6:40 PM Wed 3 Mar 2010 GMT
Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta- Poor weather for the delivery trip from the southern states has left NSW boats in the box seat to dominate the IRC results this weekend'.
Two form South Australian boats and one Victorian boat originally entered are set to miss the starter's gun when the two-day regatta gets underway this Saturday, March 6 2010.
Michael Hiatt's Farr 55 Living Doll is the only confirmed interstate entry after 2009 Rolex Sydney Hobart winner Andrew Saies decided a week's turnaround between Lincoln Week Regatta and Audi Sydney Harbour Regatta was too tight to get his Beneteau First 40, Two True, to Sydney.
It proved a fortunate decision in the end with Geoff Boettcher's Secret Mens Business 3.5 and Victorian entry Shogun both striking trouble en route from Port Lincoln and Melbourne respectively.
Secret Mens Business 3.5's delivery crew only had a week to complete the 1,000 nautical mile passage to Sydney following the boat's IRC win at Lincoln Week Regatta.
Disappointingly they've had to turn the boat around and point the nose back towards Adelaide after striking foul weather, while Rob Hanna's Shogun was dismasted off the Victorian south east coast a couple of days ago and made for the coastal town of Eden.
Their misfortune means the intrastate clash will be fiercer than ever.
In the big boat division Geoff Ross' RP55 Yendys and Stephen Ainsworth's RP63 Loki will resume their ongoing tussle, Loki the eventual victor at MHYC's Sydney Short Ocean Racing Championship last November and narrowly finishing ahead of Yendys in the latest Rolex Sydney Hobart handicap stakes.
'There are some pretty good boats racing this weekend and they are pretty evenly matched under IRC across a fair range of conditions. It will come down to who are the better sailors on the day,' said Ross.
'Nothing I've seen in the forecast tips things towards a particular boat.'
Regarding his chances, Ross says 'we are nicely optimised'. He's got heavies Steve Cotton from Southern Spars New Zealand and world champion Chris Nicholson on board calling tactics and helming. 'I've told them if we are too slow, I'll be taking over' joked Ross today.
If the breeze gets up, Bob Oatley's four-time Rolex Sydney Hobart line honours winning crew sailing the smaller Reichel Pugh, the 66 footer Wild Oats X, could be in contention for a top IRC handicap result.
Amongst the next tier, Peter Horn's King 40 Canute is the standout, and has third in the current Audi IRC National Championship to defend and possibly improve upon, while in the 30 foot range principal race officer Denis Thompson has been keeping a close eye on Harvey Milne's Archambault 31 Aroona. 'They showed plenty of pace in Victoria recently,' he cautioned today.
On Saturday and Sunday the high calibre IRC fleet will set off on an offshore passage race with a windward/leeward component from a start line off Watsons Bay following an 1125hrs warning signal.
They will head offshore for their course around a number of laid marks, the course to be determined on the day by the race management team, before sailing back through the rest of the 22 divisions competing on Sydney Harbour to the finish in Rushcutters Bay.
by Lisa Ratcliff
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