Sail-World.com : Sydney 38 Nationals - X3 still in the lead after day two
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Sydney 38 Nationals - X3 still in the lead after day two |
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'’X3’ dominated race two to win convincingly and leads the series leading into the final day - 2010 SYDNEY 38 ONE DESIGN AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP'
Tom Spithill
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The CYCA's Michael McMahon's 'X3' with a win and a third today is proving to be the most consistent boat and has a slender three point lead over the fleet after Day Two of the Sydney 38 Nationals hosted by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. Following a good day on the water with a third in race three followed by a commanding win in race four and another third in race five, she seemed to be in a commanding position. However, a protest by 'Stonybroke' against her for a port/starboard infringement on the finish line in race three had the protest room open for business after racing which would affect her final pointscore after the day's racing.
Day Two of the Sydney 38 Nationals saw three races completed on the Palm Beach Circle in what can only be best described as fickle and benign conditions and a day where the head had to spend a lot of time out of the boat. After the heatwave followed by an absolute deluge that framed Day One, contrasting milder conditions greeted the fleet this morning as they left the dock.
In a light 5-6 knot Southerly the first race got underway on time for the fleet of seventeen. There was some excitement at the start with an individual recall for ‘The Goat' and an infringement between ‘Eye Candy' and ‘The Audacious Conspiracy' with ‘Eye Candy' on port not giving way to ‘The Audacious Conspiracy' on starboard forcing her to perform a 360 penalty soon after the start. The rest of the fleet, however, got away cleanly.
First to the top mark was Geoff Payne's ‘Risk' followed by 'The Tavern' skippered by current State Champion Ian Guanaria's. On the downwind leg for the first time, ‘The Tavern' managed to show her good downwind speed in light air to gain the ascendency to lead at the bottom mark.
In the beat upwind to the top mark for the final time, competitors were faced with a shifty top end of the track. With plenty of lead changes dominating the first race, it was no different on the final downwind as the front runners started to get mown down by the back markers, coming home in some building pressure.
Geoff Bonus' ‘Calibre' from the CYCA managed to find some clear air to sneak into first place and maintain his lead to hang on to a win the first race narrowly by 6 seconds. RPAYC's Gavin Ward & Chris Dawson aboard ‘Eye Candy', after taking their early penalty played a game of catch up to sail a good race to finish second. Day One leader, the CYCA's Michael McMahons ‘X3' got her second podium finish of the regatta in third. However, a protest would follow by the fourth placed boat 'Stonybroke' following a port/starboard infringement on the finish line.
The second race got away soon after with competitors eager to position themselves for a good start but too keen is seemed as the majority of the fleet were OCS, resulting in a general recall and a re-start. ‘Acuity' took an early lead to get the best start but she was soon covered on the beat upwind where the clouds played an important tactical role with competitors trying to find the best breeze. ‘X3' was one of those that found a private breeze and showed good boat speed upwind developing a handy lead at the top mark.
With the breeze fading, PRO Stephen Merrington was forced to shorten the race at the bottom mark. The shortened one lap race saw ‘X3' dominate with Michael McMahon posting his second win of the regatta with a commanding three and a half minute victory over the RPAYC's ‘Old School' skippered by Mark Griffiths in second with the oldest competitor and the current Victorian State champion, SYC's Lou Abrahams ‘The Zen Challenge' in third, posting his second top three placing so far.
The third race of the day saw the breeze swing further to the South East building to six knots for the start. Defending National Champion Tony Walls ‘Acuity', showing more aggression on the start line in the final two races, finally found her feet to get the jump and led the fleet off the start line. ‘Acuity' representing the RPAYC finally showed some of the winning form from last year with tactics and crew work coming together generating good boat speed to maintain her lead from start to finish to post her first win of the Nationals. The father and son combination of the CYCA's Alan and Thomas Quick and their ‘Outlaw' team finished second with ‘X3' posting another spot on the podium in third.
After a long day on the water and the breeze fading the race committee sent the fleet home after deciding not to start the fourth and final race of the day.
