Race 7 and Race 8 Update -

 

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Race 7 – Robbie Hunt and David McAully

 

In a light northerly sea breeze, racing began on day 3 of the nationals. With a clean start from all competitors the fleet quickly sorted itself out, with The Nude’s Ritchie Reynolds and Lisa McMillan taking the early lead and capitalising on their light crew weight. They rounded the top mark with Guy Bancroft and Lachie Imeneo hot on their heels. The Tasmanian crew of Chris Wells and Rani Dabner sailed a fantastic first beat rounding in third place and giving themselves a very good chance to move up through fleet. Only a few spots back were Stephen Mitchell and Adrianne Daley sailing Bondi Tram, the crew were struggling early in the series in the stronger wind however made the most of the light conditions to round the top mark in 5th.

 

By the bottom mark however, things had changed, Guy Bancroft and Lachie Imeneo sailed a very uncharacteristic downwind leg dropping two positions to fall back to 4th. There were no issues at the head of the race however, as Ritchie and Lisa had lengthened their lead and looked sure to take their first heat win of the series.

Further down the rankings positions changed regularly throughout the race, with a group of 4 or 5 boats forming a battle for the 5th position. It was Stephen and Adrianne who lead that pack home, claiming a thoroughly deserved result after sailing a great race. The highlight for the Tasmanians came from Chris and Rani who battled hard to hold on to 3rd position. Guy Bancroft wasn’t too happy about dropping boats on the first downwind leg and set out to regain a solid position. First place was one boat too much for Bangers, who finished second, as Ritchie and Lisa sailed away with the victory completing an almost faultless race.

 

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Bondi Tram celebrating their 5th Place (Photo: Kelly Atkins)

 

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Epic's skipper Chris Wells and crew Rani Dabner took advantage of the light conditions finishing the day with two 3rd places (Photo: Kelly Atkins)

 

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Nude seconds before overtaking Siren at the finish line (Photo: Kelly Atkins)

 

 

Race 8 – Adrian Beswick

 

In Race 8 the whole fleet got off the line clear in a lightening breeze. Blown Seal got off the pin end with speed and set themselves up for a good race up the front of the field as did Early Warning. The majority of the fleet headed left, capitalising on the previous race’s tactical advantages. 1MFTBone got off the boat end of the line well and was looking good early. Hitting hard left was Blown Seal, Siren and Epic along with Craftsman Homes and Clean Skin close behind.

As the boats converged on the top mark, 1MFTBone rounded the mark first followed by Blown Seal. Early Warning rounded in third, followed by Epic and The Nude with the racing tightly contested at this stage. Craftsman Homes made the most of a good kite hoist and gained on Siren. By the bottom mark Epic, Craftsman Homes and Early Warning rounded tightly together before heading off on the second lap.

 

By the bottom of the second lap, 1MFTBone had expanded their lead. The Nude rounded well back after a successful 7th race. Bondi Tram and The Hitcher had a tight rounding at the mark followed by Orca Blush, Yellow Bone and B alert at the back of the fleet. Orca Blush had an unfortunate spinnaker drop as they rounded the bottom mark and had to pull off to the far right of the course to correct things.

 

1MFTBone got a clear win from Blown Seal in second position. Epic got another great result coming in third for their best day of sailing this regatta. Craftsman Homes finished in fourth position just in front of the tightly contested fifth position between The Nude and Siren with The Nude getting through by less than a second. Despite getting a “wine glass” at the top mark on the last lap, Clean Skin finished 7th only seconds infront of Phantom.

 

 

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Kites flying high on the downwind leg (Photo: Kelly Atkins)

 

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The Nudists celebrating their successful day of racing

 

Race Video's at AUSB14TV: http://www.youtube.com/user/AUSB14TV?feature=watch


Results Here: http://www.yachting.org.au/site/yachting/results/tyc/2012/events/b14/index.htm