This past Saturday, the CYCA played host to Port Hacking Race, part of the Club Marine Ocean Pointscore, Double Handed Pointscore and the Coastal Pointscore. With a combined start across the three racing Pointscores, there was plenty of action on Sydney Harbour with 27 starters on the start line.
The fleet set off in a dropping 11-14kt SWS/S breeze and an outgoing tide which saw competitors reach the heads in good time. With the fleet sailing downwind with kites in the air, there was plenty of clsoe racing in the Harbour.
Leading the fleet were the TP52s, led by Zen and Quest, who were all over each other as they scrambled out past South Head with tight bunches of boats behind.
Further offshore the fleet faced a lumpy 2.6m swell sailing upwind to Cronulla for a few hours and enjoyed a downwind sail back home.
Club Marine Ocean Pointscore
The first back home was Gordon Ketelbey’s Zen, who also managed to secure the win in IRC in the Club Marine Ocean Pointscore, followed closely by Smuggler and First Light. Jupiter (DH), Ian Smith’s J/99 narrowly missed out on a podium spot by 2 minutes and 57 on corrected time, giving the big boats a run for their money Double Handed.
Gordon Ketelbey shared: “Quest got the jump on us at the start but we managed to reel them in by the turning mark at South Head. It was quite a lumpy sea which didn’t make things easy going upwind towards Cronulla and we would have liked a touch more wind going downwind. But it was a wonderful day of sailing and getting the win made things even better.”
Double Handed Pointscore
In the Double Handed Pointscore, Ian Smith’s yacht, Jupiter, claimed top honours, with Borderline and Blue Planet finishing in second and third place, respectively. One of the Double Handed competitors was new entrants to the Rolex Sydney Hobart, Gizmo, co-skippered by Wendy Tuck and Mag Niblett. The Port Hacking Race marked the pair’s first outing on the boat, we are excited to see them feature throughout the pointscore.
Ian Smith remarked, “We had a fantastic exit from the Harbour, surrounded by boats much larger than ours. We over-layed the Port Hacking mark but were second to the mark after Min River. However, we powered home and engaged in a game of cat and mouse with Borderline on the way down. It was a straightforward race, and we managed to execute everything without any mistakes or issues.”
Coastal Pointscore
In the Coastal Pointscore, Sebastian Bohm’s Smuggler took the top spot, finishing first with corrected time of 05:55:12. Ian Smith’s Jupiter secured second place with a corrected time of 06:12:09. Rounding out the top three was Borderline, taking third place.
To take a look at the full results click any of the buttons below.
All images by: CYCA | DH