Round 2 of the Noakes 7s Series was cancelled last Tuesday, with no wind on Sydney Harbour. The Race Committee had no option but to abandon racing for the evening at 1830hrs when heavy rain evaporated any wind on Sydney Harbour. Racing has been rescheduled for Thursday 25 March.

With CYCA’s full compliment of Elliott 7s back from their annual ‘birthday’ at Noakes Group for maintenance, the fleet will now include up to two additional teams, bringing the series up to nine teams. Teams will now contest the three remaining race days on Tuesday 23, Thursday 25 and Tuesday 23 March.

The two additional teams will receive average points for the first three races missed, which were raced Tuesday 2 March. CYCA Director Sam Haynes, who had David Chapman at the helm for the opening day due to a conflict in his schedule, currently leads the Series from four-time Australian J70 Champion Reg Lord and his Juno team. Lord, along with both Haynes and third place Tim Ryan are using the Noakes 7s Series as final training preparation for the 2021 J70 National Championship, which will be held over the Easter break in Melbourne.

Last year, team Gwelio, helmed by Chris Townsend, competed in their first Noakes 7s Series, finishing in third position in the series but then went on to win the Audi Centre Sydney Bluewater Pointscore for the first time. The question now is, will the Noakes 7s Series have an advantage for the J70 teams at the Nationals in two weeks’ time?