All dressed up and nowhere to go - not much breeze on a beautiful summer's day on Szydney Harbour. Image copyright www.harvpix.com
by Di Pearson
The old familiar refrain of sailing “Racing postponed,” due to unstable light to non-existent breeze on Sydney Harbour which is looking like a patch work quilt this morning with light lines of breeze crisscrossing the harbour and a lot of nothing in between.
Principal Race Officer of Yachting NSW’s Sail Sydney Regatta, Tony Denham, made the announcement at 9.00am this morning from Woollahra Sailing Club that he would be raising the AP Flag and would be keeping an eye on the weather.
So the sailors relax ashore on their final day of the Olympic and Youth class annual regatta, chatting and some contemplating what they need to do to make the podium this afternoon as they wait for the predicted light south-westerly breeze to fill in.
Mostly, the scores are close across the board, however, Hannah Nattrass/Graham Biehl (NSW) have sailed an exceptional series in the 29er class and are 16 points clear of their nearest competitors and Mat Belcher/Malcolm Page (AUS) are eight points ahead of their team mates in the 470 and would have to have a disastrous day to topple from the top.
The Queensland pairing of Angus Galloway/Alexander Gough have outsailed the rest of the competition, not pulling any punches as they aim to win the 420 Nationals and then gain selection to the Australian Team for the Youth Worlds. It will take a bulldozer to move them from first place, with their 11 point lead to second place.
World champions NathanOutteridge/Iain Jensen (AUS) also looked settled at the top of the pile in the 49er, their six straight wins giving them a six point lead, holds them in good stead.
The same can be said for Joanna Stirling from Queensland in the Bic Techno sailboard class. She has an eight point buffer to fellow Queenslander Reece Baillie. Either way, Queensland is looking best in this fleet.
The rest, as they say, is in the lap of the Gods, so close are the points in the remaining classes. On a day that is forecast to produce light patchy winds similar to Day 1, look to those who performed well then, to find your winners.
When racing does get underway, first off are the Laser Full Rig and Finn (two races each are planned) and 49er, 29er, RS:X and Moth (3 races each).
There are changes to the Moth and Laser results after protests and disqualifications, the turnaround completely affecting the top five in the Moth, but not affecting the top five in the Laser.
Sail Sydney
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