Etchells Australia National Championship 2024 at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron - Day 3
by Sydney Etchells Fleet 10 Jan 19:19 GMT
7-11 January 2024
2024 Etchells Australian Championships Day 3 © AeroMedia
Day 3 dawned slightly overcast and with a light easterly breeze filling in across Sydney Harbour. The cloudy conditions burnt off and with the sun the breeze began to fill in. It looked like a very typical Sydney summer's day.
THe RO opted to send the Etchells fleet out an hour earlier today, in an attempt to get 3 races in to have a chance of completing the scheduled 9 races for the series before Thursday
Race 1 was underway in steady 10 knots of breeze from 055. After a general recall the RO went to black flag and unfortunately there were 5 victims, whilst the rest of the fleet sailed away. Leading from the start was Flying High (JC Strong) who eventually pulled away for a very convincing win. Second and Third went to Great White Hunter (David Dunn) and First Tracks (Billy Merrington), rounding out the top 5 was Magpie (GT) and Pie (Mark Bradford)
Race 2 was more of the same but with a slightly building breeze. Again a black flag raised after the first general recall, but this time no one fell foul and all 32 competitors got away cleanly. Mark Thornborrow got away to a very solid lead and was really never headed, the battle for the remaining podium places was closely fought, with Flying High (JC Strong) taking second and Magpie (GT) taking third. 4th and 5th went Wobbegong 2 (Jamie McWiliam) and Lisa Rose (Martin Hill)
Race 3 was slightly delayed as the RO reset the course to accounts for a change in wind direction with the building NE breeze. Once underway it was a tight first beat, with Wobbegong 2 and Magpie rounding the top mark on each others hammer. By the end of the race, Magpie (GT) had taken a solid lead, with Shoulda Gone Left (Robin Deussen) in second and First Tracks third
In the overall standings, with the drop coming into play, Magpie (Graeme Taylor) has a 3.5 point lead of Flying High (JC Strong) who is 6 points clear of Racer CC (Mark Thornborrow). In the Corinthian division, Wobbegong 2 (Jamie McWilliam) leads from Tranquility Base (Marc Ryan) and Ciao Bella (Christian Brooke)
Two races are scheduled on Thursday to close the event out, and there is plenty to play for across all the divisions
Full results available here.