11:26 AM Sat 24 Jan 2009 GMT
'It looks like being one of those 'sit down and hang on days!' remarked Bendigo Private skipper Cam Rae and reigning Bundaberg Sports Boat champion Cameron Williams agreed. 'Definitely fresh and frightening!' and they were right. Heading out for a start in a building 20-25 south westerly the drama was quick to unfold.
Hoisting a kite for a bit of pre-race practice, South Australian entrant Bohica immediately broke its mast leaving her crew wallowing in the bay awaiting rescue.
Adjacent to the sports boat course an SB3 was also dismasted and radios across the bay crackled to attention with calls for assistance as the strong breeze took hold. With all on-water emergency crews called to action, race officials sent the sports boat fleet back to the RYGC marina to wait until rescue situations were resolved and weather conditions moderated.
As the passage race fleet began arriving in Geelong the sports boats were hustled out for another start in a slightly less demanding 15 knot westerly. The first of three races on the card saw Vivace, the fastest boat around the course, securing handicap honours along with line honours. Minor positions on the series table were shuffled as some boats paid the price for recalcitrant spinnakers but Bendigo Private sailed well to take second place, less than a minute behind Vivace on corrected time with the distinctive Egan 6 Quantum Sails third.
In the second race conducted at 1710, Heath Walters and his team from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in NSW cemented their grasp on the series when they finished a minute ahead of Quantum Sails, however Cameron Williams, helming for John Lloyd on Salsa Lou isn't going to yield his Skandia Geelong Week Champion title easily.
The T7 sailing to finish third despite a good challenge from Ronstan/Ray White.
But the day of carnage wasn't over with Game Over, also from South Australia, suffering a broken mast in the final race of the day. The battle of the Heaths and their Melges dominated this race with Heath Walters triumphing over Heath Townsend by 44 seconds and the brand new Thompson 7 Ronstan/Ray White third.
The series table reflects the fantastic crew work of Mako-Melges, currently 11.5 points ahead of Salsa Lou on 21:00 and What Tha a further three points behind.
Bundaberg Rum Sports Boats Champs Hosted By Royal Geelong Yacht Club PROVISIONAL RESULTS Updated: 24/01/2009 20:20:08 Series Results [EHC] up to Race 5 (Drops = 0)| Place | Ties | Sail No | Boat Name | Skipper | From | Design | Sers Score | Race 5 | Race 4 | Race 3 | Race 2 | Race 1 | | 1 | | AUS762 | MAKO - MELGES | Heath Walters | RPAYC | Melges 24 OD | 9.50 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 4.50 | 2.00 | 1.00 | | 2 | | 7018 | SALSA LOU | John Lloyd | PYC | Thompson 7 | 21.00 | 7.00 | 3.00 | 8.00 | 1.00 | 2.00 | | 3 | | AUS215 | WHAT THA | Heath Townsend | GBYC | Melges 24 OD | 24.00 | 2.00 | 6.00 | 7.00 | 4.00 | 5.00 | | 4 | | G108 | BENDIGO PRIVATE | Cam Rae | RGYC | Thompson 8 | 26.50 | 3.50 | 8.00 | 2.00 | 9.00 | 4.00 | | 5 | | 1 | QUANTUM SAILS | Graham Sherring | SYC | EGAN 6 | 27.00 | 6.00 | 2.00 | 3.00 | 13.00 | 3.00 | | 6 | | 7021 | RONSTAN/RAY WHITE | Greg ScHerwinski | RBYC | Thompson 7 | 29.50 | 3.50 | 4.00 | 9.00 | 6.00 | 7.00 | | 7 | 1.0S | B1 | VIVACE | Noel Leigh-Smith | SYC | Melges 24 | 40.00 | 9.00 | 7.00 | 1.00 | 17.00 | 6.00 | | 8 | | 6311 | ZIPPIER | Andrew Waugh | SRBYC | Thompson 8 | 40.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 12.00 | 10.00 | 8.00 | | 9 | | 7005 | ROADWARIORS | Steve Battley | SOPYC | Thompson 7 | 41.00 | 8.00 | 10.00 | 10.00 | 3.00 | 10.00 | | 10 | 5.0S | 7007 | ZIP | Bruce Hollis | RPEYC | Thompson 7 | 54.00 | 12.00 | 15.00 | 13.00 | 5.00 | 9.00 | | 11 | | 5652 | MASSIVE RUSH | Tim Smith | SYC | Elliot 780 | 54.00 | 10.00 | 11.00 | 11.00 | 7.00 | 15.00 | | 12 | | D242 | SPLASH 2 | Dave Allen | RYCV | Delphia Sport 24 | 61.00 | 22.00C | 13.00 | 6.00 | 8.00 | 12.00 | | 13 | | SS8 | TOP GEAR | Royce Salter | RYCT | Short Salter | 68.00 | 11.00 | 14.00 | 15.00 | 12.00 | 16.00 | | 14 | | YC245 | GAME OVER | Julian Newton | CYCSA | Elliot Espx 7.8 | 70.00 | 22.00F | 9.00 | 14.00 | 11.00 | 14.00 | | 15 | | D241 | SPLASH 1 | David Hoevenaars | RYCV | Delphia sport 24 | 72.50 | 22.00C | 16.00 | 4.50 | 19.00 | 11.00 | | 16 | | CK50 | NQW | James Heywood | MYC | Thompson 7 one desig | 76.00 | 13.00 | 17.00 | 19.00 | 14.00 | 13.00 | | 17 | 12.0S | AUS710 | VITESSE | David Farrimond | RGYC | Melges 24 | 92.00 | 22.00C | 12.00 | 17.00 | 20.00 | 21.00 | | 18 | | B5747 | THE WORKS | Chris Bland | RBYC | Elliot 770 | 92.00 | 22.00F | 18.00 | 18.00 | 15.00 | 19.00 | | 19 | | DS808 | M.J.R OUTRAGE | Antony EcCles | RMYC | Duncanson Phuket 8 | 94.00 | 22.00C | 22.00F | 16.00 | 16.00 | 18.00 | | 20 | | AUS098 | ESSENTIALLY CHICKEN | Richard Backwell | RGYC | Esse 850 | 101.00 | 22.00C | 22.00C | 22.00C | 18.00 | 17.00 | | 21 | | 128 | BOHICA | Todd Bartlett | VHYC | Boatspeed 23 | 107.00 | 22.00C | 22.00C | 22.00C | 21.00 | 20.00 |
| (Ties: S=Score R=Race B= Bettered. Penalties: A=ARB B=BFD C=DNC D=DNE E=ESP F=DNF G=RDG L=Late Entrant M=DGM N=ENP O=OCS P=Protest Q=DSQ R=RAF S=DNS U=DUT V=AVG X=EXC Z=ZFP Y=SCP #=NoData [x.y]=Discarded) |
Looking to the last day of racing, a light morning is predicted with winds increasing which could provide another exciting day for the remaining on the water as the Australian Sports Boat Association Championship, run in conjunction with the Bundaberg Sports Boat Championships, is decided.
by Traci Ayris
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Sailing
