Wild winds reaching gale force on Sydney Harbour today forced the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia to abandon the 11th and final pointscore race of its BMW Sydney Winter Series.

The race will not be re-sailed, with the Winter Series winners and placegetters being decided on the ten races completed each Sunday since late April. In two divisions a countback of placings has been required to decide the winners.

Fleets of up to 163 yachts have contested the BMW Sydney Winter Series with today’s race expected to be the decider for the top overall placings in most divisions.  

Racing was due to start at 11am but at 10.30am the Club’s weather boat was recording constant southerly winds of 25-35 knots.  The Weather Bureau advised the Club  that conditions could further deteriorate as the low pressure cell moved away from Sydney.

“We made a prudent decision to protect our competitors and not send boats out in gale force winds that could increase during the day,” said Vice Commodore Roger Hickman, chairman of the CYCA Sailing Committee, in announcing the abandonment of racing.   “We have a duty to protect our competitors and ensure that racing is fun and enjoyable, not a matter of survival.”

Vice Commodore Hickman confirmed that the BMW Sydney Winter Series would be decided on the ten races sailed, with three races being discarded by each yacht.  “There is no provision for a re-sail,” he added, with the Sailing Office later confirming all pointscore results.

Winner of Division A is Denis O’Neil’s purpose-built, Iain Murray-designed Atomic, finishing with 20 points after three discards. Atomic won three races during the Winter Series, beating Dick Cawse’s successful offshore racer Vanguard, designed by himself and naval architect David Lyons, which finished with twenty three points.  Ten points further came back came Ray Roberts’ DK46, Hollywood Boulevard.

Division B resulted in a tie between Robin Crawford’s Farr-designed 40-footer Assassin, a former IMS handicap winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, and David Mason’s ocean racer,  Prime Time, a Beneteau 44.7, each scoring 26 points after the discards.

The tie was broken in favour of Assassin with two first places over the Series as against one by Prime Time.  Third overall is You’re Hired (Ros Morgan & Andrea Banks) on 29 points.

The Sydney 38 One Design division also resulted in a tie between Lexus (James Mayo) and Don’t Blink (Michael Delaney) each boat scoring 20 points.  However, Lexus won on a countback with three first places during the Winter Series.  Third place went to Calibre (Geoff Bonus) on 31 points with only four points separating the next four boats on the pointscore.

Division C saw a wider winning margin for Tony Liddy’s X412, Lexi, which finished with 29 points, second place to Supermove, David Bates’ Sydney 36, on 34 points and third to the Tribal Syndicate’s Spearhead on 40 points.

One of the most excited winners today was  Peter Wherry and his crew from Greenwich Sailing Club, which included his two sons,  Ben (18) and James (14).  Peter’s Adams 10.6, Extremist,  won first place in Division D, one of the biggest divisions in the BMW Sydney Winter Series fleet.

Sailing in his first-ever yachting pointscore, Peter began the series with four mediocre results, but then had a convincing scorecard of 5-6-1-4-4-5, to finish with 34 points, three points clear of Neil Hamilton & Brian Wood’s Pacific 31, Kelly 2, on 37 points, with the Rum Consortium’s veteran ocean racer Phillips Foote Witchdoctor third on 38 points.

“We have had an absolutely wonderful series; Ben learned to do the foredeck while Jamie worked the console,” Peter Wherry said,  also praising the CYCA for its race management and, in particular,  the race fast and comprehensive information provided on the web site each week.

Only one point separated the two top placegetters in Division E, with the skippers of these mostly sports boats probably happy not to sail today.

Overall winner is former world champion 18-footer sailor Peter Sorensen and co-owner Howard Lambourne with the 8m sports boat, Margaret Anne, which won three races, including the last two sailed,  to complete the series with 28 points. The closest of seconds was another sports boat, Very Tasty (Chris Sligar) on 29 points while third, on 32 points, was the Mumm 30, London Calling, skippered by Stuart Bancroft.

Division F saw first place go to Sensai,  Andrew Dally’s Catalina 320 from Middle Harbour Yacht Club which finished with 23 points, just three ahead of early series leader Clewless?, Guy Irwin’s Endeavour 26 from Sydney Amateur Yacht Club on 26 points. 

CYCA members Justin Pelly and Sean Rahilly’s Cavalier 28, Quambi, tied on points for second place with Clewless? and a countback was needed to break the tie, each boat having two wins, but Clewless? gaining second overall with a second place as its next best result.

“We are now looking for the quinella – Sensai is also leading Middle Harbour’s winter series, sailed on Saturdays, “ Dally said as he and his crew enjoyed a non-racing Sunday at the CYCA.

Division G was another close finish, just one point splitting Laissez Faire, Sam & John Hill’s Northshore 33 and Leon Ratner and G. Lewkovitz’s J24, Jagged Edge.  Points after ten races show Laissez Faire winning with 23 points with Jagged Edge on 24, third placing going to Naughty Call (Gregg Watson) on 32 points.

The strongly contested Division J for boats sailing non-spinnaker saw first place go to Paul Bellingham’;s Northshore 38, Wings Three, on 32 points, from Herman Helligers’ Beneteau First 31, Hubcap, on 35 points.  The classic Sparkman & Stephens 36, Stormy Petrel, a former world One Ton Cup champion, placed third on 37 points. 

Due to the abandonment of today’s racing, the SOLAS raffle has been held over until next Sunday, 17 July, which will be a BMW Sydney Winter Series non-pointscore race.