Sports Boats Take Over Fremantle.
by Darren Spence on 3 Jan 2014
Consistent racing today for Fang (blue spinnaker) - ASBA National Championships 2014 Teri Dodds
http://www.teridodds.com
The seventh Australian Sports Boat Association National Titles (ASBA) came to life yesterday with three races, of the ten race series, sailed from the Fremantle Sailing Club (FSC).
PRO and local Sports Boat sailor, Mark Robershaw, got the fleet away as the Fremantle Doctor started it's rounds in 11-13 knots. The line honours title was always Crank's (Brett Whitbread) to lose and they didn't disappoint taking the win across the line and making the podium for third overall and Division 1 on SMS.
The overall runner-up in 2013, Octopussy (Rees Howell), started his 2014 campaign with a bullet by 27 seconds over the most consistent boat of the day, Fang (Tim Reger). The first three boats where all from Division 1.
Local favourite and 2012 West Australian Champion boat, The Ducks Nuts (Mitch De Vries), won all three races in Division 2 for the day with their best performance in race 2 where they finished 11seconds off the overall podium.
Race 2 started in a similar condition with the Doctor settling in for the afternoon at 14 knots. Crank enjoyed the benefit of clear air from the start and stretched her legs in the three lap race to not only take the line honours win but top spot on the podium overall and in Division 1. Fang again collected second with race 1 winner Octopussy securing third.
The hard luck story of the day going to FSC1 (Tobias Byrne) who came up 40 seconds short of completing the race in the time limit and recorded a Did Not Finish (DNF).
In the final race of the day it looked like Tachyon (Andrew York) was going to add some variety on the podium finishing third on corrected time behind Crank and Fang. This, unfortunately, evaporated when they where found to be on the wrong side of the start line when the gun went.
Don't Forget Alice (Rod Beurteaux) had their best race of the day taking the third overall and in Division 1.
The prize for being the 'Most Keenest' on the course going to Johnny Drama (Lee Bowers) who managed two On Course Starter (OCS) results from three races. Some might say they where on the course a little too much.
After three races, Crank leads the series, overall and in Division 1, by one point from Fang and the Octopussy. Racing today consists of one passage race along the West Australian coastline before returning to windward/return races over the last two days of the event.
Many thanks to our sponsors Karver, Sail Force International, Gill, Hog's Breath Cafe and 3 Oceans Wine for their support of this event.
You can follow the racing with live tracking, photos from Teri Dodds and updates in the Regatta section of the ASBA web site (www.asba.org.au) and Facebook page.
Full results, including the seven boat Viper 640 fleet, can be found at http://www.asba.org.au/2014-nationals-results/.
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