Audi Winter Series Race 9: Tired trimmers and tacticians

Mahligai (BRU1) and Flying Cloud (6808) near Middle Head, Race 9, Audi Winter Series 2010. Image copyright Andrea Francolini/AUDI.

by Lisa Ratcliff/CYCA media

The trimmers and the tacticians went home spent from race nine of the Audi Winter Series after a tricky mid-section that became a guessing game as to which side of the course the breeze would fill in from next.

A 12 knot westerly land breeze under cloudless skies made for a promising start and first lap around Sydney Harbour as the 130 strong fleet tried to put as many miles as possible behind them before the forecast fadeout, the transition between the cool morning westerly and the lighter ESE wind that has become synonymous with this year’s Audi Winter Series.

Sure enough, as the daytime temperatures warmed the breeze headed in the opposite direction and there was a park up in the middle of the harbour, Windex’s spinning and instruments showing lots of zeroes while a few on the edges managed to place themselves in the path of a number of private breezes circulating around the course area.

Eventually the west sou’wester dialled left to finish up out of the SE, filling in to a reasonable eight knots and rewarding those who opted to remain on the course rather than head for home. Competitors are now at the business end of the pointscore so there is plenty of incentive to stick around and wait for a change in the weather.

Leslie Green’s Swan 60 Ginger was the first of the big boats in division A to capitalise on the sou’easter, picking up a handy escalator ride down past Shark Island to finish ahead of Andrew Banks and Geoff Morgan’s You’re Hired and Matt Short’s TP52 Shortwave with its regular family contingent aboard.

Sam Newton’s Farr ILC40 Kirribilli scored the division B win from Ivan Resnekov’s Impi plus Newton was the lucky winner of the Audi A5 Sportback 3.0 TDI quattro, which he is expecting he will have to share amongst the crew. “I’m looking forward to driving it,” he said this evening.

On today’s race, Newton’s strategy was to “stay in the wind. The sou’easter was always forecast, it was a matter of how long the westerly was going to dominate.”

Division F recorded the closest finish of the day, just three seconds between Kerry Burke, Rob Carr and Stephanie Cook’s Northshore 370 Mortgage Choice Rumba and Doug Sturrock’s classic Windflyt, while in division E a huge margin of almost 16 minutes separated first and second, symptomatic of the mid afternoon glass out.

“We got Windflyt with a final gybe on the line, we had momentum and manage to drive in underneath them for our first win of the season,” said a delighted Carr, today’s winning skipper.


Richard Holstein's Sydney 38 Next chasing down Larki Missiris' Sydney 38 Wild One at the top mark. Image copyright Andrea Francolini/AUDI.

Divisions H and K were the only ones shortened, a nice breeze still in play by the time the leaders slipped through the gate the reason PRO Denis Thompson decided to send the remaining divisions on their full course. “There was a hole in the middle before the breeze returned, some carried through and some didn’t – that’s winter racing,” Thompson said.

Other divisional winners were Philippe Mengual’s Paca (division C), Chris Rabbidge’s Mean Machine (division D), Robert Breit’s Tigger (division E), Kevin Karaloff’s Chameleon (division G), Andy and David Lukas’ Racy Lady (division H), Kenneth Davis’ Star Struck Deveau (division J) and Paul Williams’ Takana (division K).

In the Sydney 38 division The Goat Syndicate’s S38 The Goat out-sailed Geoff Bonus’ Calibre but on the pointscore Bonus is leading the pack by two points with four pointscore races remaining in the Audi Winter Series for 2010.

Audi Winter Series