Dragon Australasian Championship - Tactics all important

by Bernie Kaaks on 7 Jan 2010
What a sensational variety of conditions competitors have had to face in this year's Prince Philip Cup!

The normally predictable Swan River weather promises easterlies in the mornings, followed by a south-west breeze affectionately known as the Fremantle Doctor for its delightful cooling properties.

This year has seen easterly breezes which last all day, two very light weather races but most have been sailed in what could best be described as comfortable sailing breezes which rarely rose above 15 knots. Competitors in heat 6 out of the 7 were faced with the first north-westerly of the series which swung to the west and then south-west as the race progressed.

A big port end bias on the start line resulted in a general recall at the first attempt but the fleet got away well at the second try and split evenly to both sides of the course. Gordon Ingate started well in ‘Whim', having worked the left of the course as did Richard Lynn's ‘Puff', which elected to go right, but at the top mark it was the Russian boat ‘Murka 11' sailed by Olga White which made the first turn by a very narrow margin ahead of ‘Puff' and ‘Whim' with Rob Campbell's ‘Indulgence' fourth.

‘Murka 11' consistently worked the south side of the course while ‘Puff' preferred the right early, sailing closer to the centre for most of the up wind leg. On the second last lap, Olga White made an uncharacteristic error when she over stood the approach to the top mark for the last time.

Richard Lynn judged the approach perfectly but had to concede the inside position to White and the two sailed an identical course to sail through the gate together, but once again it was White who finessed the inside position and that become the finishing order after a very exciting race. Third place went to the other Russian entrant, ‘Murka 12' sailed by Mikhail Muratov.

With one race remaining, Lynn continues to head the leader board, and with the worst placing of fourth will be confident of the series win. White, who has won the last two races, needs to beat Lynn to win the title.

Lynn's margin of 2.4 points under the bonus point scoring system (the winner scores 0, second scores 3) means that Lynn cannot afford to allow ‘Murka 11' to win the final race. Tactics will be very interesting indeed.

Prince Phillip Cup -Provisional Results for Dragon Championship
after 6 races with 5 races to count

Pos'n	Bow No	Boat Details	Skipper/Crew	Total	Nett	02/01/10 1	03/01/10 2	04/01/10 3	05/01/10 4	05/01/10 5	06/01/10 6
1	20	AUS191 Puff	Richard Lynn	27	19	0( 1)	0( 1)	8( 4)	8( 4)	[ 8]( 4)	3( 2)
2	28	RUS89 Murka 11	Olga White	35.4	21.4	5.7( 3)	[ 14]( 8)	10( 5)	5.7( 3)	0( 1)	0( 1)
3	29	RUS98 Murka 12	Mikhail Muratov	47.8	36.1	11.7( 6)	5.7( 3)	3( 2)	10( 5)	[ 11.7]( 6)	5.7( 3)
4	22	AUS198 Whim	Gordon Ingate	58	40	[ 18]( 12)	13( 7)	0( 1)	0( 1)	17( 11)	10( 5)
5	25	AUS207 Indulgence	Rob Campbell	72.4	48.4	3( 2)	20( 14)	11.7( 6)	[ 24]( 18)	5.7( 3)	8( 4)
6	16	AUS181 Red Baron	Tony Lynn	97.4	61.4	17( 11)	3( 2)	5.7( 3)	11.7( 6)	24( 18)	[ 36](DNF)
7	15	AUS177 Snapdragon	Andrew Foulkes	89	63	8( 4)	8( 4)	23( 17)	[ 26]( 20)	10( 5)	14( 8)
8	26	AUS209 Baikal	Wolf Breit	96.7	71.7	13( 7)	17( 11)	15( 9)	[ 25]( 19)	15( 9)	11.7( 6)
9	19	AUS190 Seajoy	Rob Perrin	98.7	78.7	20( 14)	11.7( 6)	[ 20]( 14)	17( 11)	13( 7)	17( 11)
10	14	AUS176 Amazing Grace	Tony Moody	119	87	[ 32]( 26)	27( 21)	13( 7)	15( 9)	19( 13)	13( 7)
11	27	AUS210 Linnea	Andrew Crisp	116	88	15( 9)	18( 12)	14( 8)	[ 28]( 22)	23( 17)	18( 12)
12	03	AUS109 Aeolus	Peter Bowman	113	89	19( 13)	19( 13)	[ 24]( 18)	18( 12)	14( 8)	19( 13)
13	24	AUS201 Wizzadry	Andrew York	120	92	25( 19)	22( 16)	[ 28]( 22)	13( 7)	16( 10)	16( 10)
14	23	AUS199 Allegra	Geoff Totterdell	124	97	24( 18)	26( 20)	18( 12)	3( 2)	[ 27]( 21)	26( 20)
15	17	AUS188 Sassafrass	Sandy Anderson	127	97	22( 16)	10( 5)	16( 10)	[ 30]( 24)	26( 20)	23( 17)
16	21	AUS197 Gazelle XIV	Geoff Black	126	97	10( 5)	28( 22)	[ 29]( 23)	21( 15)	18( 12)	20( 14)
17	10	AUS160 Achernar	John Anderson	134	105	[ 29]( 23)	16( 10)	27( 21)	27( 21)	20( 14)	15( 9)
18	08	AUS156 Canewdon Witch	Trish Ford	135	106	28( 22)	15( 9)	21( 15)	14( 8)	[ 29]( 23)	28( 22)
19	07	NZL11 Gazelle VIII	Scott Palmer	137	107	14( 8)	25( 19)	17( 11)	29( 23)	[ 30]( 24)	22( 16)
20	18	AUS189 Sidewinder	Carl Ryves	144	108	16( 10)	23( 17)	22( 16)	20( 14)	[ 36](DSQ)	27( 21)
21	04	AUS144 Hotspur	Ken Stevenson	149	113	30( 24)	21( 15)	30( 24)	[ 36](DNF)	3( 2)	29( 23)
22	11	AUS170 Icefyre	Ron Packer	149	113	21( 15)	24( 18)	26( 20)	[ 36](DNF)	21( 15)	21( 15)
23	30	AUS152 Georgia	Colin Harrison	149	116	26( 20)	[ 33]( 27)	19( 13)	16( 10)	25( 19)	30( 24)
24	06	AUS154 Merum	Ray Chatfield	158	126	23( 17)	32( 26)	[ 32]( 26)	19( 13)	28( 22)	24( 18)
25	05	AUS147 Gilt Dragon	Ian Malley	171	138	31( 25)	29( 23)	25( 19)	22( 16)	[ 33]( 27)	31( 25)
26	12	AUS173 Solveig	Andrew Locke	182	146	27( 21)	30( 24)	36(DNS)	31( 25)	22( 16)	[ 36](DNF)
27	01	AUS055 Gustel XI	Simon Carroll	185	151	33( 27)	[ 34]( 28)	31( 25)	23( 17)	32( 26)	32( 26)
28	09	AUS157 Charisma	Steve Cole	193	157	36(DNS)	31( 25)	34( 28)	[ 36](DNF)	31( 25)	25( 19)
29	02	AUS078 Slaghoken III	Craig Readhead	205	169	34( 28)	35( 29)	33( 27)	[ 36](DNF)	34( 28)	33( 27)

 

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