Australian Multihull Championship fleet face testing final
by Ian Grant on 23 Sep 2011
Hot Vindaloo Julie Geldard
http://www.vidpicpro.com
The forecast of a light variable sea breeze promises to test the tactical awareness in the final race of the Corsair Marine/Seawind Australian Multihull championship on Moreton Bay today.
Since the highly competitive championship started on Monday the fleet of fast lane sailing multihulls representing South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland have experienced a demanding test in a mixed range of wind and sea conditions.
Thankfully the predicted forecast will not result in a lazy breeze however the expected 5-10 knot wind will freshen during the day and is expected to be spiced with numerous changes in velocity and direction.
Keith Glover (Trilogy), Linda Renouf (Dash) and Phil Day (Rhythmic) who won their respective division one, two and three championships with a race to spare yesterday will enjoy their sail today free from any tactical pressure while interest focuses on the tactical ‘dogfight’ to resolve the minor places.
All three class results hang in the balance with only a point separating the George Owen skippered Victorian catamaran APC Mad Max and Queensland’s Hot Vindaloo (Julian Griffiths) who promise to become involved in a mate against mate match race to decide the division one medals.
Naturally Julian Griffiths and his Hot Vindaloo crew must become the tactical aggressor to hold any hope of outpacing the speed sailing APC Mad Max which holds the advantage of finishing ahead of Hot Vindaloo in three of the five races. This is not an impossible task as Julian Griffiths is well known to lay his skill on the line to test the tactical defence of the experienced George Owen and his APC Mad Max crew.
Victorian Shaun Fishley promises to protect his consistent score of 1-3-4-3-3 at the helm of Frassid when he becomes engaged with his closest rival Iain MacDougall (Goldfinger) to decide division two minor medals.
Frassid while being clearly outpaced by the Linda Renouf skippered championship winner Dash only needs to finish better than fourth place today to win a deserved Silver Medal.
The battle for the minor places in division three is also close with the Mike Hodges Renaissance poised to protect their one point advantage over the George Bulka skippered Skedaddle to wrap up a very successful and professionally run regatta hosted by The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron.
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