Skandia Geelong Week- sports boats wet, wild and broken

11:26 AM Sat 24 Jan 2009 GMT

'Skandia Geelong Week 2009, Melbourne (VIC) - 24/01/09 -SALSA LAU' Andrea Francolini /Skandia Click Here to view large photo

'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.

Skandia Geelong Week 2009, Melbourne (VIC) - 24/01/09 -VIVACE - Andrea Francolini /Skandia Click Here to view large photo

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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