With the protest room open for business after the competitors arrived back at the RPAYC, it was clear that ‘X3' were in the wrong and they accepted a 40% penalty in arbitration for race three taking their points for that race from three to ten. The protest room was closed fairly expediently after the Protest panel's Ken Moxham and Steve Hatch resolved the matter.
This Sydney 38 Nationals is proving to be, as predicted, extremely competitive. The variations in results just goes to show how with all boats on the pace, just one small error can lead to losing five or six boat positions.
With the scoreboard starting to sort the fleet out after Day Two with five races now complete, the pointscore shows the CYCA's 'X3' has a slender lead after their 40% penalty and remain at the top of the leader board on 21 points, just three points clear of RPAYC's Robin Tedder's ‘Stonybroke' in second with SYC's Lou Abrahams ‘The Zen Challenge' a further point back on 25 in third spot leading into the final day.
So it all comes down to the final day tomorrow with PRO Steve Merrington hoping to get all four races started and finished to complete the best of nine races. The forecast for tomorrow is for a light North Westerly in the morning swinging to the North East in the afternoon with the pressure building to 15-20 knots in the afternoon. The question will be how soon that pressure will fill in.
The title remains very much open amongst the leaders and it will come down to consistency, crew work and tactics before the 2010 Sydney 38 Australian Champion is announced tomorrow afternoon at the RPAYC prize giving. One thing's for sure, the competition will be tough tomorrow as all will fight until the final race is sailed to attain the coveted National title.
The competitors are enjoying a BBQ and exchanging a few friendly tales for what this class is renowned for at the host Club, The Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, tonight.
Day Two progressive pointscore reads as follows:
Place Sail No Boat Name Skipper From Score Race 5 Race 4 Race 3 Race 2 Race 1
1 6900 X 3 Michael McMahon CYCA 21.0 3.0 1.0 10.0A 1.0 6.0
2 6231 Stonybroke Robin Tedder RPAYC 24.0 8.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 4.0
3 SM2 The Zen Challenge Lou Abrahams SYC 25.0 5.0 3.0 9.0 6.0 2.0
4 8938 Old School Mark Griffith RPAYC 28.0 9.0 2.0 10.0 4.0 3.0
5 R38 Outlaw Alan & Thomas Quick CYCA 33.0 2.0 6.0 8.0 16.0 1.0
6 6157 The Tavern Ian Guanaria CYCA 34.0 4.0 12.0 7.0 2.0 9.0
7 6255 Eye Candy Dawson/Ward RPAYC 38.0 7.0 10.0 2.0 12.0 7.0
8 6418 Acuity Tony Walls RPAYC 39.0 1.0 11.0 12.0 7.0 8.0
9 7777 Calibre Geoff Bonus CYCA 44.0 12.0 7.0 1.0 9.0 15.0
10 7027 The Goat Bruce Foye CYCA 47.0 6.0 4.0 13.0 10.0 14.0
11 5944 Risk Geoff Payne RPAYC 47.0 15.0 8.0 11.0 8.0 5.0
12 6190 The Bolter Rick Welch RPAYC 49.0 11.0 14.0 6.0 5.0 13.0
13 G5038 Cinquante Ian Murray RGYC 51.0 13.0 9.0 5.0 13.0 11.0
14 6276 Argie Bargie Chris Lancaster RPAYC 67.0 10.0 16.0 15.0 14.0 12.0
15 B331 Audacious Conspiracy Greg Clinnick RBYC 70.0 16.0 13.0 16.0 15.0 10.0
16 MH60 Eleni Tony Levett MHYC 70.0 14.0 15.0 14.0 11.0 16.0
17 6305 Mondo Ray Sweeney RQYS 85.0 17.0 17.0 17.0 17.0 17.0
For today's results go to http://www.rpayc.com.au/sydney-38-australian-championship.html
by Damian Devine & Tom Spithill Share
10:52 AM Sat 13 Feb 2010 GMT
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