It’s all over…
We awoke to a rainy morning with no wind, what was going on? It was forecast to be at the top of the range today! Now it was looking like maybe we wouldn’t be able to sail because there was not enough wind to inflate sodden spinnakers. We started to rig wondering if it was going to be a surprise day for the lightweights, or another one for the strong wind masters. It ended up being NNE 18-20 gusting to 23kn. There were a couple of holes out there but the gusts on the runs were amazing, flat-water blasting.
Heading into the race both 2nd and 4th spots were only one point behind the boats ahead of them, so there was a bit to play for. Guy and Louis in OMFTB in 3rd were keen to secure their spot on the podium by getting to the top mark first and blasting away down the run with Craig and Paul on Snatch rounding behind them, with 4th-placed Glenn and Jack on Bandit in hot pursuit. By the time they rounded the bottom mark, Bandit had moved up to be behind OMFTB, pushing them right to the last rounding of the top mark in the 3-lap race. Richie and Lissa in The Nude were down the fleet a little and slowly worked their way up to 4th as a couple of those ahead of them succumbed to the pressure and tipped it in on gybes in the gusty conditions.
Congratulations to Craig Garmston and Paul Fleming on Snatch for a well-sailed series and taking out successive B14 National Titles at the Illawarra Yacht Club.
 Results Day 5 Oz Nats | [ ] | 52 kB |