Geographe Bay - We have breeze!

by Bernie Kaaks on 28 Feb 2011 Geographe Bay Race Week IRC fleets reveled in a brisk south easterly of 15 to 18 knots this morning, sailing two windward leeward races back to back.

Limit scored first and fastest in both races, cutting out the journey in around 40 minutes each time on a course that was 1.6 nautical miles long. Black Betty showed some of her potential too, screaming through the downwind finish line on a nice little puff at about 15 knots. Owner Gary McNally would be pleased with the way the boat is shaking down. Placings are improving with each outing. The Next Factor continues to do well with a third and a second to consolidate her place in the overall standings in Division One.

Just Cruisin’ took out first and fastest in the first race for IRC division 2, and won again in race two after finishing a mere 16 seconds behind Aardvark in race 2. Archimedes also did well again with a second and a fifth, as did her sister ship Arajilla, with a third and a fourth today.

The Adams 10 Addams Family broke up the dominance of Constellation and Bad Habits in Division 3 by winning today’s first race, pushing Bad Habits back to second, but Constellation won race 2 with Bad Habits back in fourth place, so these two are still very close on the points table.

Division 4 sailed on a performance handicap today on the same courses as the IRC boats. Albany skipper Michael Cameron sailed his Bull 9000 Matador into first place in race 1, but veteran Bunbury’s veteran Fred Talbot won race 2 in the S97 Ocean Cowboy .

After enjoying an afternoon siesta, it’s back to business for the IRC fleets for their night race, and with south easterlies blowing at around 18 knots at present and forecast to increase during the evening, racing should be interesting.