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CLUB MARINE RANGE SERIES – HEAT 5
BIG WINDS AND CHOPPY SEAS MAKE FOR EVENTFUL DAY
SOLID southerly winds and choppy seas made for an eventful day in the latest round of the prestigious Club Marine Range Series last Saturday, which saw damaged boats, delayed race starts and some confusion on courses.
Executive Decision, skippered by Grant Botica from Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, was the big performer of the day, winning both IRC and AMS in Division 1, along with continued strong performance from Surprise, also from RYCV, in Division 2.
With Division 0 racing off Sandringham Yacht Club, Living Doll continued their recent strong performance in Skandia Geelong Week to take out the morning race in a narrow victory over Cougar II in IRC.
Skippered by Michael Hiatt of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, this new Farr 55 continues to be an exceptional competitor despite some early teething problems. Living Doll took out the IRC honours in short, choppy seas of 18-20 knots, which were described as ``conditions to test all crews''.
The rest of the fleet joined the competition in the afternoon, with the choppy seas making form some spectacular racing and nail-biting incidents.
In Division 0's afternoon race, several boats experienced mishaps: Cougar II suffered a rare foul-up with its spinnaker, which cost them several minutes; Living Doll suffered an unfortunate incident when they hooked the hitch mark around its keel, losing time as they cleared it, then subsequently losing the spinnaker under the boat as the halyard unexpectedly released; Rob Hanna's Shogun also faced some spinnaker difficulties in the trying conditions, but nothing to slow them down too much as they went on to win the race in IRC.
In Division 1, Executive Decision performed exceptionally well, cleaning up both the IRC and AMS handicaps, with Audacious from Royal Brighton Yacht Club taking out Performance handicap.
Divisions 2 and 3 were raced after a delayed start while the course was moved clear of other fleets. In Division 2, Surprise and Apache, both from RYCV, shared the spoils in IRC and AMS, with Surprise first IRC and second AMS and Apache first AMS and second IRC.
Club Marine Range Series Heat 6, the second last of the series this season, will take place on March 21, 2009. Proceeds from the day will go to Keeping Cancer at Bay.
Ends: Jennifer Milligan Media & PR Yachting Victoria 0448 884 993 |
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