Audi IRC Series at Audi Victoria Week - Day 4
by Di Pearson 25 Jan 2011 08:29 GMT
22-26 January 2011
Hooligan wins Audi IRC Series with a day to spare
Marcus Blackmore and his TP52 Hooligan (NSW) have won Class A of the Audi IRC Series at Geelong today after victory in Race 7 cemented the deal – and the win came at his introduction to Audi Victoria Week.
Despite there being one race remaining tomorrow, Hooligan cannot be beaten. Her nearest rival, Living Doll (Michael Hiatt) from Melbourne, is nine points behind with a drop in place. Even with the drop reinstated, the Pittwater based boat is in the box seat.
“I know we don’t need to sail tomorrow, but don’t worry, we’ll be on the start line anyway. I’m here to race, not to swan around,” a visibly happy Blackmore said aboard his boat.
The Blackmore’s vitamin king paid tribute to his crew. “Tom Slingsby (his tactician and a four-time world champion in two separate classes) did a good job today. Actually the whole crew has sailed well,” Blackmore said of his highbrow crew.
“The last work got us to the line first in the last race; our boat speed was good. The results could have gone anyway today, it was that sort of day,” he said.
Asked would he come back to Audi Victoria Week, the affable yachtsman said: “Yes, I got this boat to race regattas and apart from the first two days, I really enjoyed myself here.”
The race is now on for second and third places overall. The Farr 55 Living Doll reclaimed second place overall today by winning Race 6, pushing Stephen Ainsworth’s RP63 Loki back down to third place.
Loki, from NSW, finished second behind Living Doll in Race 6, but dropped to fifth place in Race 7. She is now one and a half points behind Hiatt’s boat with just one race remaining in the Audi IRC Series.
The pair’s nearest competitor is the Melbourne based Cookson 50, Terra Firma (Nick Bartels), which is 10 points behind Loki.
Conditions were difficult and required 100 percent attention from tacticians in particular. Light 8 knot winds flicked from north around to an easterly direction and were patchy.
The Audi IRC Series concludes tomorrow with Race 8 of the Royal Geelong Yacht Club hosted series, to be sailed on a windward/leeward course, starting from 11.00am, weather permitting.
Ikon and Executive Decision strong in Audi IRC Series
Bruce McCraken has kept the pressure on the rest of the Class B boats in the Audi Series at Audi Victoria Week today, a win and a second place in the two races sailed giving him the edge over his competitors.
During the past week, it has been almost impossible to separate the top five boats and impossible to lay a bet on a probable winner.
It appears McCraken’s Beneteau 45 from Melbourne is just that little bit faster than the other two 45’s in the fleet; Sydneysiders Victoire (Darryl Hodginson) and Balance (Paul Clitheroe) are third and fourth placed.
The Sydney boats locked horns the whole way around the course in Race 6 on Corio Bay today, onlookers treated to some excellent match racing. There was nothing in it; every time each tacked from opposite sides of the course, the one on port would have to give way. And so it went on for the entire race.
A DK46 from Melbourne, Extasea (Paul Buchholz) is in second place, separating the leader from the other two Beneteaus, and is just three points off the lead with one race remaining. Looking at the point score, Ikon will be hard to beat.
Before heading out to the race course today, Balance’s tactician, Bruce Hollis commented: “Victoire is a little faster than us and seems to pick the little shifts better.” He obviously wasn’t taking Ikon into consideration when he made the comment.
In Class C, Grant Botica’s Adams 10 Executive Decision (Vic) is in an envious position on 11 points, six in front of second placed Penfold Audi Sport, the new Archambault 31 owned by David Ellis, who won Class C last year.
The 2008 Audi IRC champion, Peter Sorensen (NSW) remains in third place, but said today he hoped to make the move into second. With a race remaining, the chance is there, as ‘Sorro’ is a mere point behind Penfold Audi Sport.
Winds returned to the light conditions of two days ago. Light 8-10 knot breezes started from a northerly direction, but moved right as racing progressed.
The Audi IRC Series concludes tomorrow with Race 8 of the Royal Geelong Yacht Club hosted series, to be sailed on a windward/leeward course, starting from 11.00am, weather permitting.
Follow Audi Victoria Week on the event website.