Day Two of the Bollé Australia Match Cup saw an unpredictable forecast of rain, late thunderstorms, and moderate breeze in store for the six teams fighting for positions in the semi-finals. With one and a half round robins to complete of the qualifying stage, all teams were still mathematically in with a chance of a semi-final berth.
Although rain was forecast for the day, a 7 – 10 knot NE remained across the race track for the majority of the day with the sun peeking through at times.
Yesterday’s leader, Cole Tapper, from the CYCA continued his strong performance through qualifying to hold onto the overall lead. Tapper again only lost one race today to top the scoreboard on 13 – 2. Will Sargent, who beat Tapper yesterday remained undefeated in Round Robin Two to easily secure the second semi-final berth. Sargent eventually finished with a 12 – 3 scorecard.
The two remaining places stayed up for contention well into Round Robin Three with RSYS Jed Cruickshank eventually securing the third position on 8 – 7 with the CYCA’s final team led by Hugo Stoner taking the final semi-final berth on 6 – 9.
Rounding out the leader board came RPAYC’s Cam Whiteside in fifth on 5 – 10 and Max Paul from RSYS in sixth failing to score on Day Two on 1 – 14.
With the final day’s forecast potentially keeping the fleet ashore with a strong southerly predicted, the Race Committee pushed through to complete the semi-finals.
Top ranked Tapper chose Stoner and dispatched his fellow CYCA team members 2 – 0 in a fading NE breeze as storms rolled through to the west. Sargent was also able to dispatch his semi-final opponent 2 – 0, although both matches saw multiple lead changes in the challenging conditions.
The Race Committee was unable to complete the 5th and 6th sail off with thunderstorms looked set to take over the race course around 1730hrs. An early call to end the day saw all competitors back at the dock before Sydney CBD was hit by thunder and lightning.
The final day of the Bollé Australia Match Cup has again seen the start time brought forward to 1053hrs in an attempt to finish off the event format before the southerly change is expected to kick in.
To see all the results from today, click here.
