Sunday 22 June was a spectacular winter’s day with the sun shining and moderate south to sou-westerly winds prevailing. The rain of the past few weeks had disappeared – but not the wind! A fleet of 142 yachts took to the water in strong racing conditions.
The strong winds ensured a fast full course race but one not without incident – some steering and spinnaker pole damage was reported as having occured in the conditions.
In Division A, Alan Brierty’s Limit placed first, with Dick Cawse’s Vanguard second and Geoff Lavis’ UBS Wild Thing third.
“It is always great to do 20 knots under spinnaker anytime you can get it!” said Dick Cawse, owner of Vanguard and current Division A pointscore leader.
“Today was just a great race day with good spinnakers runs and great teamwork. By placing second, we have ensured that we are still leading the pointscore – just a whisker ahead of the others,” said Dick.
Following on from last week’s first place in Division A, Geoff Lavis and his crew on UBS Wild Thing placed third today. “It was an exciting day on the water. I was making one of my guest appearances on the boat this season. The breeze was testing but we maintained good kite runs and I am happy with the overall result,” said Geoff.
In Division J, John Griffin’s Apres Vous finished first, with George Snow’s Argo Blue second and Michael Phillips’ Poppy third.
“For us, today’s conditions were perfect. Apres Vous is more an ocean racing boat – so she suited the heavy conditions perfectly. Our teamwork on the boat is getting better and better – which is a testament to our placing first. I love sailing Apres Vous in these testing conditions,” said owner John Griffin.
Other division winners were Peter Mooney’s Endorfin (Division B), Pacific Sailing School’s Cadenza (Division C), Tribal Syndicate’s Spearhead (Division D), Nathan Smith’s Froth & Bubble (Division E), Roberta & Patrick Easton’s In Cahoots (Division F), Robert Hunt’s Attitude (Division G), Leslie Hunt’s Rattle & Hum (Division H), Brett Hart’s Viking (Division K) and Clayton, Foye, Gordon & Peckman’s The Goat (Sydney 38’s). – Jennifer Crooks
