Race 7 marks the halfway point in the Audi Winter Series 2008 and with light showers predicted, a lovely autumn Sydney day greeted the fleet of 152 yachts. Yachtsmen and women hoping for similar conditions to last week were disappointed by light breezes and were in for a tough day on water.

Despite light breezes experienced for the start of the Sydney 38OD Division, PRO Jennifer Birdsall felt that there was enough wind pressure to start the race on time. Unfortunately, the PRO was then forced to fly the AP to delay the start of all other Divisions. The breeze dropped significantly about 20 minutes into the race and as a result, a shortened course was determined. 

“It was a character building day on the harbour,” said David Pescud, skipper of Sailors with disAbilities and Winner of Division A. “The crew sailed brilliantly on a shortened course – It was either a shortened course or turn the lights on!”

Reflecting on the day on water, David added “The Audi Winter Series is such good fun – even if it is tough racing. The camaraderie from the time you walk into the clubhouse and smell the breakfast cooking from the Breakfast Club, to chatting to your fellow competitors on water, whilst you are waiting for the wind to come in and then later regaling in the day’s race over a quiet drink with your crew & competitors – This is what yachting is all about!

Other place getters in Division A were Andrew Short’s ASM Brindabella second and Dick Cawse’s Vanguard third – following on from their second place last week.

In Division C, Occasional Coarse Language owned by Warwick Sherman placed first, with Cmist second, and Cyrene 3 third. 

In Division E, Max owned by B &T Munns and P Fallon placed first, with Optimum owned by Guy Stening- a casual entry into the Audi Winter Series, second and Zipper third. Shere Khan was the best placed of the Flying Tigers in fourth.

For Dr Rod Gibbs, owner of Shere Khan, it was another fabulous race. “We started out really badly – behind the rest of the Division by a long way. Max got down to the first mark and around it before the wind dropped. It seemed like it took us so long to get to the first mark and then we caught the breeze at the right time!”

“We got really lucky with the wind today – we fluked it! We were in the right spot on the course at the right time to pick the pockets of wind. We were on a different side to the rest of the Division fleet and the crew did a fabulous job given the conditions today,” said Rod.

“When you have no speed what-so-ever and then you pick up some breeze – even if its only 3 or 4 knots, it can feel like you are steaming ahead!” added Rod.

In Division G, Glen Stanaway, Owner of Dart SB3 and who was third provided his assessment of the day “The day might be described as “a bit testing”, with the fleet compressing and spreading out regularly depending on glassed out conditions, or where the small patches of breeze were coming through.”

“We found it exceptionally difficult trying to work out what the breeze was doing, both in direction and strength. So playing to our strengths our focus on the day was core light air boat speed skills – bow down, the right amount of twist in the sails, and perhaps most critically for us – in the really light stuff keeping the boat still and moving forwards toward the mark. Tactically we find its a constant battle on the Dart SB3 to simply stay clear of the larger boats, and keep what clear breeze we can. It seemed to work as we placed third.”

”It was a pleasure to observe other yachts in the fleet including the Red Hand and Vanguard ghosting along to windward and seeing how well the respective designs and crews handle the exceptionally light conditions. Boats like these made the work back up to Bradleys Head look effortless, as did the other experienced boats who were savvy enough to find and use the 30 – 45 degree lifts coming off Point Piper.” said Glen.

For the team aboard Perfect Match (third in Division F) “Patience and poise in light fluky winds is essential and following the breeze lines was the key to a successful performance in light winds,” said Beau Dixon, reporting for Perfect Match.

With such a tough day on water, 15 boats failed to finish within the allotted time.

Other division winners were Tim Casey’s St Hillers Quest (Division B), Chris William’s Crusher (Division D), Robert Skol’s Scarlett O’Hara (Division F), David Stilz’s Martini (Division G), Dawn Murray & David Stenhouse’s Umbakumba (Division H), Niel Burling’s Baltic Lady (Division J), Miles Bastick & Jon Short’s MRX (Division K) and Gordon Ketelby’s Zen (Sydney 38’s).

At the halfway point in the Audi Winter Series 2008, after the completion of race 7, the leader board is tight with only a few points separating first and third. With two drops taken,  the Provisional Pointscore is as follows:

Division A
Vanguard (Dick Cawse) & Sailors with disAbilities (David Pescud) tied in first place on 12 points, with You’re Hired (Geoff Morgan & Andrew Banks) third on 15 points

Division B
Revolution Edake (Jeff Carter) 1st place on 14 points; with Stomp (Nick Delaine) second on 17 points and Tulip (Bernie Van’t Hof) third on 18 points

Division C
Cyrene 3 (Michael Selby & Elena Wise) and Occasional Coarse Language (Warwick Sherman) tied for first place on 19 points each with Nocturne (Gerard Kesby) third on 20 points

Division D
Crusher (Chris Williams) first on 10 points, with Mortgage Choice Rumba (Rob Carr & Stephanie Cook) and Equinox (Anthony Dunn) tied for second place on 24 points

Division E
Shere Khan (Rod Gibbs) first on 13 points, with Balmain Tiger (Neil Hamilton/Brian Wood) second on 20 points and Bitter & Twisted (David Price) third on 21 points

Division F
Perfect Match (A Lewis & N Broekhuizen Syndicate) first on 15 points, with Superfine (George Waldthausen) second on 16 points and Scarlett O’Hara (Robert Skol) third on 19 points.

Division G
If Not Why Not (Green M) (Richard Davies & Martin Cross) first with 14 points, Out of Sight (Matt Wilkinson) second on 19 points and Young Obsession (Paul Stubbs) third on 22 points.

Division H
Shemozzle (Robert Breit) first on 10 points, Umbakumba (Dawn Murrary & David Stenhouse) with Clewless? (Guy & Lachlan Irwin) tied for second on 16 points.

Division J
Vivacite (John S Walton) first on 17 points, Panacea (skippered by Adrian Dunphy) second on 18 points and The Red Hand (Graham O’Neill) third on 19 points.

Division K
Spirit of Freya (Nicholas Hogg) first on 8 points, with MRX (Miles Bastick & Jon Short) second on 18 points, and Quetzal (Brian Clayton) third on 19 points.

Sydney 38OD
Zen (Gordon Ketelbey) first on 18 points, with The Goat (Clayton/Foye/Gordon/Peckman) second on 20 points and Ichi Bandit (Warwick Rooklyn) third on 21 points.
– Jennifer Crooks