Race Six of the Audi Winter Series 2009 commenced in 8-10 knots of westerly breeze with a full course being sailed on course A. The early showers of the morning disappeared in time for the race start and brought with them sunshine which was present all afternoon. A fleet of 125 yachts took to the start line for a very pleasant winter’s day sailing.
The sunshine brought some nice warm winter temperatures and the westerly breeze held in all day. PRO John Hurley commented on the day’s racing “There was good wind pressure at the start of racing today, which held in for most of today’s racing. The breeze started to shift between westerly & WNW approx halfway through the race strengthening a little to 10-11 knots.”
“Yachts again experienced a long beat into the tide from the Shark Island marks down to the windward marks of Robertson’s Point, Garden Island or Fort Denison (depending on divisions)” added John.
In the Sydney 38 One Design Division, Larki Missiris’ Wild One finished first with Geoff Bonus’ Calibre second and The SubZero Syndicate’s The SubZero Goat third.
“We are first timers to the Sydney 38 One Design class, having recently purchased Wild One. To come away with a win in this fiercely competitive division is great!” said Larki
“This is only our sixth race and we are learning how to optimize the performance of the boat. The crew are getting to know each other and finding out how to work to together as a team. We finished 8 minutes behind The Tavern who was first to cross the finish line and I am more than happy with today’s performance,” concluded Larki
In Division D, Stephen Roach’s Game Set finished first, with Dennis Cooper’s Amante second and Desmond Fagan’s Lisdillon third.
“I’m happy with the win today – having finished last in the division last week and to come up with the win today, it’s a fantastic result,” said Stephen.
“We all tend to whine and moan about the handicapping but I think it may have been spot on this week. We have a relatively new crew onboard this year and we have been mixing and matching places on the boat, to ensure that everyone gets experience in all positions on the boat. It was a pretty smooth run for us today – lots of reaching and some great racing within our division,” concluded Stephen.
In Division E, David Stitz’s Martini finished first, with Nathan Smith’s Froth & Bubble second and Scott Ryrie and Doug Cameron’s Clandestine third. In Division C, Sean Langman’s LBxx finsihed first, with S Warneford & L Jamieson’s Thirlmere second and Sam Haynes’ Celestial third.
Other division winners included Michael Cranitch’s Broomstick (Division A), Gerard Kesby’s Nocturne (Division B), The Rum Consortium’s Phillip Foote’s Witchdoctor (Division F), Colin Geeves’ Speedwell (Division G), Andy & David Lukas’ Racy Lady (Division H), D Barker & T Jarrett’s Alpha Carinae (Division J) and James Bevis’ Tio Hia (Division K).
For Full divisional results please log on to https://www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/2009/club/aws09/096RGrp1.htm
For Sydney 38 One Design results please log on to https://www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/2009/club/awss38/06RGrp2.htm
By Jennifer Crooks
