Fernando Tiglio’s Checkmate continued her perfect start to the CYCA Winter Series, securing Division G honours in Race 4 for a third consecutive win.
The J24 is the only boat to have won all three pointscore races this season and holds top spot in the division, ahead of Pacatack (Wendy Tuck) and Eau Well (Lee Hawksley). Bandit (Terry Wise) and Eau Well finished second and third respectively on the day.
Enthusiasm was high on Sydney Harbour, with 108 boats across 12 divisions lining up for the pursuit start, all of whom finished!
13-16 knots of west-sou-westerly provided a welcome change from the light conditions in previous Winter Series races.
There was a brilliant showdown of the TP52s in Division A1, with just over two minutes separating the top four.
David Doherty’s Matador was fastest around the course in one hour, 57 minutes and 19 seconds, but she couldn’t catch Gordon Ketelbey’s Zen, who claimed victory from Matt Donald’s Gweilo and Damien Parkes’ Denali.
David Gotze’s Triton was fifth overall to maintain her lead in the pointscore standings.
In Division A2, the Swan Class 45 Amazingrace (Andrew Banks and Malcolm Roe) was first to start and held off the chasing pack. CYCA Commodore Noel Cornish’s Indi was second and has now finished on the podium in all three pointscore races.
Byran Moore’s Northshore 369 Trim claimed a second consecutive win in Division J2, moving into the outright lead on the overall standings.
Meanwhile, a close battle is emerging in the Sydney 38 division between Phil Herscovics’ Shine On and Mitchell Gordon’s The Goat.
The pair traded wins in the opening two pointscore races and Shine On wrestled back control of the overall standings with a win in Race 4.
Kim Jaggar’s Cinquante was second, while The Goat was third to drop two points behind Shine On.
Congratulations to all divisional winners and placegetters:
- A1 – Zen (Gordon Ketelbey)
- A2 – Amazingrace (Andrew Banks and Malcolm Roe)
- B – Secret Men’s Business (David De Coster)
- D – One More No More (Ian Guanaria)
- E – Oscar (Hugh Murray-Walker)
- F – Sagacious V (David Hundt)
- G – Checkmate (Fernando Tiglio)
- J1 – Calibre (Richard Williams)
- J2 – Trim (Byran Moore)
- K – La Vela (Chris Pentland)
- Sydney 38 – Shine On (Phil Herscovics)
Thanks to David Brogan for capturing all the action. Check out the full results below.
| Division | Boat | Skipper |
| A1 | ||
| 1st | Zen | Gordon Ketelbey |
| 2nd | Gweilo | Matt Donald |
| 3rd | Denali | Damien Parkes |
| A2 | ||
| 1st | Amazingrace | Andrew Banks and Malcolm Roe |
| 2nd | Indi | Noel Cornish |
| 3rd | Original Sin | Leigh Dorrington |
| B | ||
| 1st | Secret Men’s Business | David De Coster |
| 2nd | Wax Lyrical | Les Goodridge |
| 3rd | Llama II | Jonathan Linton |
| D | ||
| 1st | One More No More | Ian Guanaria |
| 2nd | Whistling Kite | Kym and Nicola Evans |
| 3rd | Philosopher | David Henry |
| E | ||
| 1st | Oscar | Hugh Murray-Walker |
| 2nd | Roger That | Bradley Hastings |
| 3rd | Selkie | Tony Booth |
| F | ||
| 1st | Sagacious V | David Hundt |
| 2nd | Reve | Kevin Whelan |
| 3rd | Crystal Cutter III | Charles Parry-Okeden |
| G | ||
| 1st | Checkmate | Fernando Tiglio |
| 2nd | Bandit | Terry Wise |
| 3rd | Eau Well | Lee Hawksley |
| J1 | ||
| 1st | Calibre | Richard Williams |
| 2nd | It Happens | David Chesters |
| 3rd | Lahara II | Glenn Crane |
| J2 | ||
| 1st | Trim | Byran Moore |
| 2nd | Star Ferry | John Conroy |
| 3rd | Razors Edge | Ray Stone |
| Sydney 38 | ||
| 1st | Shine On | Phil Herscovics |
| 2nd | Cinquante | Kimberley Jaggar |
| 3rd | The Goat | Mitchell Gordon |
