52nd Australian Contender Championship at Gosford Sailing Club - Day 4
by Ross Hansen 20 Jan 11:53 GMT
17-21 January 2022
Great sailing today in a 15-20 knot South Easterly breeze where we got two races in after a lengthy delay with the wind shifting from East to South and eventually settling into a steady fresh SE. Both races had clean starts.
The top three boats overall shared the top three spots in both races with Lindsay Irwin in 'Angry Tractor' 2486 (Blackrock SC) now in 3rd place overall with a 3rd & 1st today.
No change at the top with Matt Mulder 'Socially Distant' 2434 (BSC) who got a first in race 7 just ahead of Mark Bulka 'Balance' 2457 (McCrae YC) in 2nd. Heat 8 saw another close race up front with Bulka staying with Mulder up the last work but let Irwin sneak through to take the win.
A fantastic day's sailing and sets up an epic final day to see who wins the title and 4th through to 24th will equally be trying to improve their positions.
Midday start on final day with 10-13 knot ESE forecast.
Today also was Legends Day, where some past champions were taken out on a cruiser and given a lunch and a day watching some racing. They could not have picked a better day. A rare photo of four Australian Champions.
Results after Day 4: (eight races, 1 discard)
| Pos | Sail No | Boat Name | Skipper | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 2434 | Socially Distant (BSC) | Matthew Mulder | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | 2457 | Balance (McCrae YC) | Mark Bulka | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 3 | 2486 | Angry Tractor (Blackrock SC) | Lindsay Irwin | 3 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3 | (UFD) | 3 | 1 | 25 |
| 4 | 2270 | Encore (Canberra YC) | Paul Cohen | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 29 |
| 5 | 2676 | Eugene (SYC) | Grant Robinson | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 47 |
| 6 | 2565 | Hector (Blairgowrie YS) | John Lindholm | 13 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 51 |
| 7 | 2560 | No Diggity (McCrae YC) | Jeff Owen | 8 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 52 |
| 7 | 2615 | Inherently Unstable (BSYC) | Sam Reid | 5 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 8 | (DNS) | 11 | 6 | 52 |
| 9 | 2642 | SSHHH (CYC) | Andrew Sutton | 11 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 68 |
| 10 | 2669 | Respite (GSC) | Sam Ellis | 17 | 20 | (RET) | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 70 |
| 11 | 2444 | Return (GSC) | John Humphries | 9 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 17 | 12 | 16 | (RET) | 81 |
| 12 | 2670 | Big Red (BYRA) | James Meggison | 16 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 83 |
| 13 | 2349 | Outrageous (Airlie Beach SC) | Luke Mairs | 6 | 14 | 21 | 14 | 11 | (UFD) | 9 | 11 | 86 |
| 14 | 2575 | Knotasha (McCrae YS) | Joey Randall | (DNS) | 15 | 7 | 18 | (OCS) | 4 | 17 | 4 | 88 |
| 15 | 2411 | Tricky (GSC) | Brian Pike | 10 | 11 | 19 | 13 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 13 | 89 |
| 16 | 1306 | Sweet Spot (GSC) | James Ellis | 15 | 17 | 5 | (RET) | 6 | (RET) | 10 | (DNS) | 92 |
| 17 | 2580 | Ujio (GSC) | Ross Hansen | 12 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 21 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 104 |
| 18 | 2 | Sydney Swans (GSC) | Lindsay Pike | 19 | 12 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 14 | 22 | 16 | 112 |
| 19 | 2643 | Battleship (Teralba SC) | Steve Ianna | 20 | 19 | 13 | (DNS) | 13 | 15 | 14 | (DNF) | 113 |
| 20 | 2196 | Sou Easter (Manly 16Ft) | Matt Triglone | 14 | 21 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 19 | 17 | 119 |
| 21 | 2648 | Flipper (Blairgowrie YS) | Ned Lindholm | 21 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 16 | (RET) | 20 | (FOC) | 123 |
| 22 | 3 | Kintsuji (RQYS) | John McLean | 22 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 21 | (FET) | 138 |
| 23 | 669 | Trash Talk (SPYC) | Tony Arends | 18 | 22 | 22 | 21 | (DNC) | (DNC) | (DNC) | (DNC) | 158 |
| 24 | 2131 | Captain Risky (GSC) | Nathan Gulliksen | (DNC) | (DNC) | 23 | (RET) | (DNC) | (DNC) | (DNC) | (DNC) | 170 |
