Jack Tar Regatta - Tightly contested battles on Day 2

by Andrew Delves, RNZYS on 25 Mar 2017 Waiting for the wind was the story of the morning again on Day Two of the Jack Tar Auckland Regatta, but as yesterday showed us, it was worth the wait with a nice breeze filling in and setting up a great afternoon of racing across all divisions.

The big 52’s in Division A were trading blows early, with Ran Tan II claiming the PHRF honours in Race One, closely followed by V5 and Wired – although Mayhem were the fastest on the water claiming the line honours by a small margin of 8 seconds over V5, with Wired taking the third place double. Race 2 was a similar story, except this time Mayhem really got their rhythm going and took out the line and handicap honours, with Ran Tan II and Viento second on PHRF & Line respectively, and the ever consistent Wired taking the third place double again. The third and final race of the day was won again by Ran Tan II on PHRF, with V5 second and Temptation making an appearance in third on PHRF and line. Mayhem and Viento II were the fastest on the course though, claiming first & second on line respectively.

So after a really competitive day of racing in Division A - Ran Tan II, V5 and Mayhem are the top 3 on PHRF, with Mayhem, Viento II and Wired the top 3 on line which sets up another good days racing tomorrow, where anyone could end up taking the overall regatta honours.

Division B was also tightly contested, Anarchy took out both PHRF & Line in the first race, but were closely followed by Georgia One (2nd Handicap, third Line) and Ice Breaker (3rd PHRF / second Line). The second race was a different story, with Anarchy dropping off the pace to let Young Guns win the PHRF honours and claim second on Line, with Ice Breaker (1st Line / third PHRF) and Georgia One (2nd PHRF/3rd Line) both staking there claim as top 3 contenders for the weekend. Young Guns were too fast again in the third race of the day – claiming PHRF and Line honours, with Urban Cowboy and Georgia One second & third on PHRF and Ice Breaker and Anarchy rounding out the top 3 on line.

After 3 solid races in Division B its Young Guns, Georgia One and Anarchy who are the top 3 on PHRF and Ice Breaker, Young Guns and Anarchy the top 3 line getters – again setting up a brilliant days racing on Sunday.

Another interesting days racing was seen in Division C although it was dominated by Colin Booths’ Alibi (RNZYS), who raced to 3 wins and one second place across 4 races. Sitting 6 points behind Alibi in second place is Tony Poolmans’ Elevation who managed one race win today. The closest competition is for third spot, with Ian Thomsens’ No Worries and Ben Baxs’ Manxman tied on 12 points apiece – setting up a tight contest on Sunday.

The largest fleet in the regatta are the Sports Boats this year with 12 racers lining up on the start. 4 Races were sailed today but there was only one boat to watch, Smoke Wagon putting its name to action and smoking the rest of the fleet to claim 3 guns and a second in the final race. Sailed by Royce Hawkins from BBYC, Smoke Wagon sit at the top of the series heading into Sunday. Atomic are next on the list, consistently landing on the podium in every race, followed by Jim Maloneys’ Faster in third overall - although it’s not over yet as Helter Skelter, Enigma and W8-Up following close behind.

The Pacific Keelboat challenge really heated up today, with our top 3 from yesterday’s racing still showing they are the ones to beat. However there was a change at the top with last year’s champion Chris Way absolutely catching fire today and claiming 3 race wins and a second in the final race to overtake local Tom Macky at the top of the series standings. Tom still sits close behind in second, with the ever present Matt Bouzaid in third and holding a healthy lead of ten points over fourth placed Chris Morgan, who continued his up and down regatta to claim the final race honours of the day. Sundays racing is sure to be a breath-taking battle between the top 3 of Way, Macky and Bouzaid.

The open multi-hull division only has 2 competitors this year, Frank Racings’ Foiling GC32 and Boat 2 - a Diam 24 trimaran. Although this division is unusually light on entries, it is still great to see Frank Racing foiling up and down the course and Boat 2 also put in a great effort in chase, although they aren’t quite as fast.

The 8.5 multi hull division, which is also the class championships, saw a fantastic day of racing with one particular boat claiming the day one honours. John Minnees’ Sledge secured the gun in all 3 races today in what was a dominate display of multihull racing. Sledge now holds a 7 point lead over second placed Tigre who are on 10 points, as well as Whio who are also on 10 points – setting up another top battle tomorrow. Hurts like Heaven and Freedom can’t be counted out though, they are both only 2 points behind tied on 12 points – so tomorrow is going to be a superb day of competition in this division.

We can’t wait for tomorrow with a lot of mouth-watering contests set to unfold on the Hauraki Gulf.

For full results click here