobs/Roy Melick |
| Sydney 38 | | |
| 1st | Dal-Trans Wld1 | Larki Missiris |
| 2nd | The Goat | Mitchell Gordon |
| 3rd | Utopia | John Amos |
