Another fine winter’s day shone over the 150 strong fleet for Race 5 of the Audi Winter Series. As the course marks were laid, race officials were greeted by a large pod of dolphins frolicking off the Cannae Point mark. The wind which has proved to be fickle in previous races was a light south/south east 8 knots providing a delightful sail for most.
Lachlan Irwin, skipper of Clewless?, winner of Division H, said ‘It was a great race today. The key to our success was the communication and crew work. We had great spinnaker runs and the breeze stayed in with no holes. A quite Saturday night also helped!”
Lachlan was also the lucky winner of the Audi A6. “I will enjoy cruising around the town in the Audi for the week – it’s a bit of a change from my ute!” added Lachlan.
Other place getters in Division H were Sans Terre in second place (skippered by Ed Tacey) with Shemozzle in third place (skippered by Robert Breit).
In Division J, The Red Hand (owned by Graham O’Neill) scored a consecutive win, with Vivacite (owned by John S Walton) second and Sextant (owned by Denis Doyle & Lynne Smith) third.
“After a light and variable south east wind at the start, the fleet got away nicely. A delightful day of sailing prevailed with a steady 8 knots of wind around the course,” said Denis Doyle.
“In Division J there was some competition for the places, with the handicap leaders able to make it to the front. Tactics are always part of racing and there was ground to be made for those who were vigilant,” added Denis.
Rod Gibbs owner of Shere Khan, second place in Division E said “We are very happy with coming in second place. The crew did a tremendous job – No mistakes gave us a better place! We were hit hard by the handicap but we got through it with great crew work. This week’s wind conditions felt fairer as there were no holes like last week.”
Other winners in Division E were first placed Ophir owned by Bruce & Neil Tavener and Philip Grove’s Diana third.
