Hot conditions greet saillors on day 1 of the Australian Yachting Championship
by David Sygall 19 Jan 2018 13:39 GMT
19-21 January 2018
Sole Tassie boat Philosopher - Australian Yachting Championships © Alex McKinnon
Hot weather greeted competitors at Sandringham Yacht Club for day one for the 2018 Australian Yachting Championships with 30-plus degree heat on Port Phillip Bay.
Sandringham Yacht Club Sail Captain Rowan Simpson said that the heat mixed with a massive 180 degree shift early in the afternoon kept competitors on their toes.
"It was a typical Melbourne day today with a bit of everything," Rowan explained. "The first two races were sailed in a northerly, the first race in about 18 knots, dropping off in the second and then there was a complete 180 degree turn around to the south.
"While the courses aren't yet finalised tomorrow we are looking to give our interstate guests a bit of a tour of the Melbourne Ports and skyline."
Matt Allen's Botin 52, Ichi Ban, is leading Division 1 IRC with Secrets Men's Business, the South Australian 'meat-between-the-CYCA-sandwich', in second and Patrice in third.
Patrice is currently leading division 1 PHS and second overall in ORCi with fellow club boat, Smuggler, in first.
Division 2 IRC, Ikon has a picket fence with four wins from four races.
"The crew is going really well and the teamwork is excellent, four good starts which made a huge difference, good starts are the key," Skipper Bruce McCraken from Hobson's Bay Yacht Club said.
"We have Kirwan Robb calling tactics so once we get the good starts he can pick out he good spots with pressure, which was brilliant for us today. From there we just held our speed and maintained good communication with not too many errors.
"Long races aren't our forte so the passage racing tomorrow will be interesting. But we have our good days too, we will see how it goes. Sunday is looking quite light and will bring a lot of the other boats back into contention."
Meanwhile, J11's Joust and Jake are battling it out for PHS honours in division two with Joust currently two points up.
Executive Decision skippered by Trevor Neitz from the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria is leading the division 3 IRC on countback with the sole Tasmanian entrant, Philosopher, in second on equal points after day one.
"Today was an interesting day. It started off pretty dozy and we hoped the forecast would be true with a bit of pressure, 20 knots would have been perfect. Nevertheless, it was a bit all over the shop in pressure, but we did okay," Philosopher Skipper Shaun Tiedemann said.
"The lads, and the young lady on our boat, got the boat going very well."
Sailing with his son, Shaun said it was a great opportunity to sail up from their home Club, the Derwent Sailing Squadron, to compete in the Yachting Championship.
"My son (Sam) and I purchased this boat to sail together. Sam is an Australian Champion Cadet sailor and we recruited another three Cadet Aussie Champions. Everyone on the boat is under the age of 25 except for me and we have all sailed together for a couple of years now and had a great time."
Philosopher is currently leading on PHS, one point ahead of local Sandringham boat, Rhapsody, making for an interesting battle across the weekend on Port Phillip Bay.
Contesting the multihull division and leading the 2018 Australian Multihull National Championships, Peter Hawker's Carbon Credit from South Australia had a consistent day with one win and two seconds from three races.
In division two of the multihulls, local Motor Yacht Club of Victoria boat, Peccadillo, skippered by Charles Meredith is one point ahead of fellow Clubman Geoff Floyd sailing Fifty Fifty in the Victorian dominated fleet.
Day two of the 2018 Australian Yachting Championships will start at 10:25am tomorrow, Saturday 20 January.