More than 70 boats took on a chilly and wet Sydney Harbour for Race 8 of the CYCA Winter Series.

A breeze of 16-21 knots and gusts of up to 29 knots provided a good challenge for the fleet, as they looked to claim valuable points heading into the penultimate race.

Damien Parkes’ TP52 Denali claimed her first win of the series in Division A1, chasing down Adam Lavis’ Wild Thing to cross the line just over a minute ahead. Matt Donald’s Gweilo was close behind in third (provisional result).

Sandy Farquharson and Rob Aldis guided the DK46 Khaleesi to her third win in four races in Division A2. CYCA Commodore Noel Cornish’s Indi was second to maintain the lead in the overall standings, with Dean Harrigan’s Shape in third.

Division B honours went to Anthony Bruce’s Jones 40 Quetzalcoatl, from casual boats Highly Sprung (Scott Poole) and Blink (Mark Gorbatov).

Wax Lyrical (Les Goodridge) was fourth across the line and second overall to open up a five-point lead from Secret Men’s Business (David De Coster).

Jeff Mercer’s Calypso Magic was back atop the Division D podium for the first time since Race 2, while Kym and Nicola Evans’ Whistling Kite pipped David Henry’s Philosopher in a close battle for second and third.

For the fourth consecutive race, Rapid Transit, Krakatoa and Roger That were the top three in Division E.

This time Rapid Transit (A Wyllie, B Abbott, M McLean) took top honours, from Don Young’s Krakatoa and David Ingram/Bradley Hastings’ Roger That.

Bob Penty’s Beneteau Oceanis 41 Great White claimed her first win of the Series, with Ted Tooher’s Chancellor sealing back-to-back second-place finishes and CYCA Vice Commodore Arthur Lane’s Wilde Rushe in third.

In a light field, John Griffin’s Cheoy Lee 47ft Ketch Zara won her third consecutive Division G race, again getting the better of Fernando Tiglio’s Checkmate. Tiglio’s J24 is favourite to take the overall pointscore, leading by seven points with just two races remaining.

Division J1 will go down to the wire, with Next taking Race 8 honours to close the gap in the overall standings.

Jason King’s SOLyMAR was second to move into the outright lead on 20 points, while Paul Glynn’s Business As Usual was again on the podium. Just four points separate the top four boats.

Rob and Sue Segaert’s Sante’ (casual) won Division J2, with David Freeman AM’s Pronto, Phil King’s Salona and Sebastian Bohm’s Soleares the top of the pointscorers.

Christopher Taylor’s Danielle secured a hat-trick of Division K wins, beating Chris Pentland’s La Vela.

There was a fresh face on top of the Sydney 38 podium, with Lisa Callaghan’s Mondo beating overall leader The Goat (Mitchell Gordon) on corrected time. John Amos’ Utopia finished third.

Photos: David Brogan

Division	Boat	Skipper
A1		
1st	Denali	Damien Parkes
2nd	Wild Thing	Adam Lavis
3rd	Gweilo*	Matt Donald
A2		
1st	Khaleesi	Sandy Farquharson/Rob Aldis
2nd	Indi	Noel Cornish
3rd	Shape	Dean Harrigan
B		
1st	Quetzalcoatl	Anthony Bruce
2nd (C)	Highly Sprung	Scott Poole
3rd (C)	Blink	Mark Gorbatov
4th	Wax Lyrical	Les Goodridge
5th	Llama II	Jonathan Linton
D		
1st	Calypso Magic	Jeff Mercer
2nd	Whistling Kite	Kym and Nicola Evans
3rd	Philosopher	David Henry
E		
1st	Rapid Transit	A Wyllie, B Abbott, M McLean
2nd	Krakatoa	Don Young
3rd	Roger That	David Ingram/Bradley Hastings
F		
1st	Great White	Bob Penty
2nd	Chancellor	Ted Tooher
3rd	Wilde Rush	Arthur Lane
G		
1st	Zara	John Griffin
2nd	Checkmate	Fernando Tiglio
J1		
1st	Next	Hunt/Short/Bastick/Gleeson
2nd	SOLyMAR	Jason King
3rd	Business As Usual	Paul Glynn
J2		
1st (C)	Sante	Rob and Sue Segaert
2nd	Pronto	David Freeman AM
3rd	Salona	Phil King
4th	Soleares	Sebastian Bohm
K		
1st	Danielle	Christopher Taylor
2nd	La Vela	Chris Pentland
Sydney 38		
1st	Mondo	Lisa Callaghan
2nd	The Goat	Mitchell Gordon
3rd	Utopia	John Amos