Women dominate Round 2 of Club Marine Range Series
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2:42 AM Wed 19 Nov 2008 GMT
 | | 'Goldfinger skipper Kate Mitchell will take a four point lead into Round 3 of the Club Marine Range Series'
© Rolex/Daniel Forster |
As the Rolex Sydney to Hobart gets closer, entrants are taking every opportunity to fine tune their crew work. One such contender, Sandringham Yacht Club skipper Kate Mitchell will take a four point lead into Round 3 of the Club Marine Range Series next month at Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron.
Racing the highly impressive Goldfinger, the Farr 52, that used to be Matt Allen's Ichi Ban, Mitchell managed to overcome some testing conditions out of Hobsons Bay Yacht Club. Her form so far points to a good Rolex Sydney to Hobart race for the Victorian team.
The only female skipper in the YV Division 0 series posted her third race win from four starts this season to take her overall series score to 7-points.
'We have had the boat for three years now, so there is certain consistency of crew - we have fun and I think that shows in the results,' Mitchell said.
'We took a good year to get used to the boat and then I think we have been improving each year with it,' she added.
Mitchell is 4-points clear of club mate Chris Dare onboard Audi Centre Melbourne, with another two SYC members Phil Coombs (Dekadence) and Alan Whitely (Cougar II) in equal third place on 16-points, rounding out the top three positions. Both Audi Centre Melbourne and Cougar II are Rolex Sydney Hobart entrants.
'I saw Kate Mitchell onboard Goldfinger and they displayed impressive speed and handling ability in the conditions,' HBYC Vice-Commodore David Judge said.
'Admittedly, they raced in the better conditions of the day - it was the Division 2 and 3 fleets that really copped a battering,' Judge added.
'Conditions switched from 15 knots to 35 knots without a lot of warning which caused a bit of concern there for a while.
'One yacht hit the committee boat but luckily no one was injured and nothing was damaged - it made for some pretty exciting racing,' Judge said.
Whitely is leading the IRC Division 0 standings after four races, 7-points clear of Coombs on 13 points and Mitchell a further 1-point back in third place.
SYC female skippers continue to dominate proceedings with Lisa Hammond (Horizon Sprint) holding a narrow 1-point overall lead in the AMS Division 1 series, with veteran skipper Lou Abrahams (Challenge) and Royal Brighton YC's Grant Botica (Executive Decision) rounding out the top three placings.
Abrahams continues to head the IRC Series, ahead of Royal Brighton's Alan Woodward (Reverie), with yet another Sandringham yacht Scarlett Runner with Rob Date at the helm in third place, just 5-points in arrears.
Woodward is leading a close race in the overall YV standings on 10-points, ahead of Abrahams and Royal Yacht Club of Victoria's Greg Tobin (Bombora) locked on 14-points.
www.yachtingvictoria.com.au
by Emkay Events & PR
